The Fire and the Sky (Book 3 of the... - Chapter 65: Chapter 65

Jeremy grabbed a small ring of keys from a hook by the back door and dragged May out into the night. She stumbled over her own feet in her effort to keep up with his long strides, but she didn't complain.
At the back of the small yard stood a shed overgrown with foliage. He flipped through the keys, examining each in the scant light streaming from the back of the house and muttered under his breath. While she waited, May took a couple cautious steps to where the property dropped abruptly out of sight and peered over the edge. There she found a steep and rocky cliff face that plunged to the lake below. A set of wooden stairs was built into the stone and wound its way down to a small dock that jutted out into the darkness.
The lake was still and silent as the dead.
"I'm such a fucking idiot," Jeremy said, summoning May back to her sense. She returned to the shed with a shiver. "Of course severing the signal would attract the Loyals. I don't know what I was thinking?"
His hand trembled, enough so that he struggled to fit the key into the door's lock. May reached out and took it from him. He didn't stop her.
"You were thinking of your safety." She unlocked the door and stepped aside. "You knew none of you would ever really be safe so long as those devices were working. Besides, you don't really know that the Loyals are coming, you're just assum—"
The exhausted, knowing look he gave her cut the words off in her throat.
"Okay, fine," she relented. "What do we do now?"
In reply, Jeremy pulled the shed door open and tugged on a chain that lit up a dull, bare bulb overhead. The warm light revealed what looked like a small armory. It took May a moment to realize what appeared to be a stash of weapons was probably just the safe and responsible way of storing the tools and other outdoorsy apparati that was no doubt common in a place like this. May eyed an axe and a chainsaw that hung on the wall over a rusting lawn mower while Jeremy made his way to the peeling green cabinet that loomed in the back corner. It required yet another key from the ring to open, which made sense considering what they found inside. A hunting rifle sat upright next to a longbow, its quiver full of arrows hung neatly at its side. Jeremy immediately started rummaging through a set of mean looking knives that, as far as May was concerned, had no business being as big as they were.
Priva blustered in behind them and gave the cabinet's offerings a quick scant. With a click of her tongue, she grabbed the bow and shouldered the quiver.
"Give Connor the gun," was all she said and she turned on her heel. She paused by the door and considered the axe, which she took with her as well.
May, who had all she needed in the Star cannon strapped to her forearm, took the rifle and as many boxes of ammo as she could carry. Her heart was pounding in her chest, shooting pulses of blood roaring in her ears with every beat. In her mind, she wondered when she had crossed the point of no return into what could very well be her last night on earth.
But the adrenaline wouldn't let her fixate on the worst case scenario for long.
They had a fortress to defend.
Back in the yard, May found Priva dousing the cliffside stairs in some kind of sharpe-smelling fuel from a red canister. When it was empty she signaled to Jeremy, who dug through his pockets and handed her a small packet that May strained to see in the shadows. Her ears perked at the sound of a match striking. Sulfur scented the night air as tiny bursts of flame erupted from Priva's fingers before she tossed them down, one after the other. May flinched away as the stairs ignited with a flash.
"There," Priva said once the steps were lit halfway to the water. "That gives us one less thing to worry about."
The back door swung open with a bang. Connor hurried out of the cottage, his eyes reflecting the golden glow of the fire as he made his way to May. He held something out to her; it glinted in the firelight.
It was the ring.
"Rue wants you to hang onto this," he said, motioning for May to take it. "Is the gun for me? Let's switch."
May frowned. "Doesn't she need it?"
"Not to call on the Council. Besides, if we fail and the Loyals breach the cottage, Rue didn't want them to find it on her."
May's mind flashed to an image of Wyndam Aviar and his agents stepping over her dead body to storm the cottage, not realizing the treasure that lay beneath their feet. She shuddered as she handed the rifle to Connor in exchange for the wishing star. Once she offloaded the boxes of ammunition, she slid the ring back on her finger and pushed the thought from her mind.
Whatever happened next, she had to survive it. There was no other choice.
With the stairs down to the lake fully ablaze, the four stormed back through the cottage and out the front door to stand guard. They locked the doors behind them and spaced themselves evenly. No one spoke as they eyed the black woods for signs of movement. The night was quiet and warm, but May shivered anyway. She kept her hand planted firmly on the Star cannon's charging canister.
Minutes ticked past. The wind rattled the treetops, carrying with it the crackling sound of the fire out back. May glanced over her shoulder to the cottage.
"How long will it take Rue to reach the Stars?" she asked, keeping her voice low.
"I honestly don't know," Connor admitted without looking at her. He kept his eyes trained on their surroundings and his hands busy cramming ammo into his pockets. "It depends on how much noise is in the universe, how strong her signal is, lots of things."
