{The Heart Of Enki}

Calibrated.

Optimized.

Stabilizing…

Unable to stabilize.

Warning: Seventy-one hours and fifty-nine minutes until maximum destabilization.

Something.

Stabilizing…

Unable to stabilize.

Warning: Thirteen hours until maximum destabilization.

Was wrong.

Stabilizing…

Unable to stabilize.

Warning: Forty-five hours and twenty-eight minutes until maximum destabilization.

With Rayne’s fuse.

The malfunction began with the first infusion of power from Tameka. With everything happening on all fronts, Rayne didn’t mention it to her team, hoping it would settle down after the first bursts of power. Unfortunately, it was still going berserk.

Would this be it? How Rayne succumbed to her fate of dying alone and afraid, but—

“Rayne.”

The way Nox said her name could make her cry. Why did he say Rayne’s name like it would be the last word he ever said?

“Tell them.”

Nope.

Nuh-uh.

Rayne shook her head—metaphorically and physically. “Their hands are pretty full, and the fuse will right itself.”

Nox reasoned—not argued—with her as he asked perfectly good questions. “But what if it rights itself with only a minute to spare?”

The instant panic ignited by this last question emblazoned white light from her eyes. It was bright enough to flare to the sun. Hot enough to warm the surrounding space.

Rayne’s nacre was on fire.

And god damn it, she couldn’t contain it. Her power spilled out of her in showers of flames like Cascading Light. So bright was it that she struggled to see Nox through the glare, even in her consciousness.

Distraction.

Rayne need to distract from the anxiety. “Why didn’t you let me tell the others about you? I understand why you wanted Korac to know, and I think he figured it out from our hints, but…”

Nox’s voice was so steady that it calmed Rayne’s nerves instantly. “My brother—the others—they will need easing into it. By Korac’s own admission in his Verse, he’ll make for the best ambassador to vouch for the situation. Already he takes cues and follows them.”

“That’s true.” Rayne finally relaxed enough to see Nox again. “Did you see the look on Korac’s face when he figured it out?” She couldn’t help but grin at the memory.

The matching expression on Nox’s face suited his features, making them more handsome than cruel. “I did, and there’s no mistaking it. He knows—”

The stupid azure light pulsed under Rayne’s skin, and another one of her flares ignited through the heart of Enki.

Rayne gasped from the panic. “I can’t—”

Electricity scored her veins, bowing her spine, and drawing a scream from her. The magnesium field leaked out as far as the sun before Rayne could breathe again.

They were heavy, measuring breaths, meant to remind Rayne of her mortality. Each power feed from Tameka humbled Rayne. After she gulped down a breath, two, she muttered, “I don’t remember Tameka’s ability hurting this much.”

Nox lent his quiet strength in these moments because what other choice did Rayne give him other than repeating the same question?

Why not ask the Shadow for help?

Because Rayne feared she already knew the answer—

“Quite the light-show up here.”

A projection manifested in the space before Rayne. It was Razor in a fancy getup. With a smile, he swept off his top hat and bowed to her. “Your majesty.”

Nox growled, summarizing Rayne’s feelings succinctly.

Straightening, Razor returned his hat. “Ahem. In exchange for not ousting your little secret, I beg an audience.”

Azure swam under Rayne’s pale skin, and she wondered why she carried on with the secrets at all. Who was she protecting? Herself? Nox? How much longer would it matter—

Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author's consent. Report any sightings.

No.

The last thought was fatalistic, and Rayne would be damned if she gave in to that mindset.

Metaphorical and physical fists clenched, she demanded, “What do you want, Razor?”

The Pain Curator gestured to thin air where a screen formed, displaying—

“Is that Gait?”

A little too delighted with her surprise, Razor nodded. “I promised our mutual friend I’d treat you to the view.”

Inside her mind, Rayne asked Nox, “What do you think?”

The enormous Icarus glared at the Aegis in their company. “I despise him. He’s a danger to you and our people.”

Nox referring to the shadow as ‘our’ touched Rayne. She couldn’t agree more. Aloud, she asked Razor, “Must you be here for it—”

From her toes to every follicle of her hair, Rayne surged with energy galvanized enough to break every bone in her body.

Rayne left, knocked from the physical world. Her heart beat all around her, throbbed and echoed. It was warm here, and the light didn’t burn. In the distance, Rayne’s mother called her name.

Someone stood between Rayne and the conduit from where the voice came. Their back was to her, displaying the most extraordinary curtain of hair down to their knees. Each strand was two colors: the underside was black, and the topside was white.

Rayne’s heartbeat slowed.

Tall and imposing, the figure cast a shadow in the bright white light, but it was no ordinary shadow. Different silhouettes formed in never-ending multitudes of men and women, stretching on and on. In the furthest distance, Rayne recognized a shade of unmistakable size, looming without meaning to.

Nox.

The next figure stood beside him, pensively biting his thumbnail.

Xelan.

Beyond him was Celindria, outlined by the multiple textures of her beautiful hair. A few silhouettes down the line, Rayne’s shade knelt with her arms out to what could only be Pax’s tiny shadow.

A legacy of strength, power, and sacrifice.

“Elden?” Despite all their nacre construct education, Rayne had never actually seen him. Only heard him speaking in her mind. “Is that you?”

