Chapter twenty-six
a deal with a ghost
“ W ake up Nell.”
I rubbed my eyes and shifted on the stone. “Darragh?”
Beside the slab, Darragh tilted his head and cooed, “Are you alright?”
“Uh, I’m okay, I guess.” Darragh’s clothes were awful, a bright yellow robe and a giant witch’s hat. Instead of his normal hand carved necklaces and earrings, he wore gaudy beads of mismatching colours. “What are you wearing?”
Ignoring my question, Darragh took my hand and intertwined our fingers. “Where’d you leave the necklace?” He smelled pungent and sweet, like fermenting fruit. Nothing like the smoky campfire smell I’d grown so fond of. “Tell me where the necklace is, and we can get out of here—together.” Darragh smiled a beautiful, beaming smile.
Darragh’s eyes were wrong. They possessed an uncomfortable ferocity—pride and malice seeped through the pupils like venom.
I leaned away. “Where’s Darragh? ”
A wave rippled across Darragh’s face. The veneer faded into the Truth, who shrugged and said, “I thought I’d try the easy way first.”
I tried to slide my legs from the slab; I couldn’t.
“I can feel there’s something different about you.” The Truth rapped her knuckles on my skull. “I’ve tried prying into that little noggin’ of yours, and I can’t seem to crack it.” She crossed her arms. “I know the little, insignificant details of your pathetic life. I know your name is Eleanor. I know you have a friend named Watney, and I know you’re very sad.” Her lips pouted in mock sadness. “But anything of substance, anything of use to me… It’s the darndest thing. I just can’t seem to grasp it.” The Truth sighed and stared at me. “Fortunately, I have a few more tricks up my sleeve. They don’t call me the Truth for nothing.” The Truth uncrossed her arms. “Sure, you won’t tell me where the necklace is…” She faded into Darragh. “But what about a lover? You’d be surprised how often this works.” Again, she didn’t fully shift into Darragh. It looked like him, but I could tell something wasn’t right.
Maybe some of the Truth’s magic was lost on me?
“You know, mind reading isn’t as easy as everyone thinks. I can’t just pop in there and get what I want. Minds are massive. I wouldn’t know where to look.” The Truth rolled her eyes, as if that was so painfully obvious. Pointing at me, she said, “You need to lead me to the answers. And mind reading doesn’t equate lie detection. People believe their own lies all the time. I could ask you where the necklace is, and you could picture some random location. Doesn’t mean it’s there, doesn’t mean it’s the truth. It’s art, a puzzle of pieces you must put together. What you’re thinking, what you’re telling me, what you’re not telling me—”
The Truth liked to talk an awful lot.
Catching my wandering eyes, the Truth’s next sentence came out sharp. “But my name isn’t the Queen’s Options, I’m the Queen’ s Truth, and I will get it. I can’t just read thoughts—I can put them there as well. I make people see what I want them to see.” A cruel smile twinged her cheek. “I make them feel what I want them to feel. Five minutes with me and I’ll have you reliving the worst pain of your life, over and over.”
Jokes on you. I relive that every night .
A tingle radiated up my fingers, but nothing more. Truth-Darragh’s face contorted with rage. “Why don’t you scream? Does it not hurt?”
“Oh! I mean, ah!” I screamed weakly and confusedly. A small glimmer of satisfaction flitted across the Truth’s face. I faked another scream, and again, she smiled.
“Where’s the necklace?” the Truth snapped.
“Where’s Darragh?” I cringed in mock pain.
The Truth’s face contorted with effort; I made a spectacle and screamed louder. We continued back and forth for hours. Sweat coated the Truth’s upper lip as she focused everything she had on me. It started to hurt…a little. To be honest, I was more bored than anything else.
Should I just tell her so we can stop?
The Truth chattered on, but my attention was spent. I zoned out and a look of satisfaction crossed the Truth’s face. Perhaps she thought the pain too much for me to bear. Truthfully, I’d nearly dozed off. My eyes closed as I relaxed against the stone slab.
I wonder if Brana made it back.
“What’s this?” I opened my eyes and shifted my gaze lower. Brana sat on the stool beside me. The Truth looked down at her new body. “Hm? Who’s this?” Her eyes snapped open. “No!” She covered her mouth and turned back into herself.
The Truth’s lips mouthed one silent word.
Cage .
The door to the room flew open .
The hulking, black-robed figure of the Cage ducked in. The Truth didn’t cower as the Cage’s dark shadow eclipsed her. Instead, she smiled into the depthless hood.
