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  Allyra grimaced and then a grin slowly made its way onto her face, like a flower blooming under summer rain. It transformed her—lifting her from the darkness of the shadows that clung to her. Rob had done it—effortlessly pierced the cloak of pain she’d wound around herself.

  “I think I may have swallowed the vat of alcohol,” Allyra admitted.

  “And?” Rob teased.

  “And what?”

  “Don’t you have some spectacularly embarrassing stories to share?”

  “And what makes you think I’d ever share them with you?” Allyra replied with a laugh.

  Rob slung his arm over Allyra’s shoulders, drawing her toward the cottage. “The plumbing is pretty basic, but I think we can sort out a shower for you. Then I’m making you my patented hangover cure.”

  Jamie cringed—he happened to know that his brother’s hangover cure involved raw eggs and stout beer. It was more likely to send the unlucky recipient on a trip to the hospital than actually cure any hangovers.

  “No,” Laureline broke in. “We need to leave now for the job.”

  Rob shot Laureline a quick look of frustration. “It can wait a little for Ally to freshen up.”

  “No,” Laureline said again, her face set stubbornly. “It can’t.”

  “What job?” Jamie asked, taking the opportunity to ask his question in the silence created by Rob and Laureline staring each other down.

  Laureline gave him a beatific smile. “You’ve been clamoring to meet Rowan. We have a job for you now—if you two prove yourselves, I’ll take you straight to Rowan.”

  Jamie’s heart leaped at the prospect of finally meeting Rowan. Surely, he’d have some information about Emma’s whereabouts. “What do we need to do?”

  “I’ll give you all necessary information when required.” Laureline turned to Allyra and scrunched up her nose dramatically. “Maybe we do have ten minutes for you to shower. I’m not sure I want to share a car with you smelling like a bar floor.”

  “And how would you know what a bar floor smells like?” Allyra asked smoothly with a dangerously serene smile. “Spent much time lying on one?”

  Jamie bit back a delighted smile—Laureline looked as if she’d swallowed a mouthful of nails and chased it with a shot of lemon juice.

  Laureline turned abruptly and stalked back toward the cottage. “Be ready in ten,” she spat out over her shoulder.

  Rob raised his eyebrows at Allyra as if to say now you’ve done it. She shrugged, unrepentant, and moved to retrieve her backpack from the car. Jamie stayed and helped her, slinging her bag over his shoulder.

  “Are they still together?” Allyra asked, her eyes fixed on Laureline’s retreating back and Rob who was jogging to catch up.

  Jamie shrugged. “No idea. Rob never settles for long.”

  “I thought it might be different this time.”

  “Since when do you care about Rob’s relationships?” he asked, surprised at the sudden venom in Allyra’s voice. “You know Rob’s a rubber ball—always bounces back, never out of shape and twice as annoying.”

  Allyra turned to him, her eyes earnest and pleading. “I don’t think we can trust her.”

  Jamie studied Allyra, trying to figure out the cause of her fierce distrust. “I know you’re not her biggest fan, but Rob knows her, and she is a part of the Rising. Which is, unfortunately, still our best chance of getting Emma back.”

  “Are we so sure about that? The Rising have given us nothing so far.”

  “If we can just get to Rowan, I’m sure he’ll have something for us.” Jamie clung to the sliver of hope. He shut out Allyra’s suspicions and any he might’ve hidden deep in his own mind—anything was worth the risk if it got him closer to finding his twin.

  Allyra’s eyes softened, losing their metallic hardness. “Okay, let’s do this.” She glanced at her watch and frowned. “Now I have seven minutes to have that shower.”

  Jamie grinned. “I’m glad to note that I haven’t lost my ability to talk you into things.”

  Allyra’s laughter was sharp and acidic. “Maybe. I still don’t trust Laureline or the Rising. I just trust you.”

