“You too.” I hugged him and then pointed to Ren and Shay, who were now squirming against their restraints. “What’s going on?”
“We had to tie them up,” Adne said.
“And I had to guard them,” Mason said. “Even after creating the most intricate knots known to mankind. I even bit Shay once.”
“I wasn’t being that difficult,” Shay said.
“Yes, you were.”
“Why did you have to tie them up?” I asked, watching as Connor drew a knife and began to saw through the ropes holding Shay and Ren together.
“You didn’t have to tie us up!” Shay shrugged the frayed ropes off.
“Yes, we did!” Adne’s hands were on her hips. “You would have torn right through that portal to get to her. You were both acting like morons.”
“She’s right,” Ren said. “They probably did have to tie us up.”
Shay grinned.
“Shut up!” Adne glared at Ren. “You’re still on my list of people I’m angry with. Don’t think you’ll get off it by agreeing with me.”
Ren gave Connor a sidelong glance. “She keeps a list, huh?”
“Don’t worry,” Connor said. “I’ve been on it for years.”
“I heard that.” Adne’s voice jumped up a couple of octaves.
“I’m sure you did, gorgeous.” Connor jumped back, having cut through the rope, as Shay and Ren both leapt up and rushed at me.
I took a few steps back, anticipating a tackle. But they both pulled up just short, breathing hard, glancing from each other to me.
“Hey,” I said, unsure what to do. I wished they would both just hug me, but it didn’t look like that was going to happen.
“Hey,” Ren said, folding his arms over his chest. “Sorry we couldn’t come save you ourselves.” I could see his pulse jumping at his throat.
Shay looked just as uncomfortable, giving Ren an uneasy smile. “Not that we didn’t want to. Hence the being tied up.” He raked a hand through his windblown hair. “Are you okay?”
“Yeah.” I shoved my hands in my pockets. “The wraith was awful. But it was over pretty quickly. At least from my perspective. After I passed out, I don’t remember much. I woke up in my room. Lumine was there.”
“What happened?” Ren asked.
“They asked questions I didn’t answer,” I said. “Then came the trade. I wasn’t there long.”
“But you were back in Vail?” Shay asked.
“Yes.” I shivered at the memory of my room, of Lumine pretending to be my mother. “I saw my dad, though. I think he could help us.”
“That’s the point of having Ethan and Sabine working in Vail,” Connor said. “Let’s hope they can make that connection.”
“We’ll send a dispatch to Ethan and Tom,” Anika said. “It’s good that you could speak with your father, Calla.”
I nodded, wondering if my father really could bring the Nightshades over to our side.
“Open a door, Adne,” Anika continued. “It’s time for me to update the Guides and set the stage for tonight.”
“Tell them to cross their fingers and toes,” Connor said.
Adne began to weave, the threads from her skean mirroring the light of dawn that spilled from the shoreline up into the forest where we stood. Ren stood close to his sister, entranced by her work.
“So Pyralis is here?” I asked Connor, drawing him away from the others.
“It’s out there.” He pointed to the silhouette of an island in the distance. “That’s Whakaari.”
“And we’re going there now?” I glanced at my companions. Our group had shrunk. Ethan, Sabine, and Nev were in Vail. Silas was gone. “Just us? We don’t get reinforcements?”
“We don’t know what’s out there.” Connor’s jaw clenched. “We wanted to risk as few as possible.”
“That’s reassuring.” I tried to laugh, but it came out like my voice cracking.
“We’ll manage.” Shay rested his fingers lightly on my arm. The gentle touch warmed my cold skin.
“We’d better,” Connor said. “This is it. Last stop on the big ride.”
“You know where it is on the island?” I asked.
“We know where the entrance to the chamber is,” Connor replied. “Our best guess is that the blade is somewhere inside the volcano.”
“Wait… volcano?” I could feel my eyes bulge.
Shay nodded. “There are lots of active volcanoes in New Zealand. Look.” He pointed at the sky above the island. A plume of ash rose steadily into the clouds.
Mason came up beside me and slid his arm around my shoulders. “I didn’t believe it when they first told me either.”
“We’re going into a volcano,” I said, shoulders slumping. “That’s… that’s just fantastic.”
“What’s a volcano compared to a mutant spider? Or piranha vampire bats?” Shay grinned at us. “Come on, it’s an adventure. Besides, tourists go out there all the time. The volcano can’t be that dangerous.”
“I’m guessing the tourists aren’t trying to steal a forbidden object out from under the noses of evil witches.”
“Not unless they’ve paid for the deluxe package,” Shay replied solemnly.
I stared at him for a moment before I began to laugh.
“You’re crazy, man,” Mason said, but he was laughing too.
“What did I miss?” Adne asked as she and Ren joined us. I turned to see the portal was gone, along with Anika.
“Only Shay’s twisted sense of humor,” Connor replied. “Let’s get to the boat.”
Mason, Adne, Connor, and I clambered into the boat while Shay and Ren shoved it off the beach into the water. Connor gunned the motor, sending us bouncing over the waves toward Whakaari.
“So where does Logan fit in to this plan?” I shouted over the roar of the motor and crash of waves.
“We need Logan on the inside.” Adne shielded her eyes as the sun crested the horizon. “He’ll be pivotal when Shay gets to the Rift.”
“Why?” I asked.
“A Keeper and only a Keeper can summon Bosque and force him to reveal his true form. Shay won’t be able to banish him unless that happens.”
“How can a Keeper force Bosque to do anything?” I asked. “He’s the one who controls them.”
“It has to do with the oath Keepers make in order to get their power-a test of loyalty,” she said. “Their allegiance to the Harbinger can only be sealed when he isn’t masked by a glamour. They have to commit to the real thing-and from what I understand, it isn’t pretty.”
“Warts and all,” Connor said.
“I think it’s a lot worse than warts,” Adne said.
“With luck we’ll see that for ourselves,” he said.
“Some luck,” Mason said.
Connor threw him a thin smile. “When Logan completes the invocation, Bosque will be in his true form. It’s a means of subjugating the Keepers to the Nether, but in our case it creates the opening in the veil we need to banish the Harbinger.”
I hated the thought that we were relying so much on someone with loyalties as slippery as Logan’s. “Do we really trust Logan to keep his end of the bargain?”
“Of course not!” Connor laughed. “But we don’t have a choice.”
“But what if he changes his mind?” I shouted. “Or he decides the writing on the wall actually says the Keepers are going to win?”
“It might happen.” Connor shrugged. “Not much we can do about it.”
