Her face was tight and drawn, and when she wiped a hand across her nose, it came away bright red with blood. She had also been there when the ward exploded and must’ve felt the power spear through her too. By some miracle, she was still standing, but it was clear that she hadn’t come away unscathed. She sounded confident enough, but Jamie could see just how exhausted she was.
“I’ll stay with him and keep him still, but given enough time, those Cleaners will find us,” Rob whispered.
Allyra nodded. “I know. I’ll take care of it.”
And before either brother could say or do anything to stop her, she’d stepped into the darkness. She took two quick strides and leaped into the air, swinging herself into the branches, disappearing within seconds.
The wait felt endless. Every second, and every sound, brought the searching Cleaners closer. Each breath rasped in his chest and sounded far too loud in the stillness of the night.
A scream of pain shattered the stillness, and Rob stiffened beside him. It wasn’t Allyra’s voice—that much Jamie was sure of. Nonetheless, a stream of adrenaline rushed through his veins—somewhere out there, Allyra was fighting for her survival, for their survival. Rob made to get up, and Jamie reached out to stop him.
“She can only hide us if we keep still,” Jamie whispered, though he shared his brother’s feeling of helplessness.
* * *
The minutes ticked by, and the silence seemed to take on substance, thick and turgid, wrapping around them like a heavy fog. In the distance, slow and deliberate footsteps could be heard, a quiet step on pine needles, making its way ever closer to them.
“Ally?” Rob mouthed silently to Jamie.
Jamie shook his head—he’d seen Allyra in the Arena during the First Trial of the Elemental Trials, and he knew just how silently and stealthily she could move. The approaching steps were quiet but not quiet enough to be those of an Atmospheric.
He looked around for a weapon of some kind, but they were surrounded by nothing but dirt and pine needles. He craned his neck carefully and looked around the tree—the cloaked Cleaner was making his way closer, moving carefully and searching around every tree for his prey. Jamie fisted his fingers and tried to prepare his mind for a fight that he didn’t have the strength for.
Allyra arrived like a ghost. She dropped from the branches and wrapped her legs around the Cleaner’s neck. She tightened her muscles and used her body weight to bring him to the ground. The Cleaner was fast though, and he brought up his hand, fingers clutched around a knife, stabbing it toward Allyra. But she was faster still and kicked it from his grasp. She wrapped her legs tighter around the Cleaner’s throat, and he struggled against her, thrashing and kicking violently until his strength sapped away and silence settled over them once more.
Allyra got to her feet and stalked toward them—an avenging angel.
“It’s done,” she said shortly, her voice cold and flat. “Let’s get out of here.”
* * *
The drive back to the beach house was done in complete silence. By the time they arrived, dawn was breaking over the sand dunes. Jamie stepped out of the car slowly, still feeling the effects of the night’s activities. Once in the beach house, he collapsed immediately into the nearest chair, uncomfortably aware of the heartbeat throbbing in his head.
Allyra stalked in, and the door slammed violently behind her, forced closed by the power of her Gift.
“Tell me that was a joke!” she shouted, her voice loud after the hours of silence in the car. “Please tell me that wasn’t the Rising’s idea of a plan.”
“Ally…” Rob said soothingly.
“No!” she shouted. “Don’t tell me to calm down! We could’ve died back there. And Laureline knew exactly what was hidden in there, and it sure as hell wasn’t information.”
“I’ll talk to her,” Rob said.
“Talk?” Allyra asked incredulously. “You still want to talk after she left us out there to die.”
“She was just following the plan. We were supposed to scatter if anything went wrong—it increases the chances that someone will get away.”
Allyra laughed, but it was an ugly sound, thick with sarcasm. “It would’ve been nice if you shared that particular gem of a plan with us.”
“You were being tested.”
“Thrown in the deep end, with little chance of survival, is more like it.”
“Yes, this one went wrong, but every person that joins the Rising is tested. I went through it, our parents went through it, and now, both of you have too.”
“Just because something has always been done doesn’t make it the right thing to do,” Allyra said, her voice quiet and tired now, her anger burned to ashes. “And just because our parents trusted the Rising doesn’t mean we should too.”
She turned to Jamie and held out her hands for him to see—there was still dried blood on them. “I could’ve killed someone back there. And for what?” Allyra shook her head. “We could’ve all died back there, and had we died, what use would we be in saving Emma?”
Allyra glanced down at her hands, holding them out in front of her like she didn’t recognize what she was looking at. Her face fell, and suddenly, she looked incredibly young and vulnerable. When she looked up again, Jamie found it hard to meet her eyes.
“When we see monsters every day—when we live and eat amongst them, at what point do we stop recognizing them? At what point do we become the monsters ourselves?” Allyra whispered.
She strode out of the house, leaving the brothers silent behind her.
* * *
Jamie found her sitting on the beach, staring silently at the incoming waves. He watched her for