  * * *

  The car ride to Laureline’s mysterious job had Jamie quickly rethinking the soundness of his judgment when it came to the Rising. After picking their way down the dirt track, Rob had turned his Land Rover north. Laureline tossed two blindfolds back and told him and Allyra to put them on. The blindfold would’ve been enough to hide their destination from him, but Allyra’s Atmospheric Gift would’ve allowed her to track their journey, blindfolded or not. So, once the blindfolds were on, Laureline had placed iron cuffs on their wrists and instantly his strength left like a curtain falling over the final act.

  Darkness had fallen by the time they arrived at their destination, and the salty ocean air had given way to something crisper and lighter, carrying a hint of pine trees. They hiked for another half hour before the blindfolds were finally removed.

  Jamie was unsurprised to find himself surrounded by trees. He tensed and instinctively reached for his Gift as two dark shapes materialized from behind a tree. He only relaxed when Rob stepped forward to greet the newcomers.

  Laureline made the introductions, giving the two men names that were obviously fake and not particularly imaginative: John and Smith. Laureline led their now inflated group deeper into the forest.

  The ground was carpeted with a deep layer of pine needles, hiding tangled roots barely lit by rare shards of moonlight breaking through the treetops. Jamie nearly fell multiple times, but ahead of him, Allyra picked her way through the darkness as effortlessly as a pixie, with disconcerting silence. He searched his memories—had she always been this graceful, this silent? If so, how had he thought of her as anything but Gifted?

  Eventually, they arrived at what Jamie imagined to be their final destination. It was an incongruous little wooden cabin made strange only by its position deep in a pine forest with no view to speak of. It had, as far as Jamie could see, no reason for being at all. A plaque hung from its door read: Isolated Facts. It was a strange name for a strange little cabin.

  Laureline slipped a velvet-covered box from her bag. Even before she opened it, Jamie knew exactly what would be in it—a Gem Nexus. Still, when Laureline flipped open the box, Jamie couldn’t help taking a sharp breath in—four identically sized diamonds and a single larger one. All of them cut from one original gem, resonating on a single frequency. A Diamond Nexus was incredibly rare and according to his teachers, they simply didn’t exist outside the confines of the Great Colleges.

  A Diamond Nexus could only mean one thing—an Elemental ward, or at least one created by a full complement of Gifted. Jamie reached out with his Gift and found the ward surrounding the little cottage. It was perfectly made, and any Inferno threads were so tightly entwined between others that he couldn’t sense them.

  Laureline pointed to Jamie and Allyra and said, “Inferno and Atmospheric.” Next, she pointed to John and Smith. “Terra and Oceanic. So, we have a complete set. This cabin has been very carefully hidden by one of the oldest Gifted families, and there’s information in there that we need.”

  “You expect us to break this ward?” Jamie exclaimed. He looked at John and Smith. “We don’t know them, we’ve never joined our Gifts together, and even if we succeed, that ward will only break if our combined Gifts are stronger than the ones that made it.”

  “I’m so glad that the Cleaners are teaching you something useful. But none of that changes anything,” Laureline said smoothly, glancing at Allyra. “I keep hearing about how powerfully Gifted your girl is here, so let her prove it now.”

  Jamie fisted his fingers, tightening them until every tendon in his arm stood to attention. Frustration washed over him like high tide after a storm, it filled him, expanding in his chest until he felt like he could hold it no more. Then just as quickly, it deflated, like air rushing out a balloon. He turned to Allyra, a pleading look in his eyes.


  Her gray eyes were troubled as she looked between him and Rob. “We need to talk,” she said pointedly, grabbing him by the sleeve and pulling him to the side for some added privacy.

  “Are we really going to break this ward,” Allyra hissed, “on the word of Laureline?”

  “What choice do we have?” Jamie replied, aware of desperation seeping into this voice. “We have to trust Laureline if we want to get Emma back.”

  “She’s given us no proof that the Rising even has any information about Emma.”

  “Then what?” Jamie asked, his voice rising as frustration and desperation threatened to overwhelm him. “It’s been two months, and I’ve found no sign of Emma, have you? If you have any other suggestions, now’s the time to share them!”

  His words silenced Allyra, and she glanced at the cabin, her eyes taking on a faraway look. Eventually she turned back to him. “We don’t know who put up this ward or why. I think we’re making a mistake rushing into this.”

