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“May I have your names, sirs?”

Both men were stocky and wide-shouldered. Their hair was cut close and their eyes were black, like midnight and ink, as were all the Hunters that were stationed at the Dark Mountain. Working so close to the Black Stone had its effects, but it was a necessary and honorable duty to uphold. Whether they were suspect or not they deserved their princess’s respect.

The one on the left answered first. “Rand Fishwell,” he said.

Surah nodded. Common name.

The one on the right said, “Brim Ironwater.”

Another nod, slightly less common name, but still common.

“Can you tell me what happened Sir Fishwell, Sir Ironwater?” she asked.

“Wish there was more to tell, my Lady,” said Fishwell. “I went in at eleven to check on the Stone and it was there.” His black eyes flicked to the other Hunter. “When Ironwater went in at midnight it was gone.”

Surah sat back in her chair, sure to keep the dread of what she had to do next off her face. She slid the glove off her right hand.

“May I ask you a question, my Lady?” said Ironwater.

Theo shot the Hunter a glare, and Surah decided she liked Ironwater for not flinching. She nodded, curious. “Of course.”

“Are you going to be the new Keeper?”

Surah smiled. Her princess smile. On second thought, she should have declined his request. “That matter has not been decided, sir,” she said, and placed her ungloved right hand on the table, palm up. Ironwater sighed and placed his rough hand in hers.

Surah took a deep, silent breath and let it out. She could already feel the darkness in the Hunter that was a result of years spent near the Black Stone. It was a feeling that quite simply sucked the light out of the world. “Now tell me again, please,” she said.

Ironwater nodded. He repeated the story that Fishwell had told. Surah knew the way she always knew that he was telling the truth. She released her hold on his hand and patted it gently, then offered hers to Fishwell.

Same story. Same results. The two Hunters were telling the truth.

Surah sat back in her chair once more, giving Theo a nod that confirmed their stories. She bit the inside of her bottom lip a little as she wondered what she was supposed to do next, and wished for what seemed like the thousandth time in the past month that her brother were here. Keeper was Syris’s job, and he had been good at it. She hadn’t the slightest clue as to how to lead an investigation of this magnitude, or any magnitude, for that matter. She had a feeling it was going to be a very long day.

“The room that held the Stone,” she said. “Has it been searched?”

Theo answered. “Of course, my Lady. I searched it myself before I came to King Syrian. There is nothing there.”

The way he said this made Surah’s back raise a little, as though this were a silly question, as if to point out that she didn’t know what she was doing. Or maybe she was just defensive because she
didn’t
know what she was doing. There had been no implication in the Head Hunter’s tone. This was why she could never figure out if she disliked him for warranted reasons or not.

Surah stood from her seat, and the three men followed suit. “Thank you for your cooperation,” she told the two Hunters. Then she turned and left the room, pulling her hood back over her head, the heels of her boots clicking on the hard earth and bouncing off the black walls of the tunnel. Theo followed right at her heels.

“What next, my Lady?” he asked, and Surah got the impression that he knew exactly what to do next, and was testing her. Seeing if she was up for the job.

She continued down the tunnel that led out of the Mountain, wanting to be free of its suppressing weight, willfully keeping the snap out of her tone. “Now we go see about Merin Nightborn,” she said, and Theo smiled as if she were a toddler who’d just recited her ABC’s.

The stone that hung around her neck, tucked into her shirt, pulsed against her skin as she thought again about casting a Lightning Bolt at the Head Hunter. Of course, she didn’t. There were other matters to attend to, matters that seemed to be growing moldy and infected and more imminent by the second.

A Highborn was dead and the Black Stone was missing. It didn’t sound like a coincidence to her. Not at all.

SEE

Jamie Magee

Chapter Six

The screen behind the band turned black, then a dim spotlight illuminated Draven’s guitar; it looked like it was suspended in thin air. As he began to play, the crowd roared and my heart stopped; it was my song, the one I’d grown dependent on. The drums, and then the lead and base guitars erupted, and the stage was lit with a bright light. I tried to piece it all together – everyone saying I knew him – this song – at that instant, I couldn’t even remember where I found that song in the first place. I was completely captivated by the moment I was in.

