Lapidary

“Bomb!” I cried. “Get out!”

Devton looked up at me, shock on his face. I rushed toward the ladder, and the plank beneath me threatened to give, and for once I was glad I was so skinny. I climbed down, falling the last few steps, and saw that everyone was frozen in confusion.

“We have three minutes! Fuck off you idiots!” I cried.

“Run!” Devton said.

At his command, The Risen pelted for the doors. Luckily, there weren’t that many gang members, which meant they could get out quicker. Devton grabbed my hand and pulled me toward the back entrance. We were moving so fast I was scared I might fall. Somehow, I remained on my feet, and Devton dragged me down the stairs and out the back door.

The bomb detonated.

I fell forward, onto my face, and the breath left my body. Devton fell on top of me, shielding me with his own flesh and bones. I couldn’t see, and there was too much dust to breathe properly. I could hear the stadium shaking, breaking, crumbling, rattling. I didn’t know how long we lay like that, but I only opened my eyes once Devton climbed off me. I twisted so that I could see what was left of Reverie. The whole stadium had collapsed into a pile of rubble. Bricks, stones, and iron poles, from the railings, were everywhere. I got to my feet, and when Devton didn’t, I instantly realized something was wrong. I hadn’t gotten hurt because of him. I knelt and saw a piece of metal sticking out from his shirt.

“Oh fuck.”

“Is it that bad?” Devton sat on his knees.

“You have a shard of metal in your back,” I said.

“In my wing,” he corrected. “Pull it out.”

“I can’t pull it out, because if I do, you’ll bleed to death!”

He chuckled. “My body will heal itself, but it can’t heal with that thing in it. Please, Nat, take it out.”

The desperation in his voice was my undoing, so I took hold of the iron, pulled it free, and Devton cried out. Blood soaked his shirt, dripping down his back. I instantly felt as if I shouldn’t have obeyed his order to remove the metal. Devton was in too much pain to move, so I took off his blazer, under-jacket, tie, and shirt. I ignored his grunts of pain, then I examined his tattoos and saw that the metal had struck the spot right between his wings. I couldn’t see the base of the wings, as they had been destroyed by the metal. Would he be able to move them, and would he be able to fly? Devton rose to his feet, despite my objections, and spreads his wings. But they were limp, and I instantly knew it was bad.

“Can you fly?” I picked up his clothes to use to apply pressure to the wound.

“It will take a few days before I can fly,” he said.

The dust was slowly settling when the members of The Risen appeared. They were covered in cuts and scrapes, and their clothes were filthy. Luther and Astaroth were in the front, making their way to us.

“Holy fuck.” Astaroth’s eyes widened as she saw all the blood. “We need to get you a healer.”

“It will heal on its own,” Devton said. “I just need to rest. But first, Astaroth, I need you to check that everyone here is okay. Luther, I need you to go to Rhinsel and talk about Reverie Stadium and getting it repaired. We’ll have a meeting tomorrow night, to discuss the changes that will take place now that I am in charge.”

He spoke with such authority, and no one dared to speak against him. With that said, he began to walk away, and I followed. He kept his head high, shoulders straight, and wings lifted. But once we were out of sight, his wings sagged, and his pace slowed. I took his hand in mine and led him to the nearest taxi, which dropped us off at the beach by my cottage.

“I should have known that bastard would do something like this,” Devton said.

He rested some of his weight on me as we headed to the cottage. I kicked open the door and helped him to the bed, where he fell on his stomach. Volgrun had planted several bombs in My Night Habit. If he had created them, could he have disabled them? I bet he would have disabled the bomb in Reverie, if he somehow beat Devton. But if he had lost, he would have wanted everyone to die.

I needed to focus on Devton instead; he was losing a lot of blood. I rushed to my medicine cabinet for disinfectant and bandages, as well as a clean cloth and warm water. I washed the wound, and Devton flinched when I applied the disinfectant. I knew it burned.

“Is this what it feels like to be human?” he wondered.

“Of course not. I’d never flinch like that,” I responded.

Devton chuckled and waited for me to finish. I tied his bandages tightly and hoped the bleeding would stop. Devton was smart enough to remain on his stomach, and I wondered if he would fall asleep.

“Thank you,” he mumbled.

I got up, took the first aid supplies back to the cupboard, then washed my hands. Then I opened my drawer and took out my phone – I had left it behind when we went to the show. Devton turned his head so that he could see my golden coins and ring. He didn’t ask.

I had expected to hear something from Ava, but there weren’t any messages or missed calls. We hadn’t spoken since she took Quinn away from Luther and Volgrun. Did she even know how much danger I had been in? I doubted it, because if she had, she would have called to check whether I was all right. She had called Ace to come help me and had probably assumed that he had done a great job and that I was fine.

