chapter Three
I SEARCHED MY HARDWOOD FLOOR. Nothing. I eased Jace’s jacket off, then ran my hand along the collar. Where is it? Panic filled my stomach, constricting my chest. I took in a deep breath and squeezed my eyes shut.
At least I lost it after I came in. I had to have. Jace would’ve said something. More than something, he’d have freaked out seeing a glowing purple eye staring at him.
I flung the jacket across my bed. Retracing my steps, I worked my way through my room and down the stairs. I had leaned over Mom when I came in, I thought, and quietly slunk toward her. I studied the floor, then her. My eye lens gleamed up at me from her blanket. I breathed a sigh of relief. Too close.
I lightly picked the blue lens from the blanket, and rolled it around my palm with the tip of my finger. It was split on one side. Great. I only had one pair left. Eye lenses were a popular alternative to glasses, but colored lenses weren’t easy to find. Only one store carried them, and blue was almost always sold out. The material used to make them wasn’t a big commodity in Haven, and being closed off from the rest of the world strained our imports.
Turning to go, I heard my mom stir. “Destiny?”
I blew my bangs off my forehead with a deep huff. “Yup, it’s me.” I spun around. She squinted against the dim lighting. “I didn’t mean to wake you. I lost my len—” I snapped my mouth shut. She was bent on keeping my identity secret. And pissed was too kind a word for how she’d react to my losing an eye lens.
She bolted up and stared into my eyes. “You lost a lens?” She tossed the covers off. Gripping my chin, she brought my face center with hers. “How many times—”
I jerked back. “I know. I know!” I flung myself down hard on the sofa, sinking deeply into the rough leather. “I’m sorry. But at least it fell out here.”
She turned toward me. “And what if it’d fallen out while you were out? Around Lana, or worse, her father?” She shook her head. “I’ve told you so many times, you have to be extra careful around those Tuner kids. The Council can never know. Do you even know what would happen if they found out who your father was?”
“I don’t even know who my father was.” I crossed my legs angrily.
Her face softened. “I’ve told you, he was a good man. Even though we didn’t know each other very long…we did care for each other, Destiny.” She rubbed my knee.
I bowed my head, swallowing the aching lump forming in my throat. It wasn’t her fault I didn’t know him. She even tried to make me feel closer to him by calling me Destiny—when no one else was around. She’d told me once that my father had named me.
I cleared my throat. “Besides, they’re my friends. I’ve known Mr. Tuner my whole life. What do you think he’d do if he found out, really?”
My mom visibly shuddered. “I don’t know.” She grasped my hand in hers and stared directly into my mismatched eyes. “But I’m not willing to find out. And with the Narcolym Council about to be here, you have to be so careful. Hopefully they won’t stay long.”
Now wasn’t the time to inform her they were already here, and that they’d brought extras. I laid my head on her shoulder. “I’ll be careful, Mom. Promise.” She leaned us back on the couch, wrapping her arm around my shoulders. “But, I don’t understand. If the experiment was such a failure, why are the Councils coming together again after so long?”
She ran her fingers through my hair. “I don’t know. But you’re my miracle, Destiny Harkly. Never forget that. You’re special. And whatever they’re up to has nothing to do with you—with us. We just have to get you through the change.”
My blood ran cold, as if icy fingers crawled down my spine. Neither of us knew what would happen during the change. I was the only Kythan to live through the Councils’ trial repopulation test.
As Jace had said, centuries of war between the races had almost annihilated the Shythe completely. After the Treaty Act ended the war, my mother was part of a secret operation. One that had selected a handful of Shythe and Narcolym to bond and give birth—for the first time—to a mixed breed of shifters.
The majority of women couldn’t conceive, and the ones who did had their children taken away and “disposed” of. The project was deemed a failure, the different bloodlines considered too incompatible to pool and repopulate our race.
When Mom had found out she was pregnant, she panicked. And after being told my father—my Narcolym father—had been killed by rebel Shythe protesting the Treaty Act, she’d fled the secret facility, changed our names, and moved us to the last standing Shythe haven. Something had to have been terribly wrong with the babies for the Councils to terminate the project the way they had. And it scared me to death to think about what might happen during my first shift.