I could see his twin, Aden, beside him. As he took over the lead guitar, I edged forward on the hood, wanting to hear Draven’s voice more clearly over the roar of the crowd.

His tone was simply hypnotic. As it reached me, it felt like a wave of pure energy soared through every part of my body. It dulled the tense adrenaline that seemed to have control over me. Each note made me feel more and more one with the sound; it was like I was a part of everything. When he sang the lyrics ‘My soul intertwined with the divine…an angel I wish were mine,’ it was almost more than my body could take.

“Is it clear now?” Madison screamed over the music.

I shook my head, now completely star struck – who could ever forget that this perfect person existed?

She looped her arm though mine and pulled me off my hood and toward the bed of a truck that was next to us; the people who owned the truck had rushed to the stage with everyone else. The entire crowd was rocking in perfect rhythm with the music. As Madison pulled me up, my eyes shot to center stage – I was almost certain Draven looked me in the eye. Madison put her arm around me and rocked us along with the crowd. I couldn’t believe how alive I felt listening to them play; it was as if I didn’t have a fear in the world.

Everyone on stage embraced their presence as they performed; it was as if each member of the band was connected. I normally try to give my attention to every part of a band, but every time I looked away from Draven, I found a reason to study him again. I was starting to doubt that he’d looked me in the eye before. I could see that he connected so well with his audience that each of us felt like he was singing to us alone.

When my song ended, he didn’t stop to talk to his audience; they just began their next song. I recognized this song, too, but I didn’t know from where.

Sure that I was hidden in this dark crowd, I moved freely to the music, something I’d normally only do when I was alone. The band played into the next song without pause. When it was over, Draven simply said, “Thank you,” then stepped back into the darkness. The crowd screamed for them to come back, but they never did. When the owners of the truck came back, we jumped down. A lot of people were starting to leave now.

“Is it over?” I asked Madison when we got back to my car.

“Just a break. Most people just came to see that band; the bands that played before have another set.”

I knew that would take hours, and I was ready to go. “I’m not gonna make it through another set; I told you I was tired before we came.”

“Yeah, and I told you to take a nap – besides, I want you to meet some people. Come on,” she said, waving her arm for me to follow.

I wasn’t stupid; she was going to try and get me to meet Draven, and that wasn’t going to happen – not after watching that performance. I was sure to act like an idiot; besides, I didn’t know how to thank him for writing that song I loved – it had gotten me though the last few days – through the moments that were too much for me to handle.

I sat down in the driver’s seat of my car and shook my head no. Madison walked over to the passenger door, opened it, and leaned in. “What are you doing?” she asked, annoyed.

“Going home – need a ride?” I asked sarcastically.

She quickly reached over and grabbed my keys. “Tell you what,” she said, backing out of the door.

I flew out of my door, prepared to fight her to get them back. She flung her hand back as far as she could and threw my keys in the field behind us. “When you find your keys – we’ll go.”

I could have ripped her to shreds – she threw them in grass that was almost two inches tall that cars were creeping across. “I cannot believe you – how could you?!”

“Relax, just going to say goodbye to a few people, then I’ll help you look.” She took off in a sprint and yelled, “It’s for your own good!” over her shoulder.

As soon as I found my keys, I was gone – with or without her. The cars that were driving over the field she threw them in were starting to thin out. I reached in my pocket and turned up my music as loud as it would go. I stared at the shadows the car lights were creating across the grass – once I was sure they were ordinary, I began to walk cautiously forward, studying the ground; it wasn’t muddy, but the ground was soft. In the back of my mind, I had this fear that one of the passing cars had pushed my keys into the ground and I’d never find them.

