With every step, my bare feet sink deep into the marshy land. The quiet isn’t so quiet with crickets, frogs, and swaying reeds, until something small splashes in the empty water beside me. My pulse quickens when the water ripples.

Then just ten yards away the waist-high grass shakes like something is in it. It moves several feet forward, then several feet to the side, coming closer inch by inch. A strange white and rounded back—not much different than that of a whale—peeks out from over the spear-like tips of grass. Slowly it moves, slithering closer. I don’t want to wait to see what it is. And just like that I press my toes deep into the marsh and run. It gives chase—faster than expected. When the grass shortens, my eyes catch sight of it. Somehow the white body is shiny and dull at the same time. It is possibly a spider, but the size of a human. It runs harder and faster than I can.

“You can’t outrun it,” Geo yells from somewhere in the distance.

I trip over a root, take a tumble, and instantly feel the skin on my knees burn. Scrambling to my feet seems impossible on the uneven ground.

“You can’t, Willow!” Geo yells.

“Remy!” Arek yells at me from the trees beyond. They are Tracing the realm between my conscious and subconscious and once again, fear manifests into these creatures too horrible to understand. Yet I know they are going deep. Hard. Aggressive. I turn back to the creature, stand to my feet, close my eyes, and search for the rhythm. I speak fast, creating my own beat and tone, breaking theirs, saying whatever comes to mind. At first the Tracing is hard to hear because of the torment within me, so I break the fear down one at a time—the loneliness, the darkness, the unknown, their ability to hold strength and power over me.

“Keep going.” Geo’s voice is so close to me that I open my eyes. His handsome eyes stare into mine. This is the first time I have been able to see him. So, I keep at it, breaking the Trace. Geo and I stand together while the world around us changes from darkness to light until we are sitting in Kilon and Sassi’s home. For the first time the world is not spinning. I am not sick to my stomach. Rather everyone is looking at me with eyes the size of the moon in that strange world. They are all silent, while smiles form on their faces.

Geo shakes his head. “I don’t think I’ve ever been able to teach anyone that fast.”

Peter claps his hands together. “Welcome back, Remy.”

“Can you do it again?” Sassi asks.

I think for a moment. “Yeah, I think I can.”

Arek smiles at me from across the room.

CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE

Years ago, Ian and I fought for two weeks straight, cascading between forgiveness and anger quicker than flipping a coin. “You’re never there for me,” I had said, the pain of his retreat from uncomfortable situations manifesting into an inability to trust him. “It’s always about you . . . everything.” Even at that moment, my words had been lost on a man whose eyes were watching the television on the other side of the room, making sure that he didn’t miss the basketball game. Ultimately this had been the cause of our relationship’s demise—he could only think about himself.

I thought of the man who had angered me beyond anything I’d ever felt before and the look of his tortured body and face as Navin used him—the video of his torment spreading poison like kerosene on a fire. Was it to make a point? 

“Yes.” Arek’s serious voice interrupts my thoughts as we sit in the back seat of the SUV. “It was meant for all of us.” He sees my inquisitive look. “I’ve spent my years studying you—don’t you think I should know your thoughts?” He looks away while I study his profile, perhaps trying to read him. Until finally his deep voice breaks my concentration, “You can try but it won’t get you very far.”

The cars turn up windy back roads of Nepal that are so steep I tighten my abs for leverage. Yet there seems to be no leveraging the bipolar weather outside. The sky is a solid layer of gray and the mist in the air is leaving droplets on the window that changes direction with the moving car; yet there are moments when the sun shines through. 

“Will he know we’re here for him?” I ask.

“It’s possible.”

We stop at the side of a road where there is nothing but trees and a steep mountain on each side.

“We’re meeting here,” Kilon says from the passenger seat. 

The mountains and long eternal road are quiet. I look around inquisitively, “Where?” 

No one answers; rather, they each step from the car. The smell of pine sweeps up my nose, just as the frost bites, and needles pop and crackle beneath my boots. Then I hear the call, a whistle echoing through the trees, the reverberation telling us that it isn’t too far away.

Arek whistles back. “Let’s go,” he says as he hikes into the dense wood.

Then one by one the forest begins to move; beyond the sway of the branches or the sweeping motion of falling leaves, dark figures creep out of hiding, dressed for the cold as if they’ve been there for hours. Puffy jackets and fur-brimmed hoods can’t keep these new faces from turning red. The closest man—with ears that point at the top, his nose twisting a bit to the side like he’s been in too many fights, and his beard not quite growing in all the way—has an Irish accent to compliment his toothy smile. He wears very little clothing for how cold it is, but his slightly curly hair wraps thickly around the bottom of a ski cap. Arek smiles bigger than I’ve seen in some time, and his eyes relax in a way that only trust and friendship can exalt. He and this man clap hands and hug, then share breath by placing their foreheads together. 

“It’s always you, Diem.” Arek taps Diem’s cheek with his palm.

“Aye, always. Don’t ever want to let my leader down.”

“Your leader?” Arek tests him.

“Leigh never was and never will be my leader, I can promise you that.” Diem notices me standing there and suddenly everything changes. It is like he’s seen a ghost. “As I live and breathe. I knew it was true, but it’s another thing to see for yourself.” Diem puts out his hand for me to take in a greeting. “Welcome back, Remy. We’ve all been waiting.” His hands are rough and scaly, and his grip is strong.

“It’s nice to meet you, Diem.”

A woman appears behind the others, confidently emerging with a thin-lipped smile. She grabs Arek around his back, her hand landing on his pant pocket, and she looks him in the eye with a mischievous grin.

“My second husband.” When her eyes fall on mine, she takes no time in doing the same to me. Soon, her nose is within inches of mine while her hand holds just below my back. My eyes grow wide, “And my second wife.”

Diem shakes his head in a bit of laughter, “You wish, Gal.”

Arek places his hand between her chest and mine until she looks at him, “It’s nice to see you Gal, but she doesn’t know who you are.”

“That’s better,” Gal’s rich Irish accent matches her pale face. “Then she doesn’t know I’m already married to that guy.” Her thumb points over her shoulder to Diem.

Diem gets serious. “We have about sixty here. Couldn’t get more than that on such short notice and especially after the memo from the Powers.”

Arek looks at him, confused, “What memo?”

Diem swallows, “They told everyone, if we were to help you and Remy, then there would be repercussions.”

Arek clenches his jaw.

“But brother, I’m here . . . we’re here. Just like old times.” Diem squeezes Arek’s shoulder.

Diem turns to the men and women and whistles. Unexpectedly they kneel to me—their eyes falling to the leaf-covered ground. After a few moments they raise their fist to their chest and pound three times.

With my eyes, I beg Arek to save me, but he only grins. “You’re The One, my love.”

Two men in black coats, their faces masked from the cold, come into view once the crowd returns to their feet. It doesn’t take long to recognize Mak’s gait coming my way.

I smile and touch his covered face, “You’re here.”

Mak reaches up and pulls the cover from his mouth and nose. “I had nowhere else to be.”

“All right, let’s go!” Arek yells.

We hustle at a quick pace, turning my lungs into hot coals. I bite my lip and push through.

After an hour, Diem pulls out his phone to show Arek and Kilon a map. “Here’s the boundaries of the Bryer, and here’s the place he’s set up.” He shows a small dot on the screen. “We found it a few days ago. I think he’s been here for many years. They have everything they need—computers, internet—it seems they’re building. It’s hard to get in and it’s hard to get out. Let’s split up. Half this way and half that way.”

Arek nods.

Every one of my party remains by my side as we trek through the forest a bit longer. Finally, we reach a hill where Arek points ahead. “There it is.”