Silver (23 page)

T
H
I
R
T
Y
-n
i
n
e

I'm only partly relieved to see another car in the small parking lot at the beach. The other half of me is terrified. Blake clasps my hand as we walk down the path and make our way along the sand next to the base of the cliff.

The air is colder than it should be this time of year. And there's something else off about it all … an unnatural smell that wafts on the wind, a hint of sulfur. I hold my hand out, using my power to form a mini pressure system that forces the air to flow around us. Only then do I let myself take another breath.

“There's something in the air.” I say.

Blake nods. “I know. I feel it.”

“I mean literally. Something's here that shouldn't be. I'll try to keep it away from us, but hold your breath if you get hit by a gust.”

“Do you think Austin would really hurt her?” Blake asks.

“Maybe. I don't know.” My gut is telling me he would. “Don't look in his eyes. His promises are empty.”

We see the fire first. It's a huge bonfire, with stacks of wood that rise several feet out of the pit. The flames flicker and stretch, higher and higher. Instinctively I reach out to them, test them. The fire recedes on my command, quieting down to a slower burn.

Haley's laugh carries across the beach. She whoops and throws her arms around Austin's neck. He stumbles back, folding her into his arms and spinning her around in a circle. From here they look blissful, romantic.

Blake stops. “She looks okay to me.”

Haley's voice is too loud. “Let's go skinny dipping!”

My veins turn to ice. “She's not okay.” Haley doesn't know how to do anything she can't learn from watching others or practicing in her room. Haley would never suggest skinny dipping. Okay, maybe in a hot tub, but never in the ocean. Haley can't swim.

I let go of Blake's hand and run the rest of the way to where Austin is still holding Haley in his arms.

“Easy.” Austin's voice is soothing, lilting accent and all. “You'll get to swim soon enough.” He grins when he sees me. “For a moment I was worried you weren't coming.”

“Let her go.”

Haley's eyes are so dark I can barely make out a thin ring of turquoise. “Brie! Are you stalking us now?”

Blake steps up behind me. As he does, the wind shifts, changing directions and blowing toward Blake. I have to react fast to stop it, convinced now that whatever is in the air is dangerous.

“Haley, listen to me. I'm not stalking you. You know me better than that. And Blake is here too. We're here to help.”

Haley's laugh is too high. “Last time I checked, Austin and I were doing just fine on our own.” She moves her lips to his neck and kisses a trail to his ear. Her smile is too big. It's not the coy smile that took her two years to perfect, the one that shows just a hint of teeth, and the promise of more. “We're going skinny dipping!” She lets go of Austin and stumbles away, pulling her long-sleeved tee over her head. The cold wind whistles around her but she doesn't flinch.

“You can't swim.” I keep my voice low. Embarrassing Haley in front of Austin and Blake won't help me convince her to come with me.

“You think you're so great now, don't you? So you got a boy to notice you. La dee dah!” She spins in a circle. When she stops in front of me her face is contorted into a grotesque sneer. “I bet I could get him too, if I wanted. Except I would never do that to you. I have boundaries.” She unbuttons her jeans and starts peeling them off.

“Haley!” I grab her arm. “Listen to me. This isn't you talking. He's in your head. Don't let him do this.”

She shakes off my hand and continues pulling off her clothes until she's standing on the beach in only a thin pair of black lace panties and matching bra she's managed to keep hidden from her mom since she bought it at the mall three weeks ago. When she looks at me again, her face is almost wistful. “Why can't you understand?” She looks over her shoulder at Austin. He stands in the firelight, smiling at her with his crooked grin, looking for all the world like a smitten boyfriend. “I love him. It's not like before.”

The air turns colder, even as I push the wind away. It's too cold.

“Haley.” Blake's voice is smooth. He touches her shoulder, fighting fire with fire. She can't look away from him. “Aren't you cold?”

Haley blinks, a lost look in her eyes. “Blake?” Her arms come around her chest and she rubs her arm, finally feeling the chill in the air.

Too late, Austin realizes what's happening. No longer content to sit back by the fire, he's on us in three strides. Haley is already grabbing for her clothes and shivering.

“Good.” Blake keeps his voice low. “Get your stuff. We need to go home.”

The golden light that flares behind us is so bright we all turn at once.

A ring of gold surrounds a patch of darkness so black that it seems to swallow everything. The light-ring grows and changes shape until it forms the outline of a man. Not a man. A god.