  Her words lacked conviction, and he knew that she was wavering—it was time to push his advantage. Whatever the danger, he was willing to risk anything if it meant getting closer to having Emma back.

  “Allyra,” he said evenly, “you said you trusted me—so show me. I’ve never asked much of you, but I’m asking you to do this for me. I’m asking you to do this for Emma.”

  It was a low blow. He knew she wouldn’t refuse him, couldn’t refuse him.

  She stared at him for a long time, her eyes stormy, but eventually, she nodded. “Fine.”

  Chapter 20 – Allyra

  Green was the color of desperation—Allyra had never realized it until she stood in the forest, surrounded by pine trees whose needles were the perfect mirror of Jamie’s eyes. She had stared into his eyes so many times before, but tonight, there was a hopelessness in them, as if they were made of sea glass just waiting to be broken.

  How could she say no when he’d asked for so little and given so much over the years?

  Allyra turned her attention back to the unremarkable little cabin and the extraordinary ward around it. Isolated Facts. She searched her memory; the words felt familiar, like she should know them, yet, no memory rose to the surface. The ward was old, the threads wound intricately and tightly together, done so expertly that it was hard to discern the individual threads. She could only feel the Gift of one person, like a single individual voice carrying a song. There was no doubt about it—this was an Elemental ward, created by one person. It meant that it had stood for a long time—more than a hundred and fifty years, and now they were going to try to destroy it, based on no more than a hope and whisper.

  It felt callous and wrong.

  Jamie had explained the theory of a Gem Nexus, and she managed to grasp the concept quickly enough, but putting it into practice could prove to be an altogether different story.

  As the Atmospheric of the group, she took up the east cardinal point and waited for John—the Terra—to her right, in the north position, to start the sequence. He was obviously experienced and swiftly found the diamond’s resonance frequency. It started to glow between them with a gentle light that parted the darkness.

  And then it was her turn. She reached out with her Gift toward the glowing diamond, careful to only use the yellow Air threads. It took her a little time, the remnants of her hangover making her slower than usual, but eventually, she managed to link with John though she was careful to ensure that the link did not encroach beyond the protections around her mind. She felt the steady flow of John’s Gift course through her. Next, she turned her attention to the diamond on her left, and this time, she was quicker, knowing already the resonance energy to search for, and soon enough, it too started to glow.

  Jamie’s Cleaner training made him quick to link up with her, his power both familiar and comforting as it flowed into hers. Finally, Smith added his power to theirs and completed the Diamond Nexus. The threads were no longer discernible as being from the individual Elements; instead, they combined to form something that was more. Once all four of the outer diamonds were glowing, they turned to focus their combined Gifts toward the large, central diamond.

  It started to glow, brighter and brighter, as they poured their Gifts into it. Their combined power pushed against the Elemental ward, and it flexed like a rubber band but refused to give. Allyra poured more of herself into the Diamond Nexus—now that she had made the decision to break the ward, she intended to give everything she had to it. But, out of the periphery of her vision, she saw John stagger—he was reaching the limits of his power, and the Diamond Nexus would only work for as long as all four of them remained standing.

  The two diamonds on either side of John started to dim, and she knew that their time was quickly running out. She glanced at Jamie and saw the desperation drawn clearly on his face. She’d always been good at making quick decisions, and she made one now—she would test her Elemental Gift against the ward. While they were connected to the Diamond Nexus, it would be impossible to tell the difference between their combined Gifts and her individual Elemental Gift.

  In the split second before John fell, Allyra reached into the core of her power and shoved everything she had in one single, massive surge toward the Diamond Nexus. The ward flexed again, and for a moment, it remained intact, equal to the force of her Gift. But then, a small flaw formed in the ward, and like a crack in glass, it spread, faster than lightning, until the entire ward shattered in a massive explosion as her Gift forced its way through.

  She was one heartbeat too slow to pull her Gift back, and the central diamond shone so brightly that it was impossible to look directly at it. The light broke through the darkness, a single, brief beam that broke through the treetops.

