Chapter One
Rayna
Rayna glanced over her shoulder into the cold, foggy darkness of the city until, satisfied that she had not been followed, she slipped through the wall of the abandoned apartment and slumped, exhausted, to the dirty wooden floor. She allowed herself a moment to catch her breath. She was getting close to her Jump line now, but it was making her nervous that she hadn’t seen a Shade Hunter for nearly half an hour. She only had to make it another quarter mile before she was close enough to Jump to Eldertree park, which should give her the lead she needed to make it out of the city. At least, that was her plan.
The fog was thick at night this time of year, especially near the river. The damp air wormed its way into her lungs, robbing her of strength she would need later. She coughed, her lungs aching, frustrated at her own weakness. She was sixteen and in the prime of her youth, yet it had been all she could do to push herself this far. Her body was strong enough, certainly, but her lungs were not. Rayna pulled a canteen out of her backpack and coughed as the cool water aggravated her parched throat. She wiped her mouth with the sleeve of her cloak and leaned back against the wall. Her weight, slight as it was, caused the wall to shift and bits of ancient plaster flecked off, trickling down on her dark brown hair like rain. She paid it no mind.
She closed her eyes and sighed, forcing herself to breathe deeply as the cool air burned in her chest. Xavi was there in her memories, staring back at her, his unseeing eyes seeming to pierce the darkness that the single lantern could not hold at bay. He lay on his side and breathed slowly but did not rise from the ancient cot; did not jump up to embrace her as he once would have. Rayna held his gaze, frozen in place, unable to turn away, unable to flee. The warmth of the basement was oppressive, almost stifling, and it pushed past her in waves as she stood in the doorway, seeming to draw her into that horrid chamber as it escaped into the coolness of the hallway beyond. Then, slowly, Xavi blinked and Rayna turned and ran.
Her eyes flew open and she pitched forward, grabbing her knees to her chest and gasping. Her stomach churned and she felt bile rising in her throat. She had to keep running, had to keep pushing forward, but her body demanded rest. She took several deep, ragged breaths and brought the canteen back to her lips. Her hand was shaking and almost as much water splashed down the front of her cloak as made it into her mouth. Father had always told her that Xavi and Ricard had left, that they had taken new posts in another city. Yet there Xavi was, lying on a cot in a basement room that Rayna had never known existed. At first she thought he’d been dead until she noticed the slight, almost imperceptible rise and fall of his chest. Then she saw the others…
She had to keep running. It would only take a few minutes for Adrick to catch up to her and she could feel his intense focus pressing against her, tracking her, preventing her from slipping through walls and confusing her sense of direction. And there would be others as well. Father always sent more than one Hunter. But she had made it this far without actually encountering Adrick or Remei - or any of the other Shade Hunters, for that matter - and if she hadn’t seen them then she was confident they hadn’t seen her. She took another sip from the canteen, her breathing having calmed, and managed not to spill any this time. Maybe she had a chance after all?
It was a fleeting hope.
“Why did you stop, Rayna?” Remei’s hollow voice whispered in her ear. “You should’ve known we’d find you.” Rayna gasped and leapt to her feet. Remei was floating next to the wall, her hands clasped behind her back, her pale, shimmering form fading in and out of focus in the dim, dusty half-light of the room. She swayed her hips as she grinned at her, and for a moment Rayna thought she caught a glimpse of pity in the shade’s eyes as she looked her up and down.
She snatched her pack off the floor and hurriedly shoved the canteen back inside, slinging it over her shoulders as she quickly scanned the room for any sign of Adrick. A shade couldn’t stray very far away from their twin. The exact distance depended largely on their twin’s power, but there was always a limit. For Remei that was about a mile, which was also how far Adrick could sense someone else’s presence. If Remei was at the outer extent of that limit, then Rayna had a good ten minute lead on Adrick. However, she wasn’t about to hang around and find out if she was right.
“Tell your brother he’s getting slow,” Rayna said, trying to keep the fatigue out of her voice, and turned toward the wall opposite from where she had slipped in. Remei chuckled and glided silently across the room, passing through Rayna before whirling around in front of her, still holding her hands behind her back.
