blue-eyed boy. A dark-haired girl. But I can’t remember their names.
“Do something, Bastien!” my mother cries.
My thoughts snag. Bastien? I almost know what that means. It doesn’t stop my feet from slipping forward. The black dust undulates like beckoning fingers. What would it feel like to have that glittering darkness wrapped all around me? I lift my hand. I reach.
“Ailesse, no!” A new voice. Male. One that stirs warmth in my blood.
The drums beat harder, but I can’t forget that voice. It doesn’t come from the Gate. My sixth sense pounds up my spine and across my shoulders.
“Walk away from the Gate, Ailesse, or I will kill Bastien!” my mother yells.
Bastien. He’s the boy I love. That’s his name.
The siren song shatters. The black dust snaps at me like the jaws of a jackal. I jump backward and dodge the bite. Blood rushes to my head as I spin around. Two Unchained run toward me. I leap aside, and they race through Elara’s translucent Gate. I look across the bridge. Three Chained fall off its side in streaks of chazoure. My mother delivers a powerful round kick and strikes the last soul standing. He screams and falls off the bridge with the others.
I gape at her. Those were the last of the dead, and she didn’t even ferry them. She’s staying close to Bastien with her hand at his back. He’s unnaturally stiff—and he’s no longer holding his father’s knife. My heart stops. My mother is using it against him.
“What are you doing?” I dart toward them.
“That is far enough,” she says calmly. I halt at once, ten feet away, fearing what she’ll do otherwise.
Perspiration slicks Bastien’s hair. His eyes are fever bright. He’s been fighting the Chained just as hard as we have, but it’s taken a greater toll on him. How can my mother reward him like this? “Let him go! He was helping us. Why are you—?”
“The Gates will not stay open much longer. The two years are at an end, and Tyrus has still not given him back to . . .” Her mouth creases shut, and she inhales a steadying breath. “This is my final chance, Ailesse.”
My heartbeat quickens. She’s not making any sense. What does all this have to do with Bastien? “Final chance for what?”
“To redeem myself.” Her black eyes gleam. “I understand now. This is Tyrus’s last requirement—my last act of reconciliation. I need to help you see it through.”
I stop breathing. I glance at Bastien’s pale face. “See what through?”
Her commanding gaze bores into me. “Your rite of passage.”
49
Sabine
CAS AND I RACE DEEPER into the western part of the forest. The soldiers try their best to keep up with us. An hour ago, we heard an explosion in the same direction we’re still headed. Cas said it was stolen black powder. We’ve been moving as fast as possible ever since.
Faint sounds of arguing drift to me on the night air. Even with my jackal grace, they’re too distant to understand clearly. I can’t tell who they are or what they’re saying. What if one of them is Ailesse? I grab Cas’s arm. “This is as far as the soldiers come.”
He scans the ground around us. He doesn’t hear what I do. “We’ve arrived at the entrance?”
I glance at the map. The entrance above the soul bridge is in a clearing, and we’re still in the thick of the trees. But we have to be close. “It’s only a little farther. We can’t be more than a quarter mile away, if this map is drawn to scale. The cavern should be right below the entrance.” I don’t mention the long flights of stairs in between.
“Then the soldiers will come along until we reach it,” Cas says.
“No.” My chin lifts. “The soldiers will be close enough here.”
He shifts on restless legs.
The breeze billows through my hunting dress as we stare at each other. I don’t blink.
“Very well.” He sighs and motions for Briand to join us. Cas surveys what sky we can see past the forest canopy above and places a hand on his companion’s shoulder. “Do you see that pine—the tallest one?” He points at it. “If Sabine and I haven’t returned by the time the moon touches the top of that tree, follow our trail and bring the soldiers.”
The moon and tall pine are close to touching already. I frown at Cas. “That doesn’t give Ailesse enough time to . . .”—kill you—“. . . be rescued.”