The creature that stands before us is like nothing I've ever seen. It almost hurts to look at him. It's not so much that he's illuminated in sunlight as it is that he's the sun itself. His light and heat shine on everything in his orbit. The cold air turns to a warm tropical breeze; hot waves dance along my skin. He's wearing what looks like a suede cloth, draped across his chest and tied around his waist, barely covering him. His boy-band good looks, so approachable as a human, are now anything but. His face is chiseled—sharp lines cast in granite with the skill of a master, so perfect that it's a shock when he flashes that crooked smile and my insides warm to an uncomfortable degree.

Haley drops her clothes in the sand and moves toward Austin, enchanted. She doesn't even notice the silver flash behind her.

With Blake's appearance, the beach is lit up like it's high noon, silver and gold light attempting to outshine each other. Blake's sword is drawn; his eyes watch Austin warily.

Austin holds out his hand to Haley and pulls her to him. She sinks into him, her eyes still huge. He strokes her hair as he whispers in her ear, and from a distance it almost looks like he cares about her. But I hear the last word he says as he pushes her away. “Swim.”

Haley turns her back on him and starts to walk toward the water. I grab her arm but she pulls away easily. “Leave me alone.” She starts to run.

A flash of lightning strikes right where Blake is standing. Blake disappears, before I can tell whether he's been hit. I spin around, looking for him.

Austin's laugh heats me through. It's a stark contrast to the icy cold heart that beats inside him. “Who's it going to be, Brianna? You can't save them both.”

I call the wind, using it to blow Haley backward, doing what I can to keep her from making it to the water.

Blake appears with a flash to my right. “Go after Haley. I can take care of myself.”

“He can't kill you,” I say, remembering Austin's comment about not being able to interfere. “If he kills you, he'll be banished to the underworld.”

Blake grins. “So it's a win-win.” He disappears again as I run to Haley.

She's fighting against the wind. It's strong enough that she falls to the ground. She struggles to get on her hands and knees, crawling with tiny steps.

“Haley!” I call her name three times before I'm close enough for her to hear me in the howling wind. A sandstorm rises around us, beating us with a million tiny bits of pebble. I smell an odor on the wind again, a stagnant damp smell that reminds me of underground. I hold my breath but it's too late—I already feel the air swirling in my lungs, coating my thoughts with a filmy drowsiness. Haley is a blur of movement as the wind stops.

I'm barely cognizant of her moving closer to the water; my mind is cloudy and dark. I just know that I have to stop her. It's like walking in quicksand. My feet feel so heavy, it takes all my concentration to keep them moving forward. I know I can't hold my breath much longer. I'm not even sure why I'm holding it in the first place. Then, just as I'm about to suck in a huge breath of air, my head clears. I push the wind away from me as quickly as I can before taking in big gulps of oxygen.

I hear the splash as Haley dives into the water. I call to the water, manipulating the waves to push her back toward the shore. I wade in until I'm almost waist-deep, reaching for Haley's arm. She dives under just as I make contact. She slips away. Her hand pops out of the water a few feet closer to shore. I surge forward. She's only knee-deep in water, but she's still face-down, panicking. I grab her arm and pull her to her feet. She struggles against me, even as she's coughing and choking, until she finally stops coughing long enough to get some air in her lungs. The air is fresh now, with no sign of the putrid odor that hung in it before.

When Haley looks at me, her eyes are clear and blue. She looks down at her wet, nearly naked form. “Brie?” Her voice is shaky. “What's going on?”

There's a clash of metal hitting rock, and we both look up to see our boyfriends-turned-gods facing off by the cliff wall.

I grab Haley's arm. “Come with me!”

She doesn't move at first, her eyes glued to the spectacle in front of us. “Is that … ?” She can't bring herself to finish the sentence. “Oh. My. God.”

It is quite a sight. Two men, too beautiful for words, bathed in the light of the stars and the sun. They fight, the clang of their swords ringing out across the beach.

I grab Haley's arm again and pull her away. We run along the beach until we're far enough away that the night becomes dark again. I lead her up the path to the parking lot.

Joe steps out of a white convertible just as we come over the crest. He takes off his leather jacket and places it around Haley's shoulders, ushering her into his car.

“Stay with Joe,” I say. “No matter what.” I calculate the odds of my coming back in one piece if I really try to banish Austin. They're not so good. “If I don't come back, don't worry,” I tell Haley. “Austin won't have any reason to hurt you.”

Haley nods, but her eyes are vacant, lost. “What about you?”

“I have something to take care of. Don't worry. I can handle it.”

I have no idea if the words are true. It hardly matters. I can't sit by and do nothing anymore. My days of being a scientific observer are behind me. It's time to take action.

“Are you going to tell me what's going on?”

“Of course.” I hug Haley close. “You're my best friend.”

