The Dark Light (14 page)

He was about to reply when a red orb glowed on the hearth. Breathless, my mind again spinning, I watched as he headed to the door and pressed his ear to the wood. A distant knock sounded from somewhere on the street.

“Upstairs,” he said. “Quickly.”

We scurried to my room. Sol headed for the window. He carefully pulled back the threadbare drapes, and then peered onto the street below, beckoning for me to join him.

Two tall cloaked figures walked the cobbled street. They
lingered at every window, pressing their shrouded faces against the glass, knocking on every door. I held my breath as they approached Rip’s house, fighting the urge to duck or to dive onto the bed and hide beneath the blankets like a child. One of the figures turned when it reached our house. Its head tilted, slowly sweeping its gaze to our window. I could see nothing beneath the shadow of its hood.

“Don’t move,” whispered Sol. “It senses our vibrations.”

Believe me, I had no intention of moving. But it appeared that mattered little. It
knew
we were here, though we were as hidden by darkness as it was shrouded in shadow. It raised its arms toward us. Something told me to close my eyes, but frozen, I could only watch.

Gnarled hands appeared out of the sleeves of its cloak. Long, bony fingers lowered its hood, revealing a chalk white face with skin stretched tight over a bald, elongated skull. There were no eyes, no nose, no mouth—
nothing
. Only pale ghastly skin and a mannequin’s blank face waiting for an artist to give it life.

Then that life appeared. Gradually, features emerged. Wide eyes, cherub cheeks . . . I covered my mouth to stifle my scream. The creature had turned into
Jay
.

“What do you see?” whispered Sol.

I couldn’t reply. Every curve, every line of the creature’s face was a perfect replica of Jay’s. It had the same look in its eyes, the
same turn of its mouth. And if it hadn’t been standing almost seven feet tall, I would have sworn that it
was
Jay.

Sol pulled me back from the window, his hand gentle on my arm. “I wanted you to see it,” he said. “So you know.”

Barely daring to move, I shuffled away from the window and dropped onto the bed. Nothing in Sol’s tale had prepared me for what I’d just seen. Before his story had been only words. In the face of that sinister creature, it was real.

“It’s a visage demon,” said Sol. “We call them masks.”

Shocked, sickened, I could hardly speak. “It was Jay.”

“It’s whatever image they pluck from your mind and cast onto that canvas.”

“You saw different?”

Sol shook his head. “It wasn’t focused on me. They’re tainted by dark magic, created by the Suzerain from one of the breeds he released from the Warnon Mines. Their bodies can change too. They know your thoughts, Mia. Show you exactly what you want to see, holding your attention until you’ve stared so long, it’s too late to get away.”

The tall, hooded figure on the Ridge. I tucked my trembling hands beneath my thighs. “That’s what took Jay.”

“They control the Barrier for the Suzerain.”

“But why would Jay go with something like . . .” I closed my eyes, no longer needing Sol to answer that question. I knew what
had happened to Jay. Though I was the master at restraining my emotions, this time I couldn’t hold back the tears. All I could see was myself and Jay standing in the yard with misty vapors snaking through the cornfield.
They show you exactly what you want to see.

“He told me he saw his mom,” I choked. “He thought it was safe.”

We stayed in silence for the longest time. Not once did Sol try to comfort me or tell me that everything was okay. He’d shown me the visage demon for a reason. Everything was not okay.

“Mia, you can’t go out there alone,” said Sol. “There are other demons out there, creatures worse than the masks. They know something powerful opened the Barrier. They’ll be looking for you.”

Though Sol was here, I’d never in my life felt so alone, not even after Grandma had died and I’d stood on Pete’s driveway with a suitcase at my feet, gazing up at a house and a man I didn’t know. This was worse. At least then I’d understood something of my surroundings. It had made some kind of sense.

“We have to find my necklace,” I said.

“There’s a good chance we will,” said Sol. He crouched in front of me, taking my hand in his strong grip, forcing me to keep my gaze on him. “There are some who make a living smuggling goods across the Barrier. Runners. They bring in contraband and then use the profits to fund solen grains for their next
trip. One grain to get across, one to get back. Gangs of Runners operate in any town where there’s a weakness,
especially
here in Bordertown. Nothing happens on the Ridge that they don’t know about. That’s our hope for finding the Solenetta.”