Mom pressed a kiss to the top my head, bringing me out of my burdened thoughts. “Destiny, I know you don’t want to discuss this again, but I really think you need to reconsider going to the Academy.”
I pushed away from her. “What? Why? I’ve already told you how careful I’ll be.”
“Because, it’s hard enough to keep your identity hidden in a human school, even if all Kythan are hidden there.” She inhaled deeply. “But at the Shythe Academy, you’ll be expected to use your power. And we won’t even know until this weekend what that power will be.”
“But I have to go. Won’t it look more suspicious if I don’t? Like we actually have something to hide?”
Mom sat forward, pressing her fingers to her temples. Then she stood and walked into the kitchen, whispering on her way out, “I just don’t know.”
This was what she’d wanted to discuss, I realized. She’d mentioned her fear of me attending the Academy before. But now that the change was so close, she wanted to stop me from going.
I folded my arms across my chest. I was frightened, but I still wanted the chance to be with my friends. Before the Treaty Act, the Academy had prepared Shythe for war, teaching ancient battle techniques passed down from our Egyptian Guardian ancestors. Now, after we turned seventeen, it was where we learned to control our power in order to blend into the human world. With so few Shythe left, we’d also be encouraged to find a mate and bond, starting a family within the year.
I bit down on my lip, frustrated. “This is what you want—to keep me hidden away forever, and never have a life,” I called out.
Mom reemerged, taking a few steps toward me. “Destiny, if your eyes were blue, I’d have no worries,” she said. “Heck, if your eyes were red, I’d probably worry less. I would’ve just taken us to the Narcolym haven and I’d have worn colored lenses.” She clasped her hips. “But your eyes give no clue as to which power you’ll possess.”
“If, after the change, I inherit Charge, like you and other Shythe…” I pleaded, my eyes searching hers.
Mom extended her arm, stretching her fingers. Blue light illuminated her hand, glowing and spreading up her forearm. In the center of her palm a small dome of Charge crackled. “If you can do this by the time the Academy year starts”—she paused, the current dancing over her hand as it arced into the air—“then you can go.”
She curled her fingers, extinguishing the Charge. She could no longer hold the current like she used to. I saw the strain on her face.
“Okay.” I smiled at her, weakly.
A mix of joy and fear enveloped me. I had no idea what my power was going to be—Flame or Charge. But Mom never said the one thing we both truly worried about. I was a failed experiment. What if I didn’t survive the change at all?
“Come on!” Lana shouted from her seat behind Nick on his levibike. “We’re going to the Chowhound.”
I held one finger up to her, telling her to give me a minute. Then I walked over to where my mom sat on the sofa. “I have my communicator…if you need me for anything.”
“Go. Have fun,” she said. “But, Destiny”—she eyed my neck—“tell Jace to take it easy.”
My mouth dropped open. I slapped my hand over the mark I thought I’d concealed better. “It’s not what you think. We didn’t—”
She waved her hand. “I noticed it last night. I was young once, too, you know.” She smiled. “But no amount of makeup is going to cover that.”
I opened my mouth to argue, then shut it. There was no use trying to convince her. And besides, was I going to tell her I got it during sparring? Nope. Better to let her think the alternative, as twisted as that logic was.
“All right, I’ll be home later,” I said hesitantly. After the conversation the night before, I wasn’t sure why she was being so lenient. Maybe she was giving me a last taste of freedom before locking me up and throwing away the key.
I waved over my shoulder to her and shut the door behind me before skipping down the walkway. I handed Jace his leather jerkin when I got to his levibike. He shrugged it on without a word.
“Why are we going to the Chowhound? We never go there,” I said as I climbed onto the seat behind him.
Lana answered. “Narcos have taken over Haven.” She eyed Jace closely. “It’s the only place we haven’t seen any all morning.”
“I can’t believe what’s going on,” Nick said, adjusting his goggles. “I think they’ve all lost their minds. Haven was built so they couldn’t get in. What the—”
“Nick,” Lana interrupted. “Not now.”
Jace’s form stiffened in front of me. His shoulders tensed as he gripped the brass handles. He gunned the throttle, and I clutched the holders. He still hadn’t said anything or looked at me once. I squeezed the brass tighter as we rocketed down the roadway.
