Rise or Burn

Chapter Thirty

Val fell asleep curled up next to Sage in the early hours of the morning. When she woke up Sage was gone. She searched the house first, then the garden—maybe she'd needed some her air—but she was nowhere to be found. As the sinking realization dawned on her she went to her brother.

She'd found Wenly in Thea's office, an oval room on the first floor. He was with Hast and Thea. A sinking sense of dread threatened to submerge her at the sight of her father's killer. It made her sick. But she swallowed the bile. She had more pressing matters at hand. "Sage is gone," she said. "I think she went to the palace to talk to her mother."

Wenly looked up to meet her gaze. "I know."

"What?" She furrowed her brow.

Wenly gestured to Thea and Hast and they left the room. "She told me before she left."

"She told you," Val frowned, "and you let her leave." She wanted to yell but she restrained herself. This wasn't the time to lose her composure.

"We need to know what Nyx is planning," he explained.

"You let her go." It wasn't that he let her go. Sage would have left with or without Wenly's approval. This wasn't his fault. But she needed someone to direct her frustration at. Sage wasn't here to take up that role.

"She'll be back before nightfall."

"And if she's not?" Now she was worried. She didn't want to imagine that Nyx would be capable of hurting her own daughter but she never thought Nyx was capable of doing the things she'd done so far. What if she did hurt Sage?

"Nyx is a monster but even monsters have hearts. She won't hurt Sage."

"You can't be sure of that. You let her walk straight into danger, alone."

"She can handle herself."

"Just because she can doesn't mean she should. I should have gone with her."

"She never would have let you. And frankly, neither would I. You're safer here."

"What about her safety?" Her fingers balled up into fists and her jaw clenched.

"Nyx won't hurt her," he repeated.

"Maybe," Val conceded. "But that doesn't mean she'll let her come back to us."

>>>>>>>

Finding the way to a hidden island in the middle of one of the most dangerous seas on the planet was easier than Arlin would have thought. The island—according to Sorin—had been on the Wythynians' radar for months now. They'd discovered it with the help of one of the islanders. Nyx Logan, Sorin had said. Arlin hadn't been surprised to hear her name. She had tried to kill him and Andy. He doubted her moral integrity.

However, getting onto the island was a whole other story. The island was shielded by an impenetrable barrier. It encompassed the island and about a mile of the surrounding water.

"How do we get through it?" Arlin asked.

Sorin reclined in his seat. "We don't. You do." The jump ship was slowly descending, getting closer to the water. "There's a breech in the barrier. It's small, too small for the ship but big enough for someone to swim through."

Arlin scoffed. "That's convenient." He scanned the barrier, it was nearly invisible but at certain angles it caught the light and shimmered like glass. He could see the lining of the lattice. It was like crystal webbing. Beautiful in its impossibility. But what he couldn't see was the breech. "Wouldn't they have noticed?" he asked. "If their barrier had been compromised, wouldn't they have noticed?"