She hugs me back. “I'm going to hold you to that.”

I don't know if she means my telling her everything, or being her best friend. It doesn't matter. I plan to follow through on both.

There's a flash and a large boom from down on the beach. I leave Haley in the car and run back down the path. I don't stop running until I get to the firepit.

Austin stands behind Blake, his arm tightening around Blake's neck. He holds Blake's sword in his free hand. “You're just in time,” he says to me.

Blake's eyes plead with me. “Brianna, go back. He can't kill me, right?”

“Is that so?” Austin runs the sword along Blake's chest, drawing a thin line of blood.

Blake doesn't flinch, but I feel the effort it takes for him to stay strong. The sharp stinging sensation ripples on my own skin. “It's a trap, Brianna. Get out of here.”

Austin laughs. “A trap? For who? I have no intention of hurting her. You, however, are a different story.” The sword cuts deeper.

I fall to the ground as Blake does, the pain slicing through me, as real as if the sword were breaking through my own skin.

Austin's golden voice carries across the sand, reverberating in my spine like a deep bass. “Do you feel his pain too? So sorry. I'm afraid it's going to hurt quite a bit more before I'm through.”

Blake vanishes from Austin's arms, and in a flash Austin is gone too. I push myself onto my hands and knees, still trying to get my bearings as the pain begins to ease. The next flash of light is behind me, farther up the beach. Blake is drawing Austin away. His silver light flickers as he struggles to reappear.

Austin appears in front of him, his back to me, sword raised. He thrusts the sword toward Blake's heart. A killing thrust.

Before I can even think, I'm on my feet, consumed with fire. There's a silver flash and a ball of blue flames dancing in the palm of my hand. I throw it at Austin's back without a second thought. Just as the fire is about to hit its mark, there's another, golden flash. Austin is gone.

The relief I feel, at the realization that his sword never made contact with Blake, lasts only a fraction of a second. Then my fireball takes the sword's place, hitting Blake square in the chest.

My heart explodes in the same instant. It breaks into a million tiny shards, which rip through my body like jagged bits of shrapnel. Even as I scream, I plead with Blake to hang on. But he's pulling away. There's a tearing sensation so strong it's as if my body is being torn from the inside out.

As my soul splits in two, everything goes black.

For
t
y

It's cold. Dark and cold. I shiver, my shoulders shaking against the chill. I want to embrace the iciness, to wrap myself up in it until I'm numb.

Austin's warm hand smooths my hair, running from my crown down my back. I'm pulled into a sitting position. My shoulders fall back against the wall of his strong chest as his arms come around me. I keep my eyes closed. Even as the heat of his body starts to warm me through, I fight against it. I'm not ready for the pain that comes with thawing out. I'm not sure I can endure it. I just want to go back to the anesthetic of the cold.

His hands run down my arms, sending prickles of pain along my arms as my nerves come back to life.
No
.
Fear and panic twist around in my stomach, competing for dominance in the empty space that once was filled with Blake.

And then the cold disappears all at once and I can't help but feel it. Not the all-consuming pain and grief I expect, but something far worse. My heart is empty, drained. Utterly alone.

“Blake!” I call, but there's no trace of him. Not a hint of emotion, good or bad. I can't feel him at all. He's really gone. My eyes fly open; I'm no longer able to keep the panic at bay.

Blake lies on the beach a few feet in front of me. I start to move toward him, but the arms around my waist fold tighter, holding me back.

“Shhhh,” Austin whispers. His voice is soothing, a comfort I can't afford to indulge.

“Let me go.” I pull away, and this time he doesn't stop me. I scramble across the sand, throwing my arms around Blake's lifeless form. I don't bother to check his vital signs; I already know there won't be any. The hollow place inside me tells me everything I need to know.

I don't cry. I don't deserve the luxury of tears. Blake is back in human form, in dark jeans and a vintage concert tee. He looks almost normal, other than the streak of blood and the black burn marks that mar the front of his shirt. His skin is still slightly warm, the last bits of life holding on.

Austin walks up behind me. “Destiny is a funny thing. It always finds a way, doesn't it?”

I want to kill him. I
meant
to kill him. He should be the one lying on the beach, his heart frozen for eternity. “This is your fault.”

He holds up his hands, turning them over as he looks at them. When he speaks his voice is laced with sarcasm. “Out, damned spot.”

I launch myself at Austin, my fists connecting with his chest as hard as I can.

He grabs my wrist, stopping another blow before it connects with his rib cage. “You think you know what this means, but you don't. His death means your life. You get to live, Brianna. You win.”