As we passed clothing shops, bakeries, and other storefronts, I glimpsed Narcos riding the autowalks, buying flowers, shopping—doing normal things the citizens of Haven Falls did every day. When Narcos noticed us, Jace stared them down. I wrapped my arms around him, securing myself as he drove a bit too recklessly, but also wanting to prevent him from jumping off the levibike. Every time we stopped at a sign, I felt him tense.
We pulled into the Chowhound, and I scanned the parking lot. There was no sign of the Narcos. Jace lowered the kickstand and dropped the levibike. I slid off the seat, the steaming tailpipe grazing my calf on the way down.
“Damn!” I hopped one-legged, bringing my injured leg up to check out the damage.
Jace rushed up beside me. “What’s wrong?”
“Burn, I think.” I angled my leg to see it better. “I’ll be okay.”
Jace grasped my waist and hoisted me onto the seat. “Let me see.”
I was wearing my mid-calf jodhpurs, and the pipe had scraped my skin right below the hem. Jace pushed my pant leg up farther, his fingers running alongside the burn. As he inspected, he gently blew over the inflamed area. My skin prickled as his breath cooled the pulsing heat.
“It’s not too bad,” he said, tugging my pant leg back down. “I’ll get some ice for it in the diner.”
My mouth felt dry. I swallowed hard, trying to clear my throat. “Thanks,” I choked out, my voice raspy. “But I think it’ll be okay. I’m fine.” Our eyes met, and I attempted a smile—to reassure him—but he quickly turned away and stalked off toward the Chowhound doors.
Lana sidled up next to me. “Everything all right?”
“Yeah,” I told her, jumping off the seat. “So, did you guys talk to your dad? Is that why Jace is in such a foul mood?”
We ambled up to the doors, and Nick held one open for us. “Yup,” he said. “And he and Jace got into it big time.”
I bit down on my lip and walked inside, scanning the small restaurant. It was old-fashioned, with antique clocks hanging from the ceiling. Lace tableclothes were scattered across the mahogany tables, and copper wire art dangled against the floor-to-ceiling windows. Jace had taken a seat at the farthest table in the back, his head buried in a menu.
I didn’t want to upset him further, but I needed to know what was going on. I’d spent my whole life hiding—my mother scared that one day someone would figure out that I was the missing child from the botched experiment. If I was ever going to convince her to allow me to go to the Academy, I had to get answers.
But that was seventeen years ago. I had to be long forgotten by now. There were so many other, bigger problems the Councils had to worry about rather than one lost child. Besides, all the other children had experienced serious problems. The Council had probably assumed my mother died during birth, or that I couldn’t have survived this long. Regardless, I had to know for sure what was going on.
I slowly made my way toward the table where Jace was thoroughly examining his choices. “Hey,” I said, pulling out the chair beside him. “I know you’re pissed, but I want to know what’s up.” I sat facing him.
Nick took a seat, and Lana plunked down across from me. She scooped up her menu and bopped Jace over the head with it. “Hey, talk to the woman.”
I couldn’t help but laugh. Jace attempted to hold his scowl, but a smile broke onto his face.
Nick sighed. “Man, way to be a drama queen, Jace.”
“So, what did your dad say?” I asked, hoping I’d finally get something out of one of them.
Lana parted her menu. “They’re not just here to sign additions to the Treaty Act.” I widened my eyes at her, urging her to keep going. “The Narcos that arrived here yesterday are setting up shop.”
“What?” I shook my head. “Like…moving here? For how long?”
Nick bowed his head and picked at a loose string on the tablecloth. “For as long as this little experiment works, or—”
“Or it ends in a bloody war that wipes us out,” Jace cut in. “Which is exactly what the Narcos are really here for.”
“This can’t be real,” I said, glancing around the table, wanting someone to admit this was a joke.
“It’s real, and it’s really happening,” Jace continued. “The Council has taken down all the protection spells guarding Haven. They even signed a new treaty, stating that for the better of all Kythan, we must learn to live in peace.” He raised his chin, his head cocked back. “It’s called the Peace Act. My dad says that in order to keep the war from starting up again, living in separate havens isn’t good enough. We have to learn to live among each other.”