“Tell him yourself,” she cooed, tilting her head to the side as her smile grew bigger and colder. “He’s not as far away as you think he is…”
Rayna scowled and leapt forward, jumping through Remei and the wall as if they weren’t even there. She emerged in what had once been the kitchen of the small apartment and could see through the broken window into the alley that lay beyond. She passed through the wall and back out into the night, the cold air once again slamming against her lungs, and ran down the alley toward the street and the river. Behind her she could hear the cold, taunting laughter of Remei fading into the fog before abruptly cutting off entirely. Rayna growled in frustration as she ran. She had needed those few moments of rest, but they had cost her dearly. Remei would be returning to Adrick even now, telling him where she was, and so Rayna ran, trying to put as much distance between herself and the Hunters as she could.
The alley opened onto a side street that Rayna was passingly familiar with, and she hesitated for a moment. In front of her was a row of buildings and she knew that on the other side was the river, but she couldn’t remember if the nearest bridge was to the left or the right. She gave up after a second and instead ran straight forward, passing through the walls and into the apartments. When she was fresh, she could pass through walls as if they weren’t even there. But she had been running for almost an hour now, and so it felt as though she were passing through cobwebs. The walls tried to push back against her but she ran on, coughing and struggling against her own fatigue, the brief wave of giddiness that came whenever she used her skill passing too quickly to stave off her weariness. She had to end this soon, otherwise she wouldn't have enough strength left to Jump. Someone screamed as she passed through their room, but she paid them no mind, instead focusing her attention on the river.
As she passed out the other side of the apartment building she leapt into the air, kicking her feet off the top of the railing at the edge of the river bank and launching herself out over the water. She took a deep breath, feeling the rush of wind through her hair and cloak, and then concentrated a bit of her power under her feet, solidifying the air just enough that she was able to push herself forward and up again. Despite everything, despite her exhaustion and fear, Rayna smiled. It was exhilarating, leaping about in the open air. She had heard of twins who could fly and she imagined that this must have been pretty close to what it felt like. There was a freedom to it, a sense of endless possibility that came from not being bound to the earth, but all too quickly she reached the other side of the river and let herself fall back to the ground, landing on the stone walkway with practiced ease. It took a great deal of concentration to keep the air beneath her feet solid, even if it was just for a brief moment, and it always tired her out very quickly. She risked a glance over her shoulder, coughing as she caught her breath, but saw no one following, not even Remei. There was a narrow alley to her left and she darted for it, passing between the tall brick buildings and heading for the street on the other side. It would be Alder Lane, she knew, which ran north along the river for a ways before curving sharply to the east and heading out of the city. It was this bend for which she was heading, as it was the farthest point from which she knew she could successfully Jump to the park.
It was late and the night was cold, and even though no one was out the gaslights were lit, the flickering yellow glow struggling to penetrate the thick fog. Rayna slowed her pace just a little, trying to conserve her energy. Jumping always drained her more than anything else, and she needed to make sure she had enough strength for the effort. Fortunately she had crossed the river further north than she’d thought, and it didn’t take long to reach the bend in the road. If Adrick or any of the others were going to be waiting for her, it would be here. This was not their first chase and just as she understood the limits of their powers, they too understood hers. That was why she had pushed herself so hard tonight. She had deliberately circled wide around the park. It wasn’t the only spot in the city she knew well enough to be able to Jump to, nor was it even the closest to a city gate. But it was far enough away from Father’s house to make it hard for the Shade Hunters to track her down, and it was positioned almost equally between two of the city's gates, giving her some options. And so she had chosen the park as her destination, but had initially started off toward an entirely different goal. The ruse had probably thrown off one or two of the Hunters, but Rayna had no illusions that it would fool Adrick. He had an uncanny way of understanding her, almost like he knew what she was thinking. And then there was Remei, who had surely told him where Rayna was by now. In many ways, she was more afraid of Adrick than she was of Father.
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And, as she'd feared, he was waiting for her. She rounded the bend and saw Adrick standing in the middle of the street, the yellow light of a gas lamp shining on him for all to see. She brought herself up short, not out of fear but of frustration. She heard the giggle of a young woman off to her right and glanced in that direction. She could see Remei’s glimmering form, half-girl and half-fog, standing under a nearby gaslight, her hands clasped behind her back.
“Told you he was close,” Remei said in her annoying sing-song voice. Rayna scowled and turned back to Adrick. The shade was no longer a threat, but he certainly was. Rayna’s chest felt tight and her lungs were burning. She suppressed the urge to cough. Now was not the time to show weakness. Instead, she rolled her shoulders and cracked her neck, then walked slowly toward Adrick. His hands were in his pockets and he watched her approach with sharp eyes and a sly grin.