“The Queen has summoned you,” the Cage rattled.
“Why didn’t I feel her call?” the Truth asked, examining her nail.
“Perhaps you were too focused on your task.” The Cage waved one boney hand in my direction. “Have you learned anything from the girl?”
“Oh, yes.” The Truth rose and grinned. “It seems…” She craned her neck toward the Cage. “That not everyone is who they say they are.”
The door closed behind the Truth, and a film of smoke enveloped the Cage. A red-faced Brana rushed over.
“She knows,” I blurted.
“I gathered that much, my dear.” Brana helped me down. “I’ve freed Darragh. He’s waiting downstairs.”
“You did?!”
Brana nodded quickly, then opened the door and looked down the hall. A layer of smoke swept up and cocooned her. “Follow me.” The Cage left the room, and I followed as its captive. We hurried through the mountain. More than one guardian gave me a sidelong glance, but they scurried off when the Cage looked their way. “Brace yourself,” the Cage rattled. It opened a door and ushered me in.
No bigger than a closet, there was barely room for me and the Cage. My boot kicked something.
Darragh.
He leaned against the wall, eyes closed and resting. One arm wrapped his stomach, his shirt was crusty with blood. I knelt beside Darragh, and nearly cried out. Two fingers were absent from his left hand. Where his pinky and ring finger should have been, only bloody stumps remained.
“The Truth did this?” I hovered over Darragh, scared to touch him.
The Cage transformed into Brana, who followed my gaze to Darragh’s hand. “It was someone much more wicked. The boy’s lucky to be alive.” Brana knelt. “He hasn’t seen the sun in many days. He’s very weak.” I brushed stringy, sweat-soaked hair from Darragh’s face. One of his eyes was swollen and charred beyond recognition.
Darragh roused. I don’t know how he found the strength, but he smiled when he saw me. “Are you alright?” he croaked.
I choked back an uncomfortable laugh. “I’m perfectly fine. How are you?”
Darragh made a thumbs up with his good hand, and a weak flame erupted from his thumb like a lighter. He grimaced.
The flame died.
“I begged you wouldn’t come back.” Darragh’s eyes fluttered. “Though I hoped you would.”
I chewed my lip and shot Brana a wary look.
“If you want him to survive,” she whispered, “you need to get him out of here right now.”
I glanced at Darragh’s legs. “Can you walk?” Darragh nodded. I slipped my arm around his back and lifted. Darragh cried out as he straightened his stomach. “I’ve got you,” I murmured, gripping Darragh tighter.
“I can get you out of here,” Brana said. “You can’t go to his home.”
“We’ll go to mine,” I replied.
The smoke consumed Brana, and she became the Cage one last time. It opened the door and looked both ways before nodding at us to follow. We shuffled quickly through the halls. The Cage covered us with their cloak every time a guardian drew near. After what seemed like an eternity, we entered the chamber that housed the touching stones to escape the mountain. Two guardians stood on duty. One of them opened her mouth—the Cage waved and they both vanished .
“Won’t they report you to the Queen?” I asked.
“If they ever were to reappear, they might.”
I winced.
“Besides, I imagine the Truth has told the Queen all about me by now.”
Darragh and I shuffled to the stones. Wind whipped us as they sparked to life. The Cage remained on the far side of the chamber. “What are you doing?” I called. “Let’s go.”
“I can’t come with you; the Queen will just call me back.”
“What about Pip?”
“When I don’t come home, my mother will flee.”
“No! You can’t—”
Footsteps sounded down the hall.
“Get out of here, you fool!” the Cage hissed.
The mountain wall faded, and the Cage blurred. Through the swirling wind, I saw the Truth enter the chamber. As Darragh and I escaped, the Truth’s shrill voice screamed, “Traitor!”
Our feet hit the ground at the base of the mountain. The guardians who watched the entrance were gone. Brana must have gotten them too. Above us, the sky was grey, and a light trickle of rain kissed our skin.
“Frig!”
Darragh needed sunlight.
Just ahead, the path wound through a forest. If we survived long enough to get there, we’d have some cover. Darragh’s body was heavy against mine, and I struggled to walk straight as he swayed.
We reached the tree line and I looked for the rock Brana had showed me earlier.
There!
Verata!
The ground shifted and molded into a staircase. Darragh and I eased onto the first step when a lighting-crack sounded from the mountain. The Truth and several guardians pursued us. I led Darragh down the remaining stairs and helped him to the ground. I found the satchel I’d hidden, pulled out the Queen’s necklace, and yanked it over my head.
