Jason took point, constantly scanning ahead. It occurred to me he was searching for gates—inbound ones, the kind that bring warm-blooded creatures, like us. I had flashes of Rory, falling out of the sky, red as a lobster, then Rory on the ground, red with blood.
I flinched. Beside me, Natalie sucked in her breath.
“Don’t look,” Thad said sharply.
Too late.
For the second time in two weeks, I saw a dead body sprawled on the ground. Only this one wore a handmade lei.
CHAPTER
33
THAD
DAY 291, AFTER NOON
“It’s Li,” Natalie whispered. “She didn’t make it.”
“She made me a lei once,” Jason said to no one in particular.
Charley’s face was pale, but she said nothing.
I was the only one not staring at Li.
“Okay,” I said, desperate to defuse the very bad karma of finding a body the first day of Search. “Let’s close our eyes and bow our heads.” For the first time, I wished Nat had chosen Johan as Spotter instead of Jason. Johan, with his rich words and humble prayers that flowed like water. But without Johan, Nat was stuck with me.
We joined hands in a tight circle. Bowing my head, I spoke quietly. “Heavenly Father, you know our needs before we do, and here on Nil we have many. Today we pray for Li. We ask that her soul rest in peace. And for her family back home, we ask You to give them peace. Be with Li, and be with us all, her family here in Nil. In Your name we pray, Amen.”
Whispers of “Amen” echoed around me.
“Okay,” I said, letting go of Jason’s hand, then Charley’s. “Now let’s bury her.”
“How?” Jason frowned. “This rock is tougher than asphalt.”
I looked at him. “I never said we’d dig.”
Ten minutes later, I carefully laid Li’s body on the bottom of a wide hollow in the rock, fully dressed. As valuable as her clothes were, I was not about to pull a Sy and strip a dead body. We covered her with rocks, making a black rock tomb. As the others stepped back, I pulled out my bag of bleached coral and crafted a cross, white on black.
“Rest in peace, Li,” I whispered.
Natalie made a strangled choking sound.
“Nat?” I asked, standing. “You okay?”
“I just remembered something,” she whispered, her eyes fixed on Li’s coral cross. “That creepy song Ramia sang on her last Nil Night.” Dropping into Ramia’s odd cadence, Nat said, “To Nil we come, from Nil some go, and some like me will stay. The clock winds down, our time runs out, and Nil will have her way.” Natalie lifted her haunted eyes to mine. “If you change ‘me’ to ‘Li,’ it fits.” She started to shake. “Why did I remember that now?”
Because Ramia knew, I thought.Somehow Ramia always knew.
NO. My brain balked at the thought.Her predictions mean nothing, I told myself.Absolutely nothing.
Consumed by my mental sparring, I froze, and Charley stepped up before I could. She clasped Natalie’s hands and held them steady. “Natalie, it’s okay. You’ve got plenty of time. Weeks. Plus”—Charley’s voice was confident—“you’ve got us.”
Natalie held Charley’s hands so tight that Natalie’s knuckles turned white. Bloodless, like Li’s face.
And some like me will stay.
“Natalie, look at me.” Charley’s voice turned fierce, strong enough to pull me back, too. “You’re not Li. You’reNa-ta-lie,” Charley’s drawl dragged out Nat’s name, “and we’re going to get you home. So please, don’t fall apart on us, okay?”
