The Shattered Dark

He heads for the door. I follow but stop when I see the stack of mail on my kitchen table. The top letter is from my college. I can’t resist the temptation to open it even though I’m sure I don’t want to read what it says. I make it to the line, “We regret to inform you,” before I stop and frown.

The frown isn’t because I’ve flunked out of school. The rebels found me when I was taking my very last final exam, and back then, I thought they were the bad guys. I ran out of my English Lit class—a class I had already failed twice—because I couldn’t let them kill or capture me, so I’m not at all surprised I’ve been expelled. I’m surprised because I don’t know how this letter—how any of these letters—got here. No one has a key to my mailbox and apartment except Paige, my only human friend. She puts up with my frequent absences and weird behavior. When I worked for the king, I often didn’t show up when we agreed to meet somewhere, and more than once, I left in the middle of a conversation. I had to make up all sorts of crazy excuses for my actions, but Paige always shrugged her shoulders or gave me a look that contained just a hint of doubt…and then, she let it go.

This time, though, I think I’ve flaked out too much even for her. I’ve been calling Paige every other day for over a week to apologize for disappearing at her sister’s wedding, but she hasn’t answered the phone. If she’s that pissed, I can’t see her coming over here to check on my place.

But she must have. I spread out the mail, searching for a note or letter from her. There’s nothing, and I’m about to go to my phone and call her yet again when I see the purse resting on a halfway-pulled-out chair. When I pick it up, a tingle runs up my arm.

“McKenzie?” Trev calls.

Goose bumps sprout over my skin. This is Paige’s purse and…

And oh, crap!

“I broke a ward.” I drop the purse as if I’ve been burned. That tingling sensation was more than regular goose bumps; it was a magical trip wire that will signal the fae who created it.

I spin away from the kitchen table and sprint for the front door. I don’t have to explain anything more to Trev and Nalst. They know as well as I do that a remnant must have created that ward.

“Go,” Trev orders. Nalst nods, and a strip of vertical white light rips through the air beside him. He steps into it, disappears.

With effort, I wrench my gaze away from the shadows the fissure leaves behind. Only shadow-readers like me can see the rippling afterimages, but this time I don’t need to draw out their twists and turns to know where Nalst has gone. Even though the remnants shouldn’t know where I live, we made a contingency plan. He’ll bring back help from the Realm.

But we’re not going to stand around here waiting for it.

Trev draws his sword as I yank open the door. I rush out first, turn right, and run across the cement breezeway to the staircase.

My apartment’s on the third floor. Ignoring my racing heartbeat, I focus on the steps as I fly down them two at a time. Trev stays with me, keeping pace despite the fact that he can move twice as fast or simply fissure to the parking lot below. I make it all the way down without any remnants appearing. Maybe they’re becoming disorganized, and no one’s prepared to fissure here. Maybe the fae who created the ward is dead. Maybe they—

Slashes of light rip through the air to my left. I curse, round the corner of the building…

And plow into a man. Even though he’s a good foot taller than me and extremely overweight, I have enough momentum to make him stagger into one of the cars parked outside my building. He’s human. The three beings appearing around us are not.

“McKenzie,” the man says. I almost don’t hear him because the two nearest fae lunge at Trev. He deflects the first remnant’s sword with his own, then fissures out of the way of the second’s attack.

Another fae, a woman, watches me and the human, who I finally recognize as the apartment manager when I notice his clipboard. He’s the only thing keeping her from killing or capturing me. I don’t know how long that will last, though. The king’s fae used to go out of their way to remain undetected by normal humans, but less than a month ago, they launched an attack in the middle of a neighborhood near Vancouver without any regard for human lives or property. She might decide I’m worth the collateral damage.

Collateral damage. Is that what Paige has become?

“Your rent’s late again,” the manager says, oblivious to the woman stepping around him with her sword raised. Without the Sight, he can’t see the fae unless they choose to be seen.

“Where’s Paige?”

My demand makes the fae hesitate. She looks at the manager when he follows my line of sight. While he’s distracted, searching the parking lot for something he can’t hear or see, I grab his clipboard, turn, and throw it at the head of the shorter fae attacking Trev.

My aim is perfect, and Trev is good enough with a sword to take advantage of the distraction, finding the weak area on the side of the remnant’s cuirass and plunging his blade between his enemy’s ribs. The remnant cries out, then disappears into a fissure. Whether he survives that injury or not, I don’t know.

“You’re copping an attitude?” The manager grabs my arm. “I’ve already let you slide three times this year.”

“Sorry,” I say, watching the fae behind him. When it’s clear she’s moving toward us, I use the manager’s grip on my arm to try to pull him away. “We need to go.”

“You need to pay your rent.”

The fae lifts her sword.

“Move!” I yell, this time throwing my shoulder into him in an attempt to shove him out of the way.

“I’m calling the cops—”

The fae slams the hilt of her sword into the side of his head. He drops, pulling me down with him. His hand goes limp when he lands, though. I’m off-balance, but I’m free.

I scramble back as the fae approaches. A quick glance over my shoulder shows that Trev is still occupied with the taller remnant. I’m unarmed. If they wanted me dead, I’d be thoroughly screwed. The fact that I’m still alive means I might have a chance—and I think I might be able to buy some time. She knocked out the manager—I hate that he was caught up in this—so there’s a good possibility she doesn’t want to draw the attention of normal humans.

Before she reaches me, I slam my heel into the nearest car. Its alarm blares a second later. It’s loud—loud enough to startle me even though I’m expecting it—and it stops the fae in her tracks. She shuffles back, staring at the car as if it’s about to attack.

I throw myself over the hood, scramble off the other side, then sprint deeper into the parking lot before she realizes the alarm isn’t a huge amount of tech—it’s not going to screw with her magic. I’m near the apartment building on the opposite side of the lot when my skin tingles.

A fissure opens to my left. Trev. He steps to my side just as two more bright slashes of light rip through the atmosphere, one in front of us, one behind. The remaining male remnant stalks forward, bloody sword raised. I glance behind us and see the woman, who’s trying to gauge if she can get to me without Trev interfering.

I look at Trev, see blood gushing from the gap between the lower part of his cuirass and the jaedric armor protecting his right thigh. Shit.