Darragh’s jaw dropped. He slurred, “You brought that here ?”
“I’m sorry. I didn’t have time to pop over to your cottage on the way back. How’s your hand, by the way?” Darragh’s mouth snapped shut. The shadows in the cache shifted as Alyth crept forth. I watched Darragh, gaging his reaction.
Nothing.
He couldn’t see her either.
I prepared for my next move. Darragh wasn’t going to like this bit. I bolted up the stairs and stepped outside. Verata! Darragh’s shocked eyes met mine as the stairs folded above him.
“Hey!” A guardian shouted, closer than I’d anticipated. Legs and arms pumping, I sprinted from the cache. As I ran, Alyth appeared in the woods beside me every few feet, offering words of encouragement.
“If you plan to outrun them—” Her voice faded as I ran past her. She reappeared ahead. “I’ve surely underestimated your stupidity.”
“What would you have me do?” I dodged trees and leapt over underbrush.
“We can fight them, you and I.” Her voice faded.
“How?”
She reappeared. “Open your mind. Trust me.”
The distance between trees increased, until they fell away completely. I slowed my pace and skidded to a stop.
Oh no.
A sheer cliff met my feet. I peered over the edge—
“Guhhh.” I shivered and stepped away. It was a two-hundred-foot drop to the dry creek bed below .
“There!” a shout rang out behind me, and I faced my pursuers. There were five in total; four guardians, headed by the Truth.
“Invite me in,” Alyth whispered urgently.
I didn’t have a choice.
I closed my eyes and cleared my mind.
I pictured a clean, white expanse. The white was broken only by the crisp lines of a door.
Knock-knock-knock.
The door swung open, Alyth stood in the frame. Demure and innocent, she waited.
“Please, come in.”
Alyth grinned as she crossed the threshold. She offered a soft, delicate hand and asked, “May I?”
“Yes.”
Alyth’s grip was ironclad as she drew me to her chest. We clashed together—there was a touch of madness behind her eyes as she held my gaze. Alyth threw her head back and laughed.
Regret rooted in my belly as the laughter washed over me.
Alyth faded.
She became a part of me.
I opened my eyes.
Energy pulsed from my chest. It shot down my arms and burned my fingertips. Awestruck, I stared at my hands. I half expected to see tiny sparks leaping between my fingers.
“The shadows.” Alyth pointed to the trees. I raised my arms, mimicking what I’d seen Hiraethians do. I could feel the shadows, like each one was connected to my fingers by tiny strings. I yanked—the shadows came loose and streaked along the ground. They shot up my legs and surrounded my hands in a swirling cloud of darkness. Alyth said, “Force them back.” I packed the shadows until they formed a thick, dark mass. I wound up and tossed the dark orb like a softball. It arced through the air and landed two feet in front of us. Alyth looked on forlornly. “We’re doomed.”
Our attackers, unsure of what I might do, approached cautiously. I called on more shadows, and Alyth’s eyes darted between me and the Truth. “You’re casting magic like a boy! You need to mean it.” The power shooting through me was exhilarating…and terrifying. My arms shook as I focused on the Truth, willing every ounce of power in her direction. A black disc exploded from me so forcefully it propelled my hand back and I knocked myself in the nose.
“Agh!” I stumbled back, teetering on the edge of the cliff. Blood trickled from my nostril, I smeared it with the back of my hand.
“Stop. Stop. Stop,” Alyth repeated. “You’re going to lose an eye.” She planted her legs beside me and held her hand out. “Hold your hand away from your face! Flex your arm, keep it steady, control the power. No short bursts!” Her hand gestures were desperate and animated, like a frantic football coach. “Focus on one person at a time and push them back.”
Concentrating on the Truth, I planted my feet and locked my elbow. I took a deep breath and envisioned the attack. Shadows shot from my fingertips and surrounded the guardian beside the Truth.
Ah well. Close enough, I guess.
It took great effort, like pushing a large cabinet, but the guardian slowed. I braced my arm and continued to push. Her advancing stopped altogether. She struggled, but I kept pushing.
“Agh!” I threw everything I had at the guardian. As if struck by a bus, the guardian flew back into the trees. The remaining guardians and the Truth stared, mouths open. “Ha!” I blurted out a shocked laugh.
They broke into a sprint .
“Oh. Oh no.”
“Again!” Alyth cried.