I pull my wrist away from him, stepping back. “You can save him.”

He almost looks sad. “I can't.”

“I saw you do it. With Dart.”

He laughs. “You think I'm some kind of healer?”

“I saw you. Dart was dead. You brought him back. You healed him.”

“I'm not a healer.” The smile that plays at the corner of his mouth tells me he believes what he says. He's mocking me.

“How do you explain what you did with Dart, then?”

“A sacrifice of sorts. A reversal spell.”

“A spell? I thought you were a god.”

“Magic in a god's hands is a powerful tool, Brianna. Surely you've discovered that.”

Not exactly, but it does lend credence to my theory. I might still be able to banish Austin. But first I need him to heal Blake. “How does the spell work?”

“I called back the magic.”

Semantics. He healed Dart by reversing the magic. He
healed
him. “So, you can reverse the magic that killed Blake. You can save him,” I repeat.

“I told you I can't.” He shakes his head. “I can only reverse my own magic.”

My head fills with white noise. Loud static that hurts my ears. I fall to my knees in the sand. It was never Jonah. It was Austin's magic. Austin killed Dart.

I feel sick. The blue flames arc across my fingers. I throw the fire right at his gorgeous face. He disappears in a golden flash and the flame lands harmlessly on the sand before vanishing from lack of fuel. He appears again a few feet away, shining like the sun.

How could he do something so horrible? Dart had nothing to do with this fight. Nothing.

I hurl another ball of fire at him. He disappears just before it hits him, appearing again directly in front of me.

“Why?” I barely hear myself ask the question.

Austin steps closer, but he's watching the fire that dances in the palm of my hand. “To spur you into action. I thought for certain you would go after the Sons. Revenge is a powerful motivator.”

“No shit.” I throw another ball of fire at him. He disappears again.

I collapse in the sand, defeated. It's all too much. Austin killed Dart to spark a war. A war he needs me to fight in order to win. I'm just the foot soldier, a weapon to be manipulated and used. And now Blake is dead, and Austin won't rest until the other Sons are dead too. Once the gods return, the humans will be the ones to suffer.

Austin appears next to me, dressed casually in a T-shirt and jeans. He kneels in the sand.“I've made a bit of a mess, haven't I? Brianna, I only ever meant to keep you safe. Don't you see? If you don't go after them first, you can't win. They mean to kill you. They always have. Are you so willing to throw your life away?”

I swallow my pain. Bury it deep. Maybe Austin can't save Blake, but I can keep him from hurting anyone else. I force myself to meet his gaze, suffocating the instinct to fight him. This is the only way I can think of to stop him. To hurt him. “Okay.”

“Okay?”

I reach for the clasp of my bracelet, unhooking it and letting it fall to the sand. Although he's said the bracelet doesn't affect him, I need every arrow in my quiver. Austin's answering smile carries me forward.

I hold out my hand and he takes it, pulling me to my feet. “I'll need your help.” My voice is strong, surer than I feel.

“Of course.” His eyes search my face, and for a second I wonder if he's suspicious.

I step closer to him, deliberately brushing my breast against his arm. I lower my eyelids and look up at him from beneath my lashes, attempting a look I've seen Haley perform countless times. “I'll need you.”

The firepit beside us sparks and flares with blue flame, warming my skin from the outside even though my blood runs cold.

Austin's eyes ignite, in unison with the fire. “I'd be lying if I said I wasn't looking forward to that.”

I force myself to lean in closer, bringing my hand to the back of his head, running my fingers through his hair. I tilt my head up toward him, licking my lips. A muscle in his neck spasms in response. I feel an unexpected surge of power. Not magic; something baser, human. I turn my head, just enough so my breath warms his throat. My lips brush against his ear. “Do you still want to take me home?”

His breathing is loud. Hard. His arms come around me, pulling me against him. “What do you think?”

I let my forehead fall against his shoulder as I gather strength. When I look up, I manage a smile. “What are you waiting for?”

“Indeed.” His smile sends an icy shiver down my spine. I'm playing with a time bomb. I hope I'll know when to cut the wires. I hope I'll cut the right ones.

He slides his arm around me and starts to walk, heading in the direction of the parking lot. I stop, shaking my head. I curl into him, press into his side. “It's too far. Let's go to your real home.”

He hesitates. I place my lips against his neck, grazing my teeth on the sensitive skin where his pulse beats. He moans and grabs the back of my head, pulling me closer.

When our eyes meet, I know I'm winning this battle. He shakes his head, but he turns around. He leads me to the crevice in the cliff wall and pulls me inside.

