Chapter 23
And Then I Lost You
RAVEN
Preparations begin after dinner. I grab my Raven gear from under my bed and pop a moonstone supplement, then I cease to exist as Harper the second I put on the mask.
Outside my room, Niko yells at Kiran that they’re needed by the MacRitchie expressway, and I swallow from my perch on my windowsill. It’s beginning.
Today’s protests against the expansion of the Mac-Ritchie expressway are going to be huge. We’ve gathered both Nagas and Foxes by the expressway, and we’re right by a reservoir, which means Nagas will be at their full strength.
In the distraction, it’ll be my job to complete the assignment and secure my leadership and the blood requirement for their bombs.
The flutter of wings fills the night sky above me. I look up.
My Fox descendancy always gives me a knack for reading storms, even in the night sky.
But a more primal magic feeds the thrumming disturbance in the flock of crows passing over me, warning me away with a discordant sense of wrong.
The blood moon and the gathering of Nagas turns the air thick with ominous magic.
Nature disquiets, and clouds throng above.
Before I can chicken out, I stand on the edge of the sill and jump into the void.
The trail of birds ends at MacRitchie. The Sentinels have only just arrived – Niko is suspended mid-air, their eyes glowing green.
Shit. Niko’s eyes only ever glow green when they’re mad, and sometimes after business meetings I see wisps of emerald in their eyes, but it always dissipates by the time Kiran and Tia come round.
A Naga throws a car at them.
The birds scatter as the Jeep sails through the air. Niko, who’s busy trying to zap out a few Nagas on the other side of the expressway, doesn’t see it coming. The car smacks them into the ground, and I hear them grunt.
I wince.
‘Raven?’ Maria approaches, her mask on, daggers in hand. ‘You know the plan. The Nagas are ready to distract the Sentinels. This is your last chance to kill Tia. Do you understand?’
I nod. Like I have for the past week, I run through every stage of the plan. Everything has to be perfect. Subconsciously, my eyes find Kiran, who’s busy Tasering a couple of Nagas.
Maria snaps her fingers, drawing my attention. ‘Raven. This is your last chance. Do you understand?’
I know the question she’s asking. Will you let Tia get in the way of killing Lune again?
‘I understand, Mari.’ I search the scene for Lune. Where are you? I resist the urge to text her – ALFRED would inform Lune through her suit of my message, and I don’t want to distract her.
I scan the sky and the ground, but the crows grow rowdier than before and obscure my vision.
A moon-white beam slices through the air. Found you.
A Naga punches Lune backwards with extraordinary force, and she crashes into a car. She tries to stand, but her knees buckle under her and she crumples to the ground.
‘Tia!’ I hear Niko shout as three Nagas begin to advance on Lune. But even as they fight the storm of birds to get to their daughter, there are four Nagas waiting to catch them. One wrong move, and Niko’s next.
Showtime, baby.
I sprint forward into the shrinking semicircle of Nagas and stand in front of Lune. ‘Hey, guys.’
I don’t recognize these Nagas, but when they see me they stop. The middle one grins. ‘Raven. We were told to save her for you.’
‘That’s right, thank you.’ I stand over Lune. Dimly, I register the news helicopters circling me. The world is a stage, the searchlights are my spotlight, and I’m the lead of a play doomed to failure.
I advance.
Lune scrambles away until she hits a car.
Her gaze tracks my blade from behind her blue visor. ‘You’re not getting away with this, Fox.’ The banter is glaringly fake. I almost laugh from pure nerves, because my nerves have stripped me clean of emotion, but having Lune before me reminds me that we’re in this together.
At the very least, I’m not alone.
Splaying a palm, I pretend I’m pinning Lune down with telekinesis when I’m really doing nothing – Lune, so used to fake-fighting by now, acts the part.
I kneel down to eject her helmet with my other hand.
With Tia exposed, I draw a blade. It’s hot through my gloves – God, I’m gripping it so tightly. The time has finally come for me to complete my assignment, and I’ve never been so close to, yet so far from, fulfilling my promise.
Tia’s face twitches, like she wants to move but is resisting the urge.
The Nagas have succeeded in distracting Niko and Kiran enough that there’s no one stopping me now.
I lean in. Closer to the target. Intimate. In my ear, my communications device crackles.
‘We have faith in you, Raven.’ It’s Ah Ma. She is almost never on the communication channels.
Everyone is watching me. Every Fox is waiting for me to do them proud.
‘Kit?’ Tia whispers. She sounds scared, but her eyes are gentle. Between us, her fingers curl to graze my chest, as if to reassure me.
I conjure up an entire scene: me and Tia, my blade plunging into Tia’s torso.