I panicked and sent all the shadows at once. A thin veil spread among the remaining attackers. “Focus on one target!” Alyth shouted, backing away. I ignored her. They were too close now. I didn’t have time to choose one target, but the force of everyone pushing against me was too much. My feet slid closer to the cliff. I risked a glance over my shoulder.
The Truth saw her opportunity. She broke through the shadows and yanked the necklace from my throat. “Ah-ha!” she cried. “You’re coming with—”
The pendant slid from the chain. I snatched it from the air before it tumbled over the edge. The remaining guardians scrambled for the pendant. One of them bumped into another, who bumped me.
My arms windmilled as I tried to regain my balance.
I fell.
Clouds of shadow cocooned me, they cushioned my impact when I hit the first rocky shelf. I bounced and continued plummeting. The second impact knocked the pendant from my grasp. The shadows disappeared, and I scrabbled at the edge of the rock. My momentum slowed, but I kept sliding. The skin on my forearms tore as I grabbed at branches and twigs jutting from the deposits of soil littering the rock. My legs hit air, and I slipped over one final edge.
I dropped into a small crevice at the base of the ravine. My body slammed into the ground, but I’d slowed myself enough that the fall didn’t kill me. I leapt up before the pain and stiffness took hold. My chest heaved as I examined the crevice holding me captive. Only a few meters long, a large opening ran the length of the crevice. Though the edge was only a few feet above my head, years of rainfall had smoothed the walls. I took a few steps back and ran at the edge. I slid back down. I tried again. This time, I jumped when I started to slide. My palms slapped against the wall, a foot below the rim.
I sat down to rest, leaning against the cool, damp rock. A memory nagged me. Watney caught a mouse one day, and rather than kill it, he’d dropped it in the bathtub. When I pulled the curtain back to shower, I found the poor thing trying to climb the smooth walls. The mouse slid back down. Every single time. He had probably been trying to escape for hours. If it weren’t for me scooping him up in a box and releasing him, he would have died in there.
The story sank in.
There was no one to help me. No way out. I rested my forehead against my forearms.
I’m going to die here .
I thought about Darragh, alone in the cache where I left him.
Will he suffocate or starve first ?
I started to cry. Quiet tears initially, which turned into ugly, heaving sobs. Gravel crunched above and I covered my mouth. Did the Truth follow me down here? I leaned against the rock, making myself small. I begged she wouldn’t peer over the edge.
“Nell, where are you?” Darragh’s voice croaked. A sob of relief shuddered through me—I froze.
Was it a trap?
“It’s not a trap,” Darragh called. “Are you hurt?”
“That sounds like something someone would say if it was a trap,” I yelled. The crunch of stones quickened and Darragh’s dirt smeared face appeared. A combination of a sob and a laugh sputtered out of me.
Darragh’s voice was hoarse and breathy. “I’m going to find something to pull you out. Hold on.” He disappeared.
Crunching gravel announced Darragh’s return. A vine fell beside me. I tested its strength; Darragh grunted, but it held. Tying the vine around my midsection, I leaned back and climbed out. As I crested the ridge, I realized Darragh had nothing to tie the vine to. He’d wrapped it around his midsection too. Fresh blood oozed around the vine where it squeezed his stomach.
“Why’d you do that?” I scolded, running to him. I untied the vine and eased him to the ground. Darragh swayed and struggled to stay upright. “How do we fix you?”
“I need to rest,” Darragh replied, with barely enough breath to utter it. A grimy bandage wrapped Darragh’s head, covering his eye. Once Darragh caught his breath, he turned one lovely, olive eye on me. I couldn’t even imagine how terrible I looked. Dirty, and eyes puffy from bawling. We’d come so close to death just now. I bit my lip and looked away as fresh tears welled again. Darragh struggled to his feet and pulled me tight against his chest. The gentle smokiness washed over me, and I knew.
I knew it was him.
“I’m here now,” Darragh whispered. “I’ve got you.”
A small rock tumbled down the cliff face. It clanked all the way to the bottom of the ravine. “We need to move.” Darragh pointed ahead. “The cliff curves around over there. There’s a path. That’s how I got down.” I kept Darragh’s arm around me as we trudged out. I told him it was comforting. But really, I think we both knew I was supporting more than my own weight.
“How’d you get out of the cache?”
Darragh raised his good hand. “Dug.”
“I thought some sort of enchantment would prevent that.”
“Whoever built the cache wanted to keep people out, not in. They were smugglers.” Darragh glared. “Not psychopaths.”