Noise in the universe. May remembered Em telling her about the cosmic sounds that constantly echo around. Sounds that Em could always hear, sometimes for better and sometimes for worse. It made May miss her even more.
The flickering of headlights through the trees grabbed everyone's attention. May tensed.
A sleek black car emerged from the laneway and pulled across the lawn lengthwise, blocking the SUV May and Jeremy had arrived in. When the driver's side door opened, the interior lights stayed off, keeping the car's occupants a mystery until the last possible moment.
And then, Wyndam Aviar himself stepped out. From her right, May heard Jeremy's sharp inhale at the sight of his father. Instinctively, her fingers clenched tighter around the cannon.
In a way, May felt thrown. When she imagined this scene, she had assumed Wyndam would arrive, flanked by his minions. She was surprised to see him alone, and driving himself no less. For some reason she always assumed he was the pretentious kind of man who had others do that sort of thing for him. But there he was, standing alone beside his car, glaring back at them with the eyes he had passed down to his son. May was struck by how one of Jeremy's finest features looked so different, so menacing, on Wyndam's face.
"What are you doing here, Aviar?" Connor called, his rifle held up and resting in the crook of his arm. His face was like stone, and May was impressed by his stoicism. She wondered how many stand-offs like this he'd endured in his troubled life as a Wish.
Wyndam jutted his chin at him, as if they were old friends and this were nothing more than a social visit. "Good evening to you too, Mr. Rowan. No need for the theatrics, I believe you know exactly why I'm here."
Connor's expression remained impassive. "Enlighten me."
With an almost bored sweep of his eyes, Wyndam scanned their faces. When he landed on May, the corners of his mouth quirked ever so slightly, igniting a fiery rage in the pit of her stomach. Jeremy must have noticed, because he reached for her and laid a hand atop the one she was gripping the Star cannon's charger with.
The gesture did not go unnoticed by Wyndam, who narrowed his eyes darkly at his son.
"You've never been able to do as you're told, have you?"
Jeremy scoffed. "As if I'd ever listen to you."
Wyndam cocked his head at a curious angle. May couldn't shake the way he seemed to look at everyone else as if they were prey.
"As disappointing as ever, I see," Wyndam said. "I'm willing to bet you're responsible for our lost connection with your data units."
"I don't know what you're talking about," Jeremy replied with a petulant shrug. For a split second, Wyndam withered at his son's disrespect, but he caught himself quickly. Meanwhile, Jeremy looked over to his cohorts. "Did you guys know about this?"
Connor shook his head. Priva managed to look genuinely surprised.
"Nah," she said. "It's news to me."
"Of course it is," Wyndam snarled, his cool facade slipping as his irritation grew. Again, he cut his eyes to May. "Not that it matters. Even if you aren't responsible for that, you know the rules about this one. What part of 'stay away from her' didn't you understand?"
"They didn't bring me here," May lied, grinding the words out between gritted teeth. "I came here looking for you."
Even in the dim light that cascaded through the windows, May could see the way Wyndam's eyes glinted. She tried to hold his stare—to not be the first to look away—but a shifting shadow in the car's window played at the edge of her vision and made it hard for her to focus.
Was there someone behind it, crouched in waiting?
"And what is it you want from me?"
The shadow moved again, almost imperceptibly. May blinked. Perhaps she was imagining it.
"I want you to take me to Em," she barked. She pointed the cannon at him as if to imply he had no choice in the matter.
This time, the corners of his mouth peeled up into a cruel smile. "I'm afraid I can't do that."
May pulled back the cannon's canister. A high-pitched squeal filled the air as its power fired to life.
"May, what are you doing?" Jeremy hissed.
But she ignored him. The shadow shifted again, so much so that there was no doubt something was there. Was there someone else in the car?
"Give me one good reason why not," May said. She was amazed by how steady her arm was, considering how electric and wild she felt in that moment.
"Because the Starborn is dead."
Wyndam's words hit May like a shockwave racing from a detonated bomb. The world went silent. She rocked on her heels, felt like she was falling, past the ground, downward endlessly.
Somewhere on the edge of her consciousness, she could hear Jeremy's muffled voice calling to her.
"Don't listen to him, May. He's lying to you."
And then the whole universe seemed to zoom in on the passenger side of Wyndam's car, the side that faced the trees. May was hyper aware of the shadow rising from inside, of Melanie's head cresting the roof of the car and twisting to aim something—a weapon, for sure—directly at her in impossibly slow motion.
Everything happened in an instant.
Wyndam, who seemed to know what May was going to do before she did, dove forward.
May squeezed her right hand into a tight fist.
A blast of Star energy exploded from the cannon and collided with the car, sending it up into a ball of fire and shrapnel.
Melanie's body was tossed back and the forest erupted as Loyal agents spilled from the darkness, weapons drawn.
The battle was on.