A Radiant Sky

11

I couldn’t sleep.

In the dark, too many questions swirled in my mind. What had Asher been doing outside of Into the Woods last night? Where was James—and would my visions lead me, as I hoped, to the shadowy fourth Rogue?

Then there was the question of my mother. Her note said that she knew this day would come for me. That if I had questions, all I had to do was ask.

But what the heck did that mean? She was dead, and she wasn’t coming back. I wondered if there was some clue in the tiny wooden box, the mysterious etching of the key that became solid when I touched it. Aside from being an apology for keeping my mind a blank slate all those years, I couldn’t shake the feeling that there was some deeper, hidden meaning that I wasn’t quite getting.

Perhaps most unnerving of all, though, was this: What was the Order planning?

The Rebellion thought big picture—they could use their elemental powers to cause huge catastrophic events and natural disasters. But the Order worked on a smaller, more calculating scale.

They focus on nuances. A whisper of a breath. A hair out of place. They manipulate each and every small thing on this earth. And every little thing has an effect on something else.

I couldn’t help but think of my own life like this, every event, large and small, that had led me to this crossroads, this moment in time.

The Order had driven me here. But what were they planning now?

I held the power to blur destiny—their ability to see it, their control of it.

The Order starts small.

And my power, in turn, affected those close to me. Cassie, Dan, and Ian. Aunt Jo. Asher and Devin. Raven. Everyone’s fate was intricately intertwined, down to the tiniest of nuances. Could the Order still control me—kill me, even? If they could, they would have done it by now, right? I realized, with a start, that every day that passed it would be that much harder for them to get rid of me. I wasn’t the girl who they led into the woods the night I almost died. I was so much stronger now.

Unless . . . they were planning something else.

I shivered. This was not a good train of thought to hop on late at night.

I got out of bed and fished the wooden box out of my sock drawer, where I’d stashed it earlier. Instead of getting back into bed, I climbed out onto the roof again.

It was a gorgeous spring night. The warm air wrapped around me like a blanket, and the stars shone bright above the mountains. Instantly, I felt better, and I began to examine the box again. It was beautiful, with delicate inlaid panels and unique craftsmanship. Whoever had made it was a really skilled woodworker. There was definitely something special about it.

In one fell swoop, dizziness overcame me. It pitched the roof forward at an impossible slant, and black spots bloomed across my vision like inky bloodstains. I grasped at the shingles behind me, trying to keep myself from falling forward, sliding off the roof into the yard below.

What was going on? Was some power within the box doing this? Was it me? But this was more than just exhaustion or confusion—and it didn’t feel like a vision either. Instead of the feathery-light liquid silver shooting through me, I felt cold, heavy, like just focusing my eyes was a struggle. I clung frantically to the roof, as the stars dimmed and darkness moved in. And then I heard it.

A voice that had haunted me since it gave the command to Devin, months ago, to have me killed.

“Stay calm, Skye,” it said, in that bone-chilling way I remembered. “You’re not going to fall. In fact, you’re going to be just fine. You don’t care about standing your ground, do you? Haven’t you always wanted to find a place with no troubles? No anger or betrayal?” I could almost picture his lips curling back in a sinister grin as he said, “A place where the people who love you don’t leave you? Join us,” it whispered. “Join us.”

I felt myself slipping back, to a clearing high atop the mountains, the air thin and cold, the sky dark with menace. Asher was there, with his Rebel elder. And so was Devin—with his Gifted leader.

“No,” I said out loud, pressing my hands against my ears, though I knew it wouldn’t help. “Get out of my head, Astaroth.”

He had trained Devin and Raven in ruthlessness and sliced through Oriax’s chest like it was butter before turning Devin on me. He controlled the Order, and the Order controlled the world.

It wasn’t just his voice but his very presence that seemed to fill my head.

What am I doing? I thought. There’s no way I’m going to succeed at something where my parents failed. I’ll never find James Harrison. I’ll never figure out who the fourth is.

“Now you’re catching on, Skye,” Astaroth’s voice echoed in my brain. “It’s so very pointless. Your plan is never going to work.”

He’s right. I’ll never see Asher again, either.

“Asher,” Astaroth said. “You don’t want to see him again, trust me. After what he’s doing to you?”

All the muscles in my body tensed. What was Astaroth talking about?

It’s a trap, I forced myself to think. He’s influencing your mind. You have to block him out.

Mustering all the presence of mind I could, I closed my eyes tight and did exactly as Gideon had taught me. Methodically, slowly, I placed brick upon brick, watching the wall in my mind grow taller. It blocked out the voice, the moon and the wind, it blocked out the clouds and the snowcapped peaks and everything as far as I could see. It blocked out the entire world. I was alone in the darkness of my own mind.

My entire body felt cold, empty. Devoid of all hope and joy.

Shadows danced against deeper shadows. I didn’t feel the calm Astaroth wanted me to feel. I didn’t hear the voice anymore, I didn’t hear anything except the blood in my ears and the beating of my own heart. But I didn’t feel relief. What I felt was emptiness.

I am alone.

“The Rebellion may be watching your friends. . . .” Astaroth’s voice was fading away.

My family is dead. My friends can’t help me. Asher will betray me.

“But I am watching your mind.”

Alone. Alone. Alone.

I was floating in space, nothing above me or below me, no—

“No!” I cried. My eyes burst open. I was hanging on to the edge of the roof, my body dangling over the side, legs kicking the air for something to grab onto. Panicked, I scratched at the shingles with my fingernails, trying with every ounce of strength to pull myself back up.

I was about to yell out for help—but then I remembered I had wings.

They unfurled just as my fingers gave out, and I couldn’t hold on to the roof any longer. I cried out, but my wings held me aloft in the night air, bringing me back up to the roof, to my window, to safety.

Inside, I crawled under the covers, but I still couldn’t stop shaking—both from the near-fall and from Astaroth’s words.

You’re not alone, I told myself. Your friends aren’t going to leave you. Aunt Jo won’t abandon you. Earth looks up to you. You have help.

A tear of frustration slipped out and trickled down my cheek.

But do I have Asher?

It had taken me so long to get over Devin’s betrayal. I didn’t know if I could handle Asher betraying me, too. Was the angel who had sworn to fight beside me now the one I had to fear?

Hours later, I still hadn’t quite calmed down. And just as I slipped into sleep, the thought came rushing into my head:

Is this the Order’s first attack?