“Oh, and it gets even better,” Lana piped in. “Guess who’ll be starting the Academy with us this year?”
I blanched. “What?”
Nick nodded. “Yup, Narcos were admitted into the Academy at the meeting last night. Dad came home and told us all about it.”
A whole new fear gripped me. If my power wasn’t Charge after the change, would the Narcos be able to sense it? It was difficult enough just going to school with other Shythe. But now I’d be in more danger if one of them were to discover something was different about me.
“Hey.” Jace nudged my shoulder, interrupting my thoughts. “Are you okay?”
I lowered my gaze to the table. “Yeah. This just can’t be happening.” I looked up into his fierce blue eyes, wishing more than ever mine were the same. “What do they hope to accomplish?”
Nick tossed his menu down. “Nothing. It’s all bull, and they know it.”
“The Narcos know they have us,” Jace said. “We were forced into hiding after we signed that damn Treaty Act. Now, they want to finish us off. Or worse.”
Lana shuddered. “What could be worse than that?”
Jace took in a sharp breath. “Part of the Treaty Act banned us from using our power in the human world, remember?” He glanced around the table, as if he was a teacher frustrated with his lazy class. “The Narcolym used their power to usher the world into a new era, one run by their Flame—steam. It powers everything in the human world. But our power…it’s much more efficient.”
Lana’s eyes brightened. “Like what Devon does at Cogs.” She beamed, and I smiled at her. She could always find a way to bring up her crush.
Jace nodded. “Exactly. I think if they had no use for us, like the Leymak race, they’d have already killed us off. But they haven’t. Not yet. Not until they know for sure they can’t harness our power for themselves.” He looked at the table. “Finding a purpose in the world is the only way Kythan can survive.”
Jace was right. We’d been created to serve—to protect. We were a species designed by the magics of Egyptian sorcerers—guardian shape-shifters that had once watched over pharaohs. But that era was over. Those magics nearly forgotten, buried deep within the earth, just like the mummies of that time. It was getting harder for the Shythe to find ways to serve humans. I squirmed in my seat.
Nick looked up. “Where’s our waitress?”
Lana nudged his shoulder. “Nick, you have to order at the counter. They only bring you the food.”
“God, why didn’t you tell me that before?” He pushed his chair out. “I’m starving.”
Lana followed behind him. “Want me to order you guys something?” She asked over her shoulder.
I shook my head no, but Jace nodded. “Whatever’s fine.”
We were both silent for a moment. I watched him draw invisible circles on the table with his finger. “Dez,” he said, still staring at the table.
“Yeah?”
“Sorry to get all serious on you. I didn’t mean to make you worry more.” He peeked up.
I shook my head. “No. We have to talk about this stuff. We need to be prepared for whatever’s going to happen.” I paused, considering. “I can’t help thinking…”
“Yeah, what’s up?”
“The Narcos changed the world with their Flame.” A beat. “They built airships, steam autos, even our levibikes.” I thought of my mother’s Charge. “Our power gets weaker every day. Our magics are lost more and more. Does that mean we’ll cease to exist?”
“No, Dez.” He took my hand, lacing his fingers through mine. “Kythan were given magics, created by it, but the Narcolym survive because they found another purpose for their power. We can’t allow this Treaty Act to continue. If they get their way, and we don’t use our power, that’ll be the only way we cease. And I won’t allow that to happen.”
Jace hated the Narcos more than anyone. His siblings teased him over the years, calling him a rebel. But now I saw the strength in his eyes. He’d fight to protect our kind—his kind. It made my heart swell and fall all at the same time. Would he still look at me the same if he knew the truth about me?
Jace released my hand as Lana and Nick returned. “What did you order me?” Jace asked. His face quickly fell as he took in Lana’s pinched face. Her eyes shone a powerful blue, indicating she was worried.
“I ordered you something, but I think we should go,” she said, glancing over her shoulder.
“What is it Lane?” Jace asked.
Before she could answer, he shot up, knocking his chair to the floor. I craned my neck to look out the windows surrounding the diner. Crap.
Making their way up to the double doors were the three Narcos from the club. Reese stopped suddenly, noticing me through the glass. He waved at Jace, then looked at me, puckering his lips into a kiss.
“Screw it,” Jace said. “He’s dead.”