Everything is still. There's no breeze. No life. Just the rocks and the river and the stark waterfalls in the distance. I hear my own breath coming fast, fear finally catching up with my recklessness. My theory might not be correct. It's not like I have the best track record or anything.

My heart beats faster as he leads me to the flat boulder and pulls me into his lap. I stop him before he kisses me. He tenses, and I know I've made a mistake.

I bring my finger to his lips and then trace the line of his jaw. “Wait,” I whisper. “Don't rush this. I want to remember every second.” I lean forward and kiss the spot where his collarbone peeks out from his shirt. I feel him relax, melt, beneath my touch.

I'm running out of time. We're here. I have to finish it.

I kiss my way up his neck, whispering against his skin. “
Bane of all that is true.
” A swirl of cold wind blows around us, which I take as a good sign for once. “
Come out of the weeds
.
” I scratch my nails along his back, trying to distract him as the wind lifts my hair. “
Make your last strike.
” The wind picks up, biting and stinging with cold.

Austin tenses again. He lifts his head. “What are you doing?”

I bite down on his neck, harder than is necessary.

He pulls me tighter. I nibble my way to his ear. “
Your time on earth is at an end
.
”

Too late, he realizes I'm up to something. He pushes me off him, standing up. The wind whips around us wildly now. It's hard to stand. I grab his arm for support.

I fall into him but manage to stay on my feet. It starts to rain, big fat drops that gain in speed and number, slanting sideways in the wind. Austin's arms close around me.

I have to shout to hear myself over the wind. “
A thousand years of otherworldly night!
”

Thunder claps, so loud that the ground shakes beneath us. I nearly lose my balance again, but Austin is holding me to him. “What are you doing?” he screams over the howling wind.

“Ending this badly.”

The sky opens up with a pounding rain. It pours so hard I can barely see Austin, even though he's right in front of me.

He screams a string of obscenities that I can barely make out between the hammering sheets of rain. A gust of wind blows me back. I fall onto the rocky ground. I can't see anything in the downpour.

I clamber to my hands and knees and crawl in what I hope is the general direction of the cliff wall. I manage a few steps against the wind and rain. My hand finds empty air in front of me, and I realize I've gone the opposite direction. I'm at the edge of the ravine. I try to back up a step, but my foot hits something hard. I spin around.

He stands above me, a ring of golden light surrounding him, fighting back the rain. “What did you do?” His eyes are full of fury.

There's nowhere for me to go. He's blocking the path to the cliff wall. His face contorts as he repeats, “WHAT DID YOU DO?”

I look into his eyes. The eyes of a god. A very angry god. I rise from my knees, standing to face him. The rain falls more lightly than before, but it hardly matters; I'm soaked through.

“Nothing you haven't seen before.” I say. I still have to shout over the wind. “The world will just have to manage another thousand or so years without you.”

“How … ?” He closes the distance, and I can't help but back up a step. I feel a rock slip beneath my heel and fall into the ravine behind me.

I smile up at him. “Magic.”

“Bloody fool.” It's unclear if he's referring to himself or me.

There's a rumbling noise. The ground shifts, sending me back to my knees. A huge rock falls from the cliff wall and rolls toward us. I dive to the side to avoid getting swept up in its path.

The river churns below us. It seems to pick up speed on its winding course to the depths of the underworld. More rocks fall from the sides of the walls lining the canyon. The entire place feels like it's about to come down.

Oh hell. It is. I can see the cliff wall now that the rain has let up. More rocks, big and small, are coming loose, collapsing in on themselves. A large boulder lands directly in front of the crevice. Sealing us in.

I rise to my feet again. Austin still stands in my path, a pillar of strength, oblivious to the ruin that's falling around him.

“Are you going to let me through?” I ask.

He still doesn't move.

“If you don't let me go, who's going to fight your war for you?”

His voice is tired. “You're not going to fight them. If you wanted to fight, you wouldn't need to trap me here, would you?”

I look back over my shoulder. The river is rising, devouring the ravine from the inside.

His hand finds my chin, turning my head back toward him. “You still owe me a favor.”

“Blake's dead. Isn't that enough for you?” Another loud clap of thunder booms overhead.

The earth shakes.

Austin grabs me by the arms, holding me against his chest. “You owe me this.” He leans in close, his mouth at my ear. “Stay alive, Brianna. Whatever it takes.” He pushes me with such force that my feet come off the ground.

At first I feel like I'm flying, sailing through the air, floating in the wind. But I'm not flying, I'm falling, down into the ravine. The churning water gets closer and closer. I barely hear the sound of my body smacking against the water before the waves close around me and the river swallows me whole.