See How She Awakens (The Chronicles of Izzy #4)(30)

Aberto pulled my hands, leading me out toward the bluff that overlooked the little shack. I’d seen him standing up there from time to time when I’d get too demanding. If he believed I needed a break, he would disappear, only to reappear up on the bluff as a speck against the giant rock. I wouldn’t follow, knowing each time he had to force the darkness to take hold, he also had to relive memories he’d been trying to forget.

Aberto wrapped his arms around me, traversing us up onto the bluff in the blink of an eye. I still struggled to move more than short distances on this plane, yet he could travel for miles unfazed.

“What are we doing?” I asked as Aberto dropped his arms.

“We are celebrating.”

“Quite a party you’ve planned.” I looked around at the barren desert surrounding us.

“Patience.” Aberto lowered himself to the edge of the cliff, allowing his legs to dangle into the void below.

I sat down beside him, unsure of what sort of celebration sitting on a cliff would be. The sun began to lower itself on the horizon, turning the desert below into a blanket of red. Another day had passed, another day I’d been unable to save my friends. But today was the last day. Tomorrow, I would be there. I would find a way to stop the darkness. If only I could remember what Kennan begged me to remember in the void. The vision Molly showed me had been scratching at the back of my mind, bringing Kennan’s voice to the foreground. Always urging me to remember. They were connected, I just didn’t know how.

“Stop thinking,” Aberto said from my side.

“I wasn’t.”

“You think quite loudly.” Aberto lifted his mouth in a crooked smile.

“Don’t eavesdrop, it is rude to intrude on other’s thoughts.” I crossed my arms.

“Sit and enjoy the wonders of the world, Izzy. Breathe in the air and watch as another day passes with the world still intact. Revel in the small victories of this day before it is gone.”

Aberto’s hand reached out, grasping mine as the sky turned a brilliant orange. I’d often wondered how he’d lived so long and still retained his sanity. Then again, I wasn’t sure Aberto could ever be considered sane.

“Izzy,” Aberto’s voice warned. He was still eavesdropping.

“Fine. Looking at the sun, forgetting everything super important.”

He wants you to forget your destiny. Perhaps he will push you off of this cliff and end you to save the others.

I rolled my eyes as the darkness grew silent once more. It was becoming easier and easier to repress the voice. When it’d first taken me, I’d been broken. I’d felt alone and betrayed, but I was growing stronger. The darkness was losing its foothold. I knew the memories I’d experienced in stasis played a big role in it, but it was hugely due to Molly. She’d reminded me I wasn’t alone. Her belief in me drove me to start believing in myself once more.

“Izzy, sunset,” Aberto half-laughed.

“Right.”

My mind stilled as I finally allowed myself to look at the sky as the colors faded and shifted. Blues turning to purple and pink. The time slipped by slowly as the sky shifted from day into night. The stars began blinking into existence, one by one, until the sky was consumed by the light of stars thousands of years old. Their light slowly spreading through the universe until it appeared in the night sky above me. I marveled at the ancient light, wondering how many more nights I would have.

Movement down at the shack drew my attention from the stars. Someone was here, someone unexpected, based on Aberto’s reaction. As the dust from the interloping car settled, Aberto sifted down to the shack, leaving me on the top of the cliff.

“Jerk!” I shouted at his back. I knew if I sifted from here, I would probably fall off the cliff. And although I would love to be rid of the darkness, I wasn’t quite ready to die, or whatever might happen to me.

I picked my way down the steep incline, nearly losing my footing on the loose gravelly surface. He’d better not be completely gone when I got back down there. Anger fueled me as I finally made it down to a surface I felt comfortable sifting from. Within three moves, I’d made it back to the little hovel.

Conall stood inside with an anxious looking Sena.

Heavy footsteps paced the floor as Conall spoke to Aberto heatedly, “She is growing worse. The stasis no longer works. We must find a way to stop it from spreading further.”

I opened the door to the shack, stepping in. Conall and Sena turned toward me, their expressions like prey waiting for the predator to land the killing blow. I raised my hands in surrender; somehow in my mind it made sense that it would calm them.

Instead, Sena just laughed. I’d always thought I reacted inappropriately to situations, but she took the cake. I never quite knew what she would do.

“You still crazy?” she asked.

“Yes, but it is manageable. What’s going on?” I looked to Conall, knowing he wouldn’t sugar coat it. He never did.

“Molly is starting to change again. About a week ago, things started to change, slowly. It is progressing much faster. If she continues at this rate, she will succumb to the Revenants within two weeks. It is time to act.” Conall moved toward me, unafraid. “It is not fair to ask this of you, but will you end this? Ian will be lost if she falls, and I cannot bear to lose another of my brothers.”