“We don’t have to talk about it now,” I said quickly. Darragh grunted in response. Tendrils of sunshine peeked through the clouds, and an object twinkled in the dirt ahead.
The pendant!
“Ah-ha!” I cried, scooping it up as we walked by.
“You lost it?” Darragh gasped.
“I dropped it, when I was pushed off a cliff .” I slid the pendant in my pocket.
We came to the path, but Darragh hesitated and whispered, “We’re being followed.”
“What?” I straightened and scanned the area.
“Keep walking,” Darragh grimaced. “There’s a waterfall ahead. If we’re quick, we can hide and hope they pass.” We began our ascent, heading toward the sound of crashing water.
Every few steps, I glanced behind. “I don’t see anyone.”
“I can feel her.”
We arrived at the waterfall; the rushing water cut down the right side of the path and down the ravine. While the main path continued up and out, a smaller one branched off to a ledge that ran behind the waterfall. I stepped onto the ledge, but Darragh pulled me back. “I’ll go first.” He checked behind us again. When he was sure it was clear, he disappeared through the veil of water. After a moment, his hand appeared. I took it and held my breath as freezing water cascaded over me. I hit air and gasped, already shivering. The ledge was only a foot wide; it was a snug fit in here. Darragh pulled me in front of him so that I faced the rock. His body shielded me from behind.
Is he protecting me from the water, or whatever’s following us?
The waterfall was deafening. I rested my forehead against the cold rock and shivered. Darragh pressed against my back, warming me and the surrounding rock. Intoxicating smokiness filled the small space. I struggled to focus on anything but Darragh’s body—tried to ignore the gentle breath that brushed my ear and sent shivers through me… The water crashing around us quieted. I glanced up, confirming it still flowed. I looked over my shoulder, up at Darragh.
“Is this one of your tricks?”
Darragh tugged my arm, and I carefully faced him. He looked down at me, his face grave. “What you did back there was idiotic.”
“You couldn’t outrun them.” I gulped. “I could.”
“It was very brave.”
I ignored him. “Look what they did to you. What would they have done if they caught you again?” I stopped talking. “Did you say I was brave?”
Darragh unwrapped the bandage covering his eye. It was dirty…but healed. The cascading water washed away most of the grime, sweat and blood. Darragh’s hair fell in dark, wet ringlets around his face, and stray droplets streamed down his throat. “Thank you,” Darragh murmured. His gaze dropped to my lips and my pulse quickened. He brought his hand to rest under my chin and tilted my head. “May I?”
I blinked quickly and nodded. Darragh closed his eyes and softly pressed his lips to mine. His heart hammered his chest; I felt every beat as if it were my own. When he pulled away, I nearly cried out.
Don’t go .
Darragh rested his forehead against mine. Eyes still closed, he whispered, “Thank you,” again. Despite the freezing water, an exhilarating warmth coursed through me.
Happiness.
My wonderful, obnoxious smile faded when I glimpsed the blood stain on Darragh’s shirt. A stark reminder of our situation. Worry curbed the warmth in my belly. “What do we do about that?” Darragh lifted his shirt. An angry red burn marred his stomach. Even as I watched, the burn slowly shrunk.
“I’m working on it.” Darragh dropped his shirt back into place. “I’ll be vulnerable until it’s healed.” He held up his hand, wiggling the bloody nubs of his fingers. “These are going to take a while. We’ll have to have to be very careful for the next few days.”
“We need to go back to Earth,” I said. “We’re not safe here.” Darragh didn’t say anything. “It doesn’t have to be permanent, but it’s safer for now.”
Darragh deliberated and sighed. “You’re right.”
“Do they know how you travel back and forth? Do they know about Senan?”
“I don’t know. I don’t think so.”
“How long will it take us to get there?”
“We should reach my cottage by nightfall. If we bypass it and walk through the night, we could be to Senan by mid-morning, given we aren’t waylaid.”
“That’s what we’ll do then.”
“The risk will be great. The Queen’s guardians are looking for us, and even people that aren’t looking for us…” Darragh’s Adam’s apple bobbed. “Nell, if anyone finds out I don’t have magic… I’ve upset many people.” Darragh tucked a wet strand behind his ear. “We can avoid the road for most of the journey, stay hidden in the wood, but…” Darragh rubbed his neck. “The wood isn’t exactly safe either.”
My gaze fell to his lips once more. “We’ll be careful.”
“Our pursuer has passed.” Darragh pulled away. “We should go.”