I didn’t let go of his hand. “And Jay?”

Sol narrowed his eyes as if searching for the right words. “Finding Jay will be complicated,” he said.

As complicated as it felt to have my hand in Sol’s as he finally opened up to me. My feelings were never complicated around Andy. Andy was straightforward, even with the drama of his on-off relationship with Jessica and Willie’s dreams of romance and fated love. But Sol . . .

“Why did they take him?” I asked. “The other kids too?”

“It’s complicated,” he said, again.

“
Where
are they taking them?”

“They’re taking them to Orion. It’s a city here on the plains and the seat of the Suzerain.”

Every time I heard that name—
Suzerain
—a shiver traveled my spine. “How far is it?”

“Depends on the route,” said Sol. “Less than two days on the road.”

I squeezed his hand, desperate for him to understand. “Then we have to go there, Sol.”

He watched me for a long moment, then slowly got to his
feet. As his hand slipped from mine, all trace of emotion fled from his face. “We have people there,” he said, straightening. “We’re looking for those kids, Mia. All that matters now is that we wait for the Ridge to clear and get you back to the Other Side.” He turned for the door. “You should sleep. I’ll fetch you in the morning when we know more.”

I let him leave, but only because I knew he wouldn’t tell me what I wanted to know. Whenever I’d mention Jay, he’d pull back. He was hiding something and I was getting better at spotting when he did. There were holes in his story, great, gaping holes you could almost step through. He knew it too. It was obvious in his face. He knew where this story led.

My parents. Somehow they’d been involved in this. How else would I have had the Solenetta? My mother had clearly taken the necklace from somewhere and it had landed her in a heap of trouble. But in trouble where? Here? Or on the other side of the Barrier? I didn’t doubt that my father was mixed up in there somewhere, too. There was only one conclusion that made sense: My parents must have been Runners.

I listened for Sol’s steps on the stairs, seizing this moment of quiet to process what he’d told me. There was still Pete to consider. Where did he fit in all this? He must have known his sister was involved in something huge. Was that the reason for his brooding silences?

Exhausted, but too wired to sleep, I knelt on the bed and peered out the window. The visage demon stared up at the house, Jay’s image still cast on its face. It hadn’t moved from its spot—not an inch—since we’d seen it. Would it stay there all night? Would it still be waiting in the morning? Whatever image it had found in my mind, I’d seen the creature change. I knew what it really was. It couldn’t trick me as it had tricked Jay.

Chilled, I sank down and stared blankly at the wall, the only thing separating me and a demon tempting me with my brother’s face.

I
lay awake for most of the night, torturing myself with images of the visage demon and Jay on the Ridge. As the first light of dawn came through the window, I took another peek outside. The visage demon had gone.

Though he’d promised to wake me, Sol didn’t appear at my door. So when it was clear from the voices below that the others were up, I went downstairs to find out the plan.

Sol and Delane were nowhere to be seen. An older man sat at the table with Rip. A man with bushy white hair and laugh lines around his eyes and mouth.

“Old Man Crowley!” I blurted. “I mean, Mr. Crowley. I mean—
what
?”

Crowley’s aged face beamed as if this were the most natural meeting in the world. I wasn’t sure if he would have recognized me in Crownsville if I’d run him over with Rusty, but it appeared he was more than comfortable seeing me here.

“Mia,” he said, his voice wheezy and light. “Rip’s been telling me about your adventure. Quite the turn of events, don’t you think?”

The black coat he always wore around town lay on the bench beside him, a reminder of how close I was to home. Close, but out of reach.

“I don’t understand,” I said.

Grinning, he gestured for me to join them. The broken capillaries on his cheeks glowed with his smile. “Tiamet Crow’s the name,” he said, as I sat. “At least, it is on this side of the Barrier.” He flashed a conspiratorial wink.

“But what are you doing here?”

“I live here,” said Crowley, Crow, Tiamet—
I couldn’t keep up
. “You didn’t really think I lived in that old shed?”

“Actually, I did,” I said, apologetically. “So you know all about this?”

Rip offered me a cup of something hot and dark. I thought of the drink I’d shared with Sol last night and wondered whether this latest concoction was safe to taste.