I put my phone on the counter and didn’t bother to close the drawer before I got undressed. I kicked off my heels and my dress, and Devton tried to turn his head even further to see. He groaned in pain. I smiled and put on a T-shirt before climbing into bed next to him. He draped an arm around me, making me feel warm and safe.

“Why are you wearing so much clothes?” he asked.

“Don’t even begin with your shit,” I warned him. “You’re in pain and need to get better.”

“I know what will make me feel better.” His grin was dirty.

I gave him a soft smack on the arm. “Rest.”

He groaned and turned his head to the other side. One of his wings covered me, like a blanket.

“Where did Ryker get your ring?” Devton asked me.

His question surprised me, but I answered him anyway. “I don’t know.”

“Hm,” he replied.

Moments later, he was snoring next to me, and it didn’t take long for me to slip into dreamland as well. I woke because I was cold. When I opened my eyes, I was surprised that Devton wasn’t there to keep me warm. I sat up, thinking he must’ve gotten up to get something to drink. But he was hurt; how could he even walk?

“Devton?” I called, and silence answered me.

The house was dark and empty, and something felt wrong. I swung my legs out of bed and bumped one against my open drawer. I cursed under my breath and checked my knee, before looking at the gold coins in the drawer. I was about to get up, but then I realized I didn’t see my ring. I reached for my phone and used its light to look in my drawer. Now I was positive that the ring was gone.

I frowned. Devton had asked me about it. Why would he take my ring? It wasn’t valuable, and even if it was, he had more than enough money.

I sat in the dark and considered everything that I had learned since Ryker’s death. Devton had told me he saw Duras fall; he saw the White Crystal. What if the White Crystal hadn’t fallen into the water? What if it had fallen onto the stones and broken. What if it had broken into two, and the smaller piece had dropped into the water – which was mixed with daimon blood that turned everything black. The daimon blood might have turned the small piece of the White Crystal black and then Lakelyn had found it, realized what it was, and informed Ryker. He had then gone to fetch the crystal and decided that the best place to hide it was in plain sight. Thus, he had put the White Crystal, which now looked like a black stone, onto my engagement ring. He had the intention of taking me to The Edge for our wedding and honeymoon, where I could throw it off the edge of the world.

When Devton and I had stood on Heaven’s Window, he had told me he was surprised that a rift hadn’t opened, because rifts opened wherever I went. Barattiel had said I might have the crystal. All this time, I’d had it on my finger.

When I went to the prison, to talk to Lakelyn, a rift had opened where the veil was thin, because I had brought the White Crystal there. The rift had closed when I’d backed away, with the crystal, from the spot where the veil was thin. The second rift had opened where I, wearing my ring, had gone to Bareband where the veil was thin. Once Barattiel had stepped through the rift, I had backed up, taking the crystal with me, thereby closing the portal. And lastly, when Dev and I had gone surfing, I had brought the ring where the veil was thin at the edge of Ocelos, and a rift had opened to let in a sea serpent. She had created a wave, which had knocked me backward and away from where the veil was thin, which had closed the rift.

When I had found out that Ryker was high on drugs and had jumped, I had taken off my ring. That was why a rift hadn’t opened when I was standing on Heaven’s Window, where the veil was thinnest.

“Fuck,” I said. Ryker had given me the most valuable thing in this world, and I hadn’t even known it.

Those voices in my mind, my schizophrenia. What if I didn’t have a mental disorder? The voices had started once I wore my ring and had stopped once I took it off. The White Crystal was connected to other worlds, like Heaven, Hell, and The Netherworld – where the deceased went. But, after Duras had ripped up the world, the dead couldn’t move on, and they had to stay in Testatha, as ghosts. The ring, the crystal connected me to other worlds, to them. The ring had resurrection properties, a connection to the dead. All this time, I hadn’t heard anything in my mind, I had heard dead people.

I had heard Zimran when I found his corpse. I had heard the deceased outside Café Cocktail, by the graveyard. I had heard the angels who fell to their deaths at the Infernal Peaks. I had heard the countless people who had died in Vesea, during The Shaking.

If I thought of all the souls who were stuck here, after The Shaking, that had to include Devton’s father. Fuck! Devton had taken my ring, and I had no doubt that he intended to use it to open a portal to the Netherworld so he could bring back his father. His father, like all magical beings, was supposed to go to the Netherworld once he died, but Duras had fucked things up, which meant Alinac’s spirit was still on Testatha. Devton was going to open a portal and shake the world to shit – all for nothing.

This was going to be catastrophic.