Nick James - Crimson rising

Ridium.

I grab my chest and feel the indentations of the symbols beneath my shirt. I am already here.

A blast of triple-digit heat throws my hair to the side. My bracelet settles, but I feel it in my heart, now. I don’t know if I’m making things better or worse. Have I set something terrible in motion just by coming back to the Fringes? Why didn’t Alkine tell me about this “fork” before? If the possible consequences are so horrible, I should have been the first to know.

I repeat Morse’s words over and over in my head. The troubled look on Skandar’s face lingers with me. And then I remember the red in Theo’s eyes, the same red that carved this warning into my skin.

I’m being followed. These aren’t just random events. It’s because of me.

I don’t know what step to take.

Legs shaking, I take a seat on the ground. The heat will consume me if I stay put much longer, but I can’t move. Maybe Alkine was right after all. Maybe I’m dangerous. To myself. To everyone.

I close my eyes. It could be better if I sat here and did nothing. Me and the wind. I can’t hurt anybody if I’m dead.

Cassius leapt into leader mode. It was the only thing he knew to do. He didn’t want to consider what had just happened, but they had to move before the heat of the Fringes got to them. The full horror of it all could be analyzed once they were safe.

“Rodriguez.” He turned to Eva. “Get us access to one of the Academy ships. Keep the radar operational. If we tamper with it, it’ll be a dead giveaway that these Agents are gone.”

Eva stared at him for a moment, lip shaking. Then, without a word, she grabbed Skandar’s arm and pulled him with her toward the line of ships.

“I can help.” Avery ran after them, eager to be away from the bodies.

Cassius yanked Fisher from the ground. “Come on.”

“That was Ridium,” he said. “It was… it was underground. How’s that even possible? Ryel said it only exists on Haven.”

“I don’t know.

“And Theo… his eyes. It was like he was possessed.”

Cassius frowned. “Madame warned me about him. Just like she used to tell me I was special. It’s the same with Theo. Special means dangerous to her.”

“He’s a Shifter,” Fisher continued, “isn’t he? Like Ryel was talking about.”

“Maybe.”

“He… they’re all dead. Except Skandar.”

“Skandar wasn’t armed.” He craned his neck to look back at the cruiser. No explosions or fire. Yet. “He wasn’t a threat to him.”

Without another word, Cassius stepped away, heading toward the cruiser.

Fisher tensed. “Where are you going?”

“Just wait.” He moved past Theo’s body, then Ryel’s, and climbed up the ramp until he was in the cruiser’s cabin once again. He bolted toward the weapons cabinet and grabbed the closest stunner. Tucking it in the waist of his trousers, he pulled another and gripped it in his hand.

Then he bounded down the ramp and approached Fisher. Stopping over Theo’s unconscious body, he fired two rounds of stun darts straight into the boy’s back. They stuck in his skin, steadily releasing tranquilizer.

“What are you doing?”

“We’re taking him with us,” he said. “Now that Ryel’s gone, we need someone on the inside. If Theo really is a Shifter, then that means he’s from Haven.”

“But Shifters-”

“Are part of the Authority,” Cassius interrupted. “I know.” He looked down at the kid. “Which makes this a hundred times worse. But if we leave him here, we’re not going to get any of the answers we need.”

“What if he makes those knives come back?”

Cassius lowered the stunner. “He won’t be waking up again for awhile, let alone attacking us.”

Fisher’s hands shook at his sides. “Do you believe what Morse said? Do you think the Drifters are really talking about me like that?”

“Does it matter? What’s done is done.” He looked at the ground, half expecting more blades of Ridium to pop up and skewer them. “You’re not a bad guy, if that’s what you’re worried about.”

Fisher shook his head, then moved to Ryel’s body and kneeled at the Drifter’s side.

Cassius turned to watch him. “It’s no use. That bullet shot right through his heart. Did you see the way he fell?”

“There was so much he could’ve told us.” He turned to meet Cassius’s eyes. “We didn’t have time.”

Cassius tapped his foot. “There’s not much we could’ve done. Considering Madame and everything else.”

“He wanted me to build an army. He was so disappointed.”

Cassius moved closer. “He’s gone. We need to move.”

“Just wait a second.” Fisher leaned in closer. “I want to check him. There might be something we missed.”

He watched Fisher scan the contours of Ryel’s legs with his eyes, settling on a single pocket stitched into the siding of his blood-stained clothing. Hand shaking, he reached down and unbuttoned it. As soon as he slipped his fingers into the pocket, he recoiled. “It’s like ice. There’s something in there, but it’s freezing.”

“Go on.”

Fisher clenched his fist and pulled out a metal box, no bigger than a die.

It was remarkably plain. No symbols or indentations or anything. Its silver exterior gleamed in the sunlight, yet seemed to repel it at the same time.

He looked up at Cassius. “This thing should be scalding out here. What do you think it is?”

Cassius shrugged.

“Feel it.” Fisher dropped it into his waiting hand. The moment it touched Cassius’s skin, he felt a pleasant jolt of iciness. Even the warmth of his hand didn’t seem to heat it. He held it up to the sun to get a better look. “It’s from Haven, surely.” He tossed it back to Fisher. “Keep an eye on it. Let’s get Theo into the ship.”

Fisher stood. “You sure this is a good idea?”

Cassius glanced back at the boy’s body. “Would you rather leave him to die?”

“Would I be a terrible person if I said yes?”

“No.” He sighed. “But I think I can handle him. If he can’t tell us anything, we’ll chuck him out. Right now, we need every lead we can get.”

Fisher nodded. “Okay.”

“Alright, then. Help me get him up. Too much longer out here and we’ll both get Surface Stroke.”

Even after all we’ve been through, it feels safe to be back in an Academy ship. I know I’ve lost all their trust, and vice versa, but at least it’s familiar.

Theo sits in the very back of the cabin, wrists and ankles cuffed to the seat. It’s a stronger hold than back in the cruiser, not that he’s awake to feel it.

Eva takes the pilot’s seat. Everybody else spreads around the cockpit. Cassius stands in the corner, shoulder against the wall. Skandar reclines in the co-pilot’s chair. I sit on the floor next to Avery.

“As far as I see it,” Eva starts, “we’ve got two options. Either we head back to the Academy and beg them to forgive us, or we keep flying around in circles.”

“Nope,” I say.

She scoffs. “What do you mean, ‘nope’?”

“We don’t do either. You heard what Ryel said. The invasion’s begun. We’re gathering an army. That’s all we can do.”

Skandar raises his head. “But Jesse, you didn’t see what Alkine-”

“I don’t care what Alkine showed you,” I reply. “It’s too late.”

Cassius taps his foot against the wall. “We can’t do anything if we’re too weak to fight.”

I wince. “I haven’t eaten since before Syracuse.”

“A few more hours and we’ll be exhausted,” he continues. “We need to refuel.”

Eva frowns. “And where are we supposed to do that? Skyships will have checkpoints. Chosen Cities are impenetrable. Even the Fringes… we’d waste all sorts of time trying to find a place with any food.”