Rayne’s heartbeat slugged by as the figure turned an inch, then another so slowly revealing a trail of gilded tattoos along his arm—

“Rayne,” her mother called again

Another heartbeat.

“Rayne!”

Thump thump.

“Come back to me, Rayne!”

That wasn’t Michelle Callahan screaming for her. That was—

Nox’s face was a shadow hovering over Rayne. Her chest hurt where he’d compressed to revive her. His mouth left hers as warm as the afterlife she’d experienced, fresh with the oxygen he’d breathed into her.

“Nox…”

Oh boy. Rayne’s voice sounded like Shit with a capital “S.”

Razor asked from a respectable distance, “Is she all right?” They both looked at him, and something about the view made him snap his fingers. “If I’d only known sooner. I could’ve made you a fortune with the franchise and myself a nice percentage off of it.”

Rayne groaned, exhausted, but doubly energized.

Nox snarled at the Pain Curator.

Calibrated.

Optimized.

Stabilizing…

Unable to stabilize.

Warning: Sixty-four hours and one minute until maximum destabilization.

Stabilizing…

Unable to stabilize.

Warning: Two hours and seventeen minutes until maximum destabilization.

The King of Earth and Cinder released a second groan for good measure. This was too much. With all her bones healed, Rayne sat up, ready to stand. Nox stayed close, but never offered to help. It was no longer disturbing how well he knew her.

Honestly, Rayne was grateful. “Thank you, Nox.”

In his shadow form, his smoky eyes flashed chrome—Atramentous. The sudden glimpse of it, and its emotional implications, took Rayne’s breath away—

Razor sighed, shaking his head and muttering to himself about ‘missed opportunities.’

Once Rayne was back on her feet, Nox said, “I should return.”

This truth made her sad, and the sadness meant something, didn’t it? Clearing her throat, Rayne said, “Right. Thanks again.”

Nox walked around and stepped back into Rayne until he was back in her mind. There, he said what he wouldn’t say in front of Razor, “It’s my council that you should notify them before…”

It kills you hung in the air.

Rayne listened to every word and considered them carefully, staring at the image of Gait hurtling toward Enki. So close. To Nox, she said, “I’ll tell them once we see what happens with Gait. I promise.”

Nox narrowed his eyes at her. “No matter the outcome?”

Rayne wouldn’t answer that—Couldn’t answer that. She knew what was coming. It crackled around her like kinetic electricity, waiting to strike.

Fate.

Beside her, Razor mused, “The Hall of Dead Kings.”

“What’s that?”

When he turned and looked at Rayne, the significance in his alien eyes shocked her. “Nothing, your majesties.”

Inside her head, she confessed with a touch of concern, “I don’t like the way he said that.”

Nox shook his head, staring at the Aegis until Razor turned back to the screen.

C’mon, Gait.

“There!” Razor pointed to the sudden cloud of dust and dirt emanating from all around the planet’s bulky half. “Those are the charges.” His grin was genuine when he faced Rayne again. “They failed.”

Inside her mind, where her reactions weren’t subject to scrutiny, Rayne jumped in the air, cheering. “Woo! Matt and Lucy, you two are my heroes!!!”

Sagan came on the private line then. “Do you see it, Rayne? Did Razor get you a view screen?”

Rayne glanced at the Pain Curator before answering, “He did! Thank you!”

“It was his idea, but yay! Matt and Lucy pulled through!”

There wasn’t time to notice the Pain Curator swallow and duck his gaze in humility. Rayne was too busy celebrating, watching the planet fling closer and closer until—

Gait busted into thousands of chunks.

Razor shouted, “Fuck.”

But Rayne wasn’t sure she heard him or anything else for the buzzing in her ears. Sagan was on the comms and exchanging words about the Colossal Tantamount and Primary Rem. Other people came on the line and said things.

So many things.

Rayne took a breath. In and out. Another one. The fuse continued to fritz, and the azure light passed under her skin again, but she couldn’t take any of it in.

“Rayne.”

Yes?

She couldn’t form the word aloud for Nox, as she watched the bits of Gait fall safely into the ocean.

All those Weapons.

Inside her mind, Nox stepped between Rayne and that view. “Elden will not fail you.”

Rayne stared at him, blinking. Her voice sounded far away. “Elden?” Did Nox see him, too?

“Not alone and afraid. With the shard from Elden’s nacre, you won’t be alone, and you’ve never feared anything in your life.”

Elden.

Yes.

“Yes.”

Nox was right.

Rayne faced Razor to find him genuinely contrite. It shocked her, but still she asked, “Razor, your plan for Primary Rem. How long will it take?”

He seemed surprised at the change of subject. “Less than an hour.”

Rayne could hear the earnestness in her voice. “Get Pehton and the Lyriks to help you.”

Razor tilted his head in bewilderment and incredulity. “If she will.”

“Tell her it was my idea, and she will.”

His next question held enough gravity to weigh down Enki. “What will you do, your majesty?”

Rayne held up her finger and spoke into the comms. “Tameka, keep the power coming. We won’t lose this, do you hear me? It’s working.”

Tameka sounded invigorated. “You got it. Get ready for some Imminent army energy.”

“I’m ready.”

Rayne meant it.

She was ready.

Calibrated.

Optimized.

Stabilizing…

Unable to stabilize.

Warning: Two hours and eight minutes until maximum destabilization.