  Utterly spent, she staggered backward, her head pounding. Through bleary eyes, she saw Jamie, John, and Smith collapse with the explosion, but it was Laureline that caught her attention. She ran into the cabin and returned seconds later stuffing something metallic wrapped in a red cloth into her bag. Allyra tried to regain her balance to get a better look, but whatever Laureline had come for was now hidden in her bag, and she was running away without a backward glance.

  Chapter 21 – Jamie

  The ward shattered and Jamie’s mind seemed to shatter with it. Pain raged through his head like a red-hot poker driven straight through his skull. He collapsed to the ground, slamming his spine into a tree root. He barely had the strength to turn aside as he retched, bile running up his throat, as corrosive as acid.

  Allyra grabbed his arm and tried to pull him to his feet. “Run!” she screamed.

  The broken pieces of his mind struggled to comprehend what she was asking him to do. Her pull on him was insistent, and he fought to get to his feet and found his balance wanting, as his stomach heaved again.

  Seconds later, Rob grabbed his other arm, and between him and Allyra, they managed to pull Jamie up into a stumbling run. His head screamed at the jolting motion, and his clumsy legs tripped over yet another tree root, and he fell to his knees.

  Rob hauled him to his feet again and something whizzed past his head. “Shit!” Rob cursed as he ducked to avoid the arrow.

  Jamie glanced backward and finally saw what they were running from—four dark, hooded shapes wearing silver masks. Cleaners. There was no hiding the massive surge of power that had been released with the breaking of the Elemental ward—it would have been felt by the Gifted for hundreds of miles around. Now the Cleaners had come to investigate the source of such a huge explosion of power.

  Another volley of arrows came at them, and Jamie moved to duck, though he knew it to be pointless with an Atmospheric in the Cleaner’s ranks—a Gifted guided arrow would find its target soon enough. However, before an arrow could find its mark, the entire volley slammed into an invisible wall.

  He glanced at Allyra. She had her hand held up, and then she flicked her wrist and sent the arrows flying back toward the Cleaners, winding them through the trees. A scream suggested at least one had found its m
ark.

  Allyra turned to them. “Run!” she screamed again, and this time, Jamie grasped the urgency and forced his legs into a stumbling sprint, guided still by Rob’s hand on his arm.

  As much as he might have wanted to run, his body simply didn’t have the strength to even keep up a stumble for long. He tripped over yet another root and fell, dragging Rob down with him. His brother tried yet again to get him to his feet, but Jamie’s vision wavered, his breathing unsteady, forcing him to fight just to remain conscious.

  “He can’t get up,” Rob said to Allyra over his prone body.

  Jamie wanted to tell them to run, to leave him behind, but he was too slow and Allyra was pulling and shoving him behind a tree.

  “You need to stay still,” she whispered to him and Rob. “We can’t hide with an Atmospheric chasing us, but if you keep still, I can use my Gift to blend you into the trees so that he can’t find you.”

  Her face was tight and drawn, and when she wiped a hand across her nose, it came away bright red with blood. She had also been there when the ward exploded and must’ve felt the power spear through her too. By some miracle, she was still standing, but it was clear that she hadn’t come away unscathed. She sounded confident enough, but Jamie could see just how exhausted she was.

  “I’ll stay with him and keep him still, but given enough time, those Cleaners will find us,” Rob whispered.

  Allyra nodded. “I know. I’ll take care of it.”

  And before either brother could say or do anything to stop her, she’d stepped into the darkness. She took two quick strides and leaped into the air, swinging herself into the branches, disappearing within seconds.

  The wait felt endless. Every second, and every sound, brought the searching Cleaners closer. Each breath rasped in his chest and sounded far too loud in the stillness of the night.

  A scream of pain shattered the stillness, and Rob stiffened beside him. It wasn’t Allyra’s voice—that much Jamie was sure of. Nonetheless, a stream of adrenaline rushed through his veins—somewhere out there, Allyra was fighting for her survival, for their survival. Rob made to get up, and Jamie reached out to stop him.