The Shattered Dark

His father has been trying to kill them for years, but I don’t correct Lee.

“I’ve been telling myself Dad just needs closure, that he just needs to kill the fae who killed my mother, but I’m as delusional as he is. Naito’s right. Dad’s obsessed. Insane. He has to be to order me to kill my brother. I have to be crazy to consider it.”

“You’re not crazy,” Paige says. “You’re an idiot. What happened to your hand?”

He finally looks up at her. “A wall hit it.”

She sinks down beside him. “Like I said, you’re an idiot.”

“It was a wooden wall,” he adds, a hint of sarcastic humor invading his tone. “I didn’t expect it to break.”

She rolls her eyes as she inspects his injured hand. Paige went to nursing school for something like two weeks before she dropped out, but she’s still into things like blood and stitches and broken bones. There’s plenty of that here in the Realm.

I lean a shoulder against the wall and look down at them, at the way he watches her face as she unties the ribbon that’s playing the role of a belt around her waist. She uses it to dab at the blood on his hand. It’s obvious Lee cares about her.

“Paige mentioned you were looking for me at her sister’s wedding,” I say after they stand. “You knew about my involvement with the fae. How? And how did you know to look for me at the reception?”

He raises an eyebrow in Paige’s direction. When she nods, he says, “A fae told my father your name.”

“In person?” I ask.

“Yeah.”

“Do you know who the fae was?” Aren and Lena think Atroth gave my name to the vigilantes, knowing that they’d find and kill me, but Kyol has sworn that’s not true. I don’t know what to believe. Nakano’s people did track my cell phone and attack the place where the rebels were holding me in Germany, and it’s clear they had no problem with killing me, but I trust Kyol’s word. He says Atroth wanted me back alive, not dead.

Lee shakes his head. “I never saw the fae. I didn’t inject myself with the serum until Dad left for Germany. He called when they didn’t capture you. He told me to check out your place in Houston, so I flew down there.”

The vigilantes were not trying to capture me, but I let him continue.

“I broke into your apartment and listened to your answering machine. There were enough messages from Paige threatening to kick your ass if you didn’t show up at the wedding that I figured you’d be there if you were able to. I found the invitation, went to the mansion, asked for Paige, and…”

He fades off, looking to the right. I turn. Lord Hison is there. He’s watching us, walking slowly—even by human standards slowly—through the sculpture garden. He doesn’t glance away when he sees me looking in his direction. He doesn’t look any happier to see Paige and Lee now than he did when he passed us exiting the throne room. He’d rather this war be fought without human help.

“Let’s go back to our rooms,” I tell the others. I don’t want to talk out in public like this. Besides, they look as tired as I do, and if I want to be useful in Boulder, I need at least a couple hours of sleep.

I escort them back to the residential wing. It’s not until we reach the second level that I remember the fae Lee knocked out. He’s not lying on the ground anymore. A new guard is here, and when I step into the corridor, his hand goes to the hilt of his sword. Then Lee and Paige emerge from the staircase after me, and the fae’s gaze moves to them.

I turn to look at them, too. Paige’s eyebrows are raised. How am I going to explain away what happened? I think Lee is okay now, and I don’t want the fae to be pissed at him.

“There was a misunderstanding,” I try, facing the guard again. “Is the other fae okay?”

The guard doesn’t answer for a moment. It’s long enough for me to wonder if he speaks English. Finally, he nods. “He’s fine. I’m to take over his watch.”

“Is anyone else looking for us?” Paige is whispering to me, but fae have good hearing. The guard shakes his head.

“I was about to call for a search,” he says.

There’s no need for that now. “They’re going back to their rooms.”

I motion for them to go.

“Paige—” Lee begins.

She takes his hand, looks into his eyes, and says, very deliberately, “You can stay with me.”

Apparently, Paige has forgiven Lee. Either that or she wants to keep an eye on him. The guard doesn’t seem to mind them slipping into the same room. Neither do I. Hopefully, they’ll get a decent night’s sleep.

And, hopefully, I’ll get at least a couple of hours of rest.

MY door slams open, jarring me awake.

“McKenzie!”

I leap out of bed as Lena storms into my room. My leg gets caught in my blanket. I hit my knees, get back up.

“Where are they?” she demands, inches from my face.

I’m groggy and off-balance. It takes a second to focus on her, and when I do, I take a step back. Damn. I haven’t seen this look on her face since she ended one of my escape attempts in Germany.

“Paige and Lee?” I guess. I can’t think of anyone else who would make her this angry.

“Of course Paige and Lee,” she snaps.

“They’re gone?” Even though I know Lena wouldn’t have stormed in like this if they were safely tucked in their rooms, I can’t keep the note of disbelief from my voice. Lee already surprised a guard and escaped once. The second guard would have been more alert.

Or maybe he’d be less alert because who would have thought he’d try to escape again?

Lena grabs a fistful of my shirt. “If you don’t tell me exactly where they are, by the Sidhe, I’ll ban you from the Realm.”

I grab her hand, try to loosen it from my shirt. “Lena. I didn’t—”

“I thought you wouldn’t do this,” she says, shoving me back. “But they’re gone, McKenzie. They couldn’t have made it out of the palace on their own.”

“And I’m the only one who could have possibly helped them escape.” Sarcasm probably isn’t the best way to address Lena when she’s this pissed, but I didn’t do this.

“She’s your friend—the only friend you think you have.” There’s a note of something in her voice. Is she suggesting she’s my friend?

“Lena, don’t!” Aren sprints into my room. When he sees me, he stops and visibly relaxes. “She didn’t kill you.”

I scowl. He’s a little too lighthearted about that.

“They were both in Paige’s room when I went to sleep,” I say. “They had a guard.”

“Their guard is dead,” Lena interrupts. “Lord Hison saw you with them.”

“But that was”—God, this is going to sound incriminating—“the first time Lee broke out.”

Aren’s eyebrows go up. I give him a shrug that says, “Yeah, I screwed up,” but there’s no apology in it.

I turn back to Lena. “Look, we’re wasting time. How long until we’re supposed to leave for Boulder?”

“A little over an hour,” Aren answers.