“How do you know these things?” I asked. I’d barely had time to tell Aurelia about Harley last night.
“I’m all-knowing, obviously,” she said as she flipped her hair over her shoulder, and I shot her an annoyed look. It was physically hard not to roll my eyes at that. No way did I believe for a second that was true. “Okay, fine. Aurum. He’s basically as close to omniscient as any being I’ve ever met,” Skye admitted. “I’m not exactly sure where he gets all his info, but he sent me down here to help.”
Okay, nowthatI believed.
I explained to the others that Skye was here to help us find my sister. Thankfully, Aurelia had filled Drea in already, and Drea had in turn told the others, so she and Dash were already up to speed. And of course I’d told Gage about my sister last night before he went all hairy and fangy, so he knew about her as well.
“Dash, any chance you’ve met my sister, Harley, before?” I asked, suddenly hopeful.
Dash was silent for a few moments as he absently rubbed his scar. Finally, he shook his head. “I’ve been racking my brain since Drea told me. I don’t think so, but I can’t be a hundred percent sure. I might have run across someone around my age named Harley when I lived there, but I didn’t know every Shade in the city by any means. The LA Shade community is the largest in the world. It’s called ‘Shade City’ for a reason.” He cleared his throat, suddenly seeming embarrassed. “And as the son of the Shade Lord, I wasn’t really encouraged to fraternize with Shades who my family considered beneath us.”
I furrowed my brow. “Really? Like you weren’t allowed to interact with the peasants or something?” I snorted a humorless laugh. That couldn’t be what he meant, thoughShade Lordwas a pretty fancy title.
Dash shifted uncomfortably, keeping his gaze on the ground and I instantly felt bad for mocking him. Hedidmean that.
“Shades adhere to a stricter sense of hierarchy than Lumens do,” Gage added, backing Dash’s statement, and then shrugged. “I’m not saying it’s right, but it’s how it is.”
I shook my head. Shades were truly awful. “Well, if my sister was an orphan, dropped off at the doorstep of a Shade Academy, she probably wouldn’t have been considered anyone of importance.”
Dash nodded. “At least until she descended to the Netherworld and received her Shade powers. It sounds like she’s a little younger than me, so I would’ve already been gone when she had her ceremony. If she’s anything like you, my guess is she’s extremely powerful. Shades value power.”
“It’s possible she’s not a Shade though,” I said hopefully. “She could have chosen Lumen.”
Dash and Drea exchanged a look. “So, my mom called the LA Lumen Compound this morning,” Drea said. “No orphan named Harley.”
My heart sank in my chest at that.
“She’s unknown to us in Avalon as well,” Skye piped in. “I think if she’d chosen Lumen like you had, Tatum, we’d know. Cael would have blessed her with powers.”
As painful as that was to hear, it made a lot of sense. Chances were that Harleywasa Shade, but I tried to shake it off and not let sadness overcome me. My mom and Indigo were both Shades and we were making it work. I’m sure once my sister knew the truth, she’d want to leave the Shades like they had.
I took in a deep breath. It was time to start planning. “Dash, can you give us a list of places to look for Harley in LA?”
“I’ll do better than that,” he said. “I’ll bring you to Shade City in LA myself.”
I shook my head. “No. You can’t go with us. You told me if you ever returned to LA your family would…” I paused, not wanting to broadcast his secrets to the entire room.
He cocked his head and arched an eyebrow. “I don’t plan on advertising to my family that I’m there.”
“But…”
I shot Gage a look, hoping he’d help me out, but he just stared back and said, “I told you it was his choice.”
I looked to Drea next. She didn’t seem happy about it, but she didn’t say anything either. I guess that meant Dash was coming, which was good, but also bad.
“All right, so we’re all going, then?” I looked around the room.
“Yeah, about that,” Dash said and then glanced at Drea, who was slouched against the wall as she listened to our conversation.
“What?” she said, instantly picking up a vibe from Dash.
“You, Marlow, and Jacob can’t go with us.”
She pushed away from the wall and marched toward Dash, eyes blazing. “You don’t get to make that decision,” she said. “I’mthe team leader.”
Dash ran a hand through his hair, nudging his hood off his head. “You don’t understand. There are wards against Lumens around Shade City that would most likely kill the three of you.”
Drea flinched at that, and Dash went on.