I scanned the area she’d thrown them in for almost thirty minutes. With each second that passed, I grew more and more furious with Madison. Most of the cars avoided the area I was in, and I tried to take advantage of the light they gave the grass as they passed. I crouched lower, looking for any sign of the silver on my keys; then all at once I saw the shadows across the blades of grass began to slither toward me. I held in a scream that wanted to come out and somehow found anger. “Go away,” I said firmly. They ignored my request and began to grow – before I knew it, I was surrounded by dark figures.

I stood slowly and held my glare. Under my breath, I began to hum the melody that was blaring in my ears; then out of nowhere, the field I was standing in lit up and the figures instantly evaporated. A sly grin spread across my face as I turned and looked into the bright headlights that were shining on me. They turned slightly, revealing the gray Hummer they belonged to. My heart started to beat violently against my chest as I saw the shadowed driver put it in park.

He slowly opened his door and stepped out. I could see him clearly now: it was Draven. He walked cautiously to my side and tilted his head. I reached my hand in my pocket and turned the music down so I could hear him.

“Are you OK?” he asked seriously.

I looked to the shadowed grass, then into his eyes – I was sure he thought I was insane. It took me a second to formulate the words in my head before I could answer him. “My friend…my friend threw my keys out here because she wanted to stay longer,” I finally said, trying to hold a calm composure.

“Charlie…do you remember me?” he asked quietly as his eyes, which were full of a painful anger, danced across my face.

My heart began to beat violently against my chest as my mind echoed his perfect voice in my thoughts – it seemed so glaringly familiar to me. I looked down as echoes of him saying random words that I couldn’t make out rushed in and out of my vacant memory. “I guess we knew each other when we were little or something?” I slowly looked up to see if there was any truth in what I said.

His flawless jawline locked as he nodded once. “Yeah…we did.”

For a second, I thought he sounded sad, but in his stunning green eyes the painful anger remained. I turned my music down a little more so I could focus on him – his voice – every part of him. I smiled slightly and tried as best I could to hide the undeniable growing infatuation I had for him.

“I saw your mom today,” he said, smiling faintly.

“I remember,” I said, blushing slightly – my heart was racing so wildly, I could barely hear myself.

He nodded as his eyes carefully looked all around me. The silence was awkward, and I had to break it. “Good show tonight,” I said quickly.

“You did like it?” he said as a smile threatened to invade his perfect lips.

“Yeah…why wouldn’t I have?” I asked, feeling the heat in my ears burn.

“It just took you a while to move to the music,” he said, shyly looking over his shoulder at the passenger in his Hummer. He shook his head once, then looked back at me.

“You saw me?” I asked in a shaky voice. I was absolutely humiliated.

He turned back to me and looked intently into my eyes. “You’re hard not to see.”

I shook my head and looked down. “I don’t think any band has ever made me move like that – at least not in public.”

I dared to look up at him, only to see him smiling perfectly down at me. “Best compliment I’ve ever gotten,” he said quietly as his eyes searched over me.

“I’m sure you’ll find more; you have a natural talent,” I said, growing more comfortable with formulating simple sentences.

“We all do,” he said under his breath.

I heard Madison yell my name. Before I could break out of the trance I was in, I felt her crash into me.

“There you are. Oh – my – God, I really just ran all the way over here,” she said, trying to catch her breath.

“Too many energy drinks?” I said shortly, absolutely furious with her.

“Nope. They’re just starting to kick in,” she said, pushing one into my hand.

“I don’t want it,” I said, giving it back to her. “I’m ready to go, but I can’t because you lost my keys.”

“No I didn’t – here,” she said, pulling them from her pocket and laughing out of control.

“What?! I watched you throw them,” I said, snatching them from her hand.

“No, you watched me
pretend
to throw them – very convincingly, obviously.” She looked at Draven. “I was looking all over for you.”

“Right here,” he said, quietly staring at me.

“Great show tonight,” she said to Draven as she began to dance along with the music the band on stage was playing.

I smiled slightly at him and said, “Nice to meet you.” I then looked at Madison and said, “I’m leaving with or without you – now.”

I started to walk to my car.