“It’s about time,” he said as she stopped just outside his circle of light, his deep voice contrasting disconcertingly with his tall, lithe figure. “I didn’t think it was possible, but I believe you’re actually starting to get slower as you grow.”
“Funny,” Rayna said, suppressing another cough. “I was just saying the same about you.”
Adrick shook his head and sighed, taking his hands out of his pockets and reaching to the sheath strapped to the small of his back. “I really don’t know why he bothers with you; you hardly seem worth the trouble.”
“I can give you all the trouble you want,” Rayna said, narrowing her eyes and shifting into a fighting stance.
“Oh, I doubt that,” Adrick said, pulling out his dagger and leaping forward with a grin and a gleam in his eyes. Rayna instantly felt herself reeling as he slammed her with his power. She had been expecting it but it was still overwhelming. Adrick had the very rare ability to sense the presence of other people from great distances away, whether they were twins or not. He had honed this skill to the point where he could single out and track individual targets, and, in the case of twins, overwhelm them with his presence to the point that their own powers were practically useless. But of course, Rayna knew this and with a great effort of will was able to push back against him. However, in the half-second or so that it took for her to resist his attack he had closed the distance between the two of them and was almost upon her with his dagger. She fell back half a step and crouched, filling her skin with her power as Adrick slashed at her neck. His speed was incredible, but the blade passed right through her as though it were made of mist. She flung her arms out to the side as she spun away from Adrick, his momentum carrying him past her as he recovered from his attack. She concentrated her power to her forearms, at the sheaths that were strapped there. They instantly lost all tangibility and the knives that had been secured inside slipped through the leather like water, the momentum of her spin causing them to fly outward, and with skill born from long practice she caught them both.
Rayna recovered from her spin and stood, facing toward where she anticipated Adrick would be. And he was there, crouched low and lunging toward her with both hands on his dagger, the long, cruel blade reflecting the pale yellow of the gaslights. Rayna braced herself, crossing the blades of her knives in front of her like a shield, and strengthened them both with her power. She caught his blade in the “v” of her knives, but his weight and momentum were too much for her and she tumbled backward. He was nineteen or so, at least three years her senior, and was nearly a foot taller and a good forty pounds heavier than she was. Rayna knew that she was no match for him when it came to strength. But what she lacked in raw power she made up for with wits and agility. She let herself fall to the street, her back slamming hard against the uneven stones of the pavement. She ignored the pain and kicked up against Adrick with her feet, pushing him upward so that they both continued their roll, somersaulting the rest of the way over and in the blink of an eye Rayna was on top of Adrick and leaping off of him. She heard him grunt as his head cracked satisfyingly against the cobblestones. She grinned as she found her footing. She readjusted the grip on her knives and turned to flee. She was only a block away from her Jump line and was already out of breath from the brief scuffle. Her only advantage against Adrick was her speed. It didn’t matter if he could track her presence or not, as long as she could stay out of his reach there was very little he could do to her.
“That’s right, little Ray-Ray, run away, run away!” Remei taunted from where she was watching on the sidewalk, and then Rayna felt her mind crushed with another of Adrick’s attacks. She stumbled, cursing. She had hoped he would have been too stunned from hitting his head to be able to focus on her like this. She took a deep breath, trying to focus her will against Adrick’s, but the cold misty air burned within her already weakened lungs and she collapsed to her knees, coughing. Remei’s laughter rang in her ears and she lost her concentration. Unable to fight back against Adrick’s invasion and her own burning, convulsing chest, she pitched forward on her hands, dropping her knives. Her chest was getting tight and what little air she could gasp felt like needles stabbing into her lungs. Her vision grew dark and she could feel Adrick approaching her.
“No,” he said, slowly and softly, the pace of that single word somehow matching his footsteps as he walked up to her. “I really don’t know what he sees in you at all.”
Her lungs were on fire now and her head was buzzing, though she wasn’t certain if it was Adrick’s doing or because she was coughing so hard. Her fingers and toes started tingling and she fell to her side as her muscles grew weak. Adrick knelt down beside her, slapping her knives away with a casual flick of his wrist that infuriated Rayna. Then he reached down and gently brushed her hair out of her face.