“Tiamet’s a Runner,” said Rip. “Best Bordertown Runner for fifty years.”

“And getting too old for it,” said Crowley. “We’ve been watching Crownsville ever since Elias crept back out of the dirt. It’s not an easy job. When I heard Solandun was coming over, I seized the chance to slip away.”

Sitting beside Crowley, my confidence grew. Crowley meant Crownsville—home. Home, I understood.

“You said, ‘
We’ve
been watching Crownsville,’” I stated. “There are others?”

“A few,” Crowley replied.

A few being two, three, four, or fifty? Did everyone know about Bordertown and Brakaland, except for me? I was always the last to know. “My uncle,” I said. “Pete.”

Crowley nodded, seemingly happy to chatter away about anything and everything. It was a welcome change after having to pry information out of Sol. “He knows this world,” he said.

Then Pete must have known what had happened to Jay, the others kids, too. His moods made sense at last. No wonder he often acted like it was the end of the world. If he knew there was a war on Crownsville’s doorstep, it almost was. But how deeply involved was he? Did he talk with these “others” who knew about Brakaland? Did he meet with Crowley, or even
Sol
? Would he tell the sheriff that I’d disappeared too?

As soon as I thought of the sheriff, I pictured Willie and a new day in Crownsville starting without me. It was Saturday,
she’d be at volleyball, and probably wouldn’t even know I’d vanished if Pete hadn’t said anything. Maybe she wouldn’t find out if Pete came over to fetch me first. Jay too! If Pete rescued us, we could slip back and no one would notice I’d been gone.

Pete would no longer be able to keep his silence. I knew about this place—
Brakaland,
Bordertown
. I knew about a world on the Ridge, hidden by the Barrier. I knew there was more to my mother’s story than Pete had let on. Sol hadn’t been willing to tell me about her either, but I had an idea.

“Pete’ll be freaking out,” I said to Crowley, as casually as I could. “It must be like Mom and Dad all over again.”

Crowley’s grin faltered. He glanced at Rip. Rip immediately looked away. Jackpot.

“Pete doesn’t like to talk about it,” I continued, as if I knew everything there was to know. “It’s hard for him, what happened to them.”

Crowley watched me out of the corner of his eye. “Sometimes life’s like that,” he said. “But Pete’s a big boy. He knows what’s what.”

“If only Mom hadn’t taken that necklace, right?”

I knew it was lame. I knew
I
was lame for trying it, but what did I have to lose? I had to seize my chances when they came.

“Well,” said Crowley. “I—”

The door opened and a cool breeze wafted into the room.
Sol and Delane had returned. I held in my groan. Old Man Crowley had been close to letting something slip!

“Duddon Malone’s men were seen at the Barrier last night,” announced Delane, closing the door behind them. “They were talking to sentinels. Malone was up there again this morning. His gang left town at dawn. Heading west.”

“Then they must have something to sell in the city,” said Rip.

Sol sat beside me without greeting. His Crownsville clothes were gone. He was dressed like Delane—dark, loose pants, gray linen shirt, black leather boots. He looked good. Strangely
right
, as if the jeans he’d worn in Crownsville had been part of a costume. I guess they were.

“We think it might be the Solenetta,” he said. Then, to Crowley: “We need grains, Tiamet. Rip’s been all over. The town’s dry. Can you get them?”

“Why do you think I’m here?” Crowley replied. He shot me a quizzical look from beneath his eyebrows before refocusing on Sol. “Last I heard, the Dobbs twins had grains, but they’re not likely to sell. They need them for business. I hear there’s a Runner gang selling in Fortknee. Supposedly they’re heading this way, but if they’re selling, they might not have any left by the time they reach us.”

“We could ride for it,” said Delane to Sol. “Fortknee’s less than eight hours.”

Sol appeared to give the suggestion serious thought. He watched Delane, and from the look on Delane’s face, it was clear the conversation continued between them unspoken. It was just like me and Willie.

“Fortknee is too far,” Sol finally said. “By the time we got there, Malone’s gang would almost have reached Orion with the Solenetta. We’d never catch them.”

“
If
they have the Solenetta,” said Delane. “They could be selling anything.”