It’s the best illusion I’ve conjured in my life. I imagine it, visualize every single detail I can, even if it hurts to see Illusion Tia crying out in pain. But I touch Real Tia (safe, she’s still safe) and she holds me tight as we stand to escape.
I tuck my blade into my belt and slip a hand around her waist.
You okay? I mouth. My illusion magic is good enough to conjure sound and sight, but not enough to suppress sound – we’re going to need to be quiet.
Tia’s grip goes tight around my shoulder as she limps forward. Her body weight drapes my side, her boots shuffling.
Sprained, she mouths back. Blood wells across a scratch on her cheek. Her dark hair curls at the nape of her neck, her skin sheened with sweat.
She places her foot down once to test it – I feel her entire body seize up with pain against me, her face crumpling into a grimace as she bites her lip.
I pull Tia in tighter, hoping it’s enough to convey that she doesn’t have to try. I’m here. We’re doing this, and we’re getting through it together.
Behind me, my illusion thrums the air, maintaining the fantasy everyone is expecting to see. In my illusion, Tia fights back. In my illusion, it takes forever to kill her. The Foxes keep both Kiran and Niko at bay as I murder their daughter.
I flinch when Illusion Tia’s broken cry rips through the air – straight from my head, exactly like my nightmares.
Tia’s hand squeezes at my waist.
I’m here too.
The road is burning, dark tarmac steaming under the scorching sun. Tia’s breath runs ragged in my ear, her fingers sweat-slippery on my shoulder.
Almost there, I want to tell her. Once we reach the end of the highway, we’ll be far enough for Tia to fly off unnoticed.
I’ll cover her with my magic, and I’ll replace Illusion Me.
Then I’ll escape with the Foxes, go home to Ah Ma as she pronounces me leader in front of the Elders, and I’ll finally be a prophecy fulfilled.
Then I, Harper Raven Leong, leader of the Foxes, will go home to Lain Co. and slip into bed beside my girlfriend. She’ll explain to Niko and Kiran that it was all a horrible trick by the Foxes. She’ll assure them that it’s over.
Tomorrow morning, I’ll wake up with her calf crossed over mine, her hair in my face, and it’ll all be okay again. This heavy heat and heavier silence will be a nightmare I barely remember.
Lune will lie low as Tia recovers, and by the time she makes a public appearance a month or two from now, my probation period would have long passed.
And while the Nagas may be furious at having their plans thwarted, the blood moon will have come and gone and there’ll be no reason for Tia to have to be dead.
The Elders might not be the happiest, but there has to be some merit given to pulling a grand deception for my role.
We’re moving slowly. I don’t know when it began, but my heart slams into my gut. We’re not quick enough. It’s suspicious that it’s taking so long.
I tug Tia forward to hurry her, but her foot catches the road, and she stumbles with a soundless cry.
Her name catches in my throat. I pull her to stand, but she has nearly her entire weight on me.
Can’t, she mouths, her face twisted in a grimace.
I crush my lips to the shell of her ear.
‘Please,’ I whisper, pushing past the apology at the tip of my tongue. ‘Just a bit more.’ I wish I could drop to my knees to beg, but who would I be praying to? What could save us now, aside from one gritted step after the next?
Tia’s foot slips again, and she makes a quiet sound, an aborted cry.
An Elder whips around.
Shit.
Her narrowed eyes pass through us. I don’t move. Tia and I stay locked together, both of us turned prey, hunters turned hunted.
Maybe they won’t—
A force bowls me sideways. My head slams against tarmac. Tia is ripped from my hold, collapsing beside me with a hiss.
The illusion disappears, leaving me and Tia exposed to everyone around us – Sentinels, Foxes, Nagas.
As I scramble to stand, a bus sails through the air and crushes Tia into the ground with chilling precision.
‘Tia!’ I cry.
It’s Maria. She stands on the edge of the expressway, her gaze dark with focus, both hands splayed in front of her.
I blame the shock for why I don’t move. I push myself to do something, anything, but I hear Niko scream Tia’s name as they bolt to the rubble. They fend off another flying vehicle that Maria sends, their wings beating it out of the sky before it can even make contact.
They plant their feet against the ground to push the bus up as Kiran keeps the Nagas away, holding his Tasers out in threat.
‘Not so quick!’ Maria shouts. She lifts the bus and Niko jerks back in surprise. As the rubble parts, a familiar figure forms. Tia hangs limp, her eyes shut, her head lolling, every joint loose.
The sight of her rips her name from Niko’s throat, a desperate plea and a scream. They raise a blaster right at Maria.
‘One move,’ they growl. ‘One move and I’ll kill you.’