Chapter 446: Chapter 446

Chapter 446

Zane As soon as the boat landed, the fog wall went back up. I could see it behind us, but I couldn’t figure out the distance. It looked like it was inches away, and also miles at the same time.

The five of us stood on a narrow beach scattered with shells. They were all bone-white and worn.

Here and there, I thought I caught a glance of what looked like skeletal remains also sticking out of the sand, but it was impossible to tell what kind of bones they were.

“It’s quiet,” Mason said. “Too fucking quiet.”

Even the sound of the waves crashing was dim and far away, like a radio with the volume turned down way too low. I went to the water’s edge and dipped my fingers in it, thinking of how hungry the water had felt on the boat. Now it was the land behind us that seemed like it was ready to eat us.

“We need to find shelter,” Xander said. “Stella needs to warm up. To rest. We need food.”

She shook her head. “Daddy, we won’t find anything like that here. We need to get into the trees before the High Council gets here, but…we aren’t going to find anything here that will help keep us alive.”

“Island of the Dead,” Lanie said softly. She shaded her eyes to look into the trees that lined the sandy shore. “Those trees aren’t even alive.”

“Nothing here can stay living for very long. The dead here, they…want us. They need us. We have to stay vigilant. Strong.” Stella drew in a long, deep breath. “I’m holding them off for now. I’ve got a bubble of protection around us.”

“How long can you keep that up?” Xander asked.

“Long enough.”

Lanie pulled Stella close to her side. “When the High Council gets here, will they be able to reach the island? They’ll be able to get through the fog?”

“Oh, yes. They’re all so angry, it fills them with…” Stella gestured. “Think of a juicy steak. Of how your mouth waters just thinking of it. That’s how the residents here feel and think about grand emotions. Love, hate, fear, anger. None of them can feel anything for themselves anymore. They lost the ability so long ago, all they can do is remember how being alive felt.”

I moved to the edge of the sand. The trees reached leafless branches toward a dull sky, bright enough to see by but without even a hint of sun, moon, or stars. The fog had made this place a tomb.

That seemed fitting.

“How long do we have?” I asked Stella.

She shook her head. “I can’t tell. The council members are fighting amongst themselves at every turn. The only thing they have in common is their desire to see us all dead.”

***

Lanie We didn’t need shelter, and there was no food. The only thing we could do was fight our way through the grasping fingers of the dead trees and get to the center of the island. There, we found a small hut made of leaning timbers. We stepped through the door and into a vast, cavernous space so big I couldn’t see the end of it. Carved columns held up a ceiling dotted with what might have been stars, but so far away they were only pinpoints.

All around us, soft sighs and whispers tempted our little group to break apart. I swatted away a vision of my mother and sister reaching for me. My heart pounded.

“Are they dead?” I cried.

Stella put her arm around my waist. “No. It’s a trick. Please, none of you let what you see pull you away from us. I can only protect us within this space, and you can’t see the borders of it. Stay close.

Touching one another.”

“Should we leave this place?” Xander asked boldly.

“This is where we have to wait for the High Council. It’s the only place I can defend us while putting them in danger.” Stella drew in a breath. Her voice rasped, hoarse and gritty. “They’re coming for us, but the dead are going to find them first. Any who make it through to here, I’ll take care of.”

More figures appeared. Some I knew. Some I could tell my mates knew by the way they recoiled or muttered. The specters screamed, wailed, berated…pleaded, flattered, and cajoled.

When Orion appeared in front of us, both Mason and Xander tensed. Stella did, too. She put her arms around both of her fathers.

“He’s more powerful than the others, because he’s real,” she said. “Stand strong!”

Orion let out a string of garbled curses and dove at our little group. We couldn’t see the protective barrier, but he clearly bounced off it and fell back.

“She should be mine!” He howled, pointing at Stella. “My plans…the stakes…the council…”

His voice tattered like a silken scarf shredded by sharp claws.

Stella stepped up. “I never knew you, grandfather. But you have no power over my fathers.”

“Their power is mine!”

Xander and Mason dropped to their knees. Quickly, Zane and I knelt with them to put our hands on them. Stella had said our safety was incumbent on us touching each other. We were never going to let them go.

That’s when Orion breached the circle.