“But regardless, it was almost fun at times, I suppose.” He caressed her cheek and smiled. It was a cold, lifeless smile, and in that moment she hated him more than she had ever hated anything or anyone in her life. She hated that he had guessed where she had been heading, hated that he was stronger than her, hated that Father had rescued her from the streets instead of letting her become a shade…
Adrick withdrew his hand and gripped his dagger, pointing it at her chest. Rayna tensed, struggling against her burning lungs and Adrick’s oppressive presence in her mind. He eyed her sympathetically for a moment. “Well,” he said, almost wistfully. “I guess you’re finally going to get to meet your twin. I hope she’s not as much of a disappointment as you are.”
Rayna scowled, and then immediately squeezed her eyes shut in pain as her body was wracked with another round of convulsions, her lungs contracting sharply as she tried to cough out air that she didn’t have to spare. The muscles in her arms and legs began to cramp, sending intense waves of pain throughout her entire body...
And then, just as Adrick thrust his dagger toward her, his presence vanished from her mind. The sudden release was almost as jarring to Rayna as his initial attack. One moment he was there, forcing out everything except her fear, blocking her from her power and clouding her mind. Then he was gone, pushed out by the intense pain that was racking every part of her body. The pain was the worst she had ever known. It engulfed her, filled her and left no room for anything else. And in the pain she found release.
The dark edges of her vision cleared in an instant and she caught the glint of his dagger’s edge as it plunged toward her chest. She didn’t even think, she simply reacted. She had been aware of her power for as long as she could remember and she used it as naturally as anyone else breathed or walked. She concentrated it at her chest as the tip of the dagger struck, causing the metal to lose its consistency and pass into her body without actually touching her. Unfortunately, her power could not affect organic matter in the same way and Adrick’s fists slammed into her breast with the full force of his lunge. The impact shocked her back into the moment and she gasped, actually breathing air in instead of out and, for the briefest moment, she almost panicked. She had just done the one thing she had spent a lifetime training herself never to do… Adrick’s dagger was still inside of her, and if she lost concentration for even a second it would re-form, killing her almost instantly. It was one thing to let a moving object pass through her, or even to leap through a wall… those were dynamic situations, with movement and momentum, and they were over almost as soon as they began. But to allow something to slam into her, to have it stop moving… that was one heartbeat away from suicide.
Adrick gasped, his face twisting in confusion. Their eyes met for the briefest of moments and then Rayna acted, forcing her cramped arms to push Adrick away from her. He toppled backward, caught off-guard by how suddenly she had shaken off his power. Rayna grabbed the handle of the dagger and pulled it out of her chest, gasping. She rolled away from Adrick and pushed herself up, gritting her teeth against the intense pain in her legs. Her eyes watered as she stood and she knew that, in her present condition, she had no hope of escaping Adrick, and this time he wouldn’t hold back. She had never understood why he hated her so much and now, for whatever reason, his rage was no longer in check. He fully intended to kill her.
No, she thought. Not tonight. She had fought too hard, had come too far, to lose now. She would not end up on a cot next to Xavi. Less than two hundred feet, and she could make it. Even now she knew she had enough left in her for the Jump. All she had to do was push a little harder, a little farther.
But her legs wouldn’t move. They were barely holding her up. The pain was intense, paralyzing. Behind her she heard Adrick getting to his feet, and she gritted her teeth. Not against the pain but at her own rising anger. Father had given her so much. He had given her a home, an education, and training. He had made her strong.
But he had taken much from her as well. She had never known her mother or her twin. She was an infant when Father found her and certainly would have died had he not rescued her. But perhaps not. Perhaps, by some miracle, she may have survived. Her sister had survived, after all; the fact she had never seen her shade was proof of that. But even if Rayna had not survived, if her weak lungs had succumbed to the cold, damp streets, at least she would have become a shade. She would have been able to know her sister, know her name, her power, her likes and dislikes. She could have experienced life through her. Instead, she only knew the life that Father wanted for her. He had given her a life free from the pain and suffering of the streets, but had exchanged it for a life of loneliness and isolation. He had taken from Rayna her freedom, her family, and her future. Instead of a sister who would love her for who she was he had given her a father who’s love had to be earned and brothers and sisters who shunned her because of his favor. But no matter how hard she tried, how hard she pushed herself, she never quite measured up. There was always an Adrick who was better than her; stronger than her, faster than her, and smarter than her. And that was why she had to get to the park…
As the anger arose in her chest, displacing the burning tightness with its righteous fire, she heard Adrick draw another dagger and lunge toward her with a yell. She closed her eyes and Jumped.
End of Chapter One