Nil on Fire Read Online Free Page B

her mind would come; she was so much like her predecessor from years before, a male, Scott. He had thought himself a match for the island.
    He had been no match at all.
    But this female was different. Special. She fought, hard, with an intensity that was admirable, but in the end, she would bend to the island too. And then she would break.
    They all did.
    Perhaps she wasn’t special after all, the island thought with disappointment. After all, she was only human.
    Abruptly it tired of her.
    It wanted to break her, now .

 
    CHAPTER
    10
    SKYE
    JUNE 5, AFTER NOON
    Something has changed.
    The day I got too close to the edge, the fragile balance between me and the darkness shifted, and not in my favor. Now I know I can’t win, not if the darkness brings all it has to our battle. It’s bigger than me, stronger than me, and suddenly, more intent on me . On consuming me, as crazy as that sounds. But the defiant part of me refuses to accept that the war is already lost. Maybe it’s not the strength of the fighter but size of the heart that decides the victor.
    I don’t think the darkness has a heart.
    But I do.
    It gives me a chance; it must. It’s what I tell myself to give myself hope. Because there’s always hope, right? It’s what I told Paulo, once.
    Paulo.
    At first I thought the voice belonged to Paulo, asking why I left him behind. Then I thought it was Dex, asking why I chose him. Why I didn’t choose him.
    Now I know it’s someone else entirely. Someone as trapped by the darkness as I am.
    The voice belongs to a girl, and my instincts tell me she’s in trouble.
    That makes two of us.
    My name is Skye Bracken, and I’m still here. Barely. This is the sad truth.

 
    CHAPTER
    11
    RIVES
    JUNE 7, DEAD OF NIGHT
    I’m losing Skye.
    She lay beside me in the dark, my arm curved around her waist. Her last nightmare had just faded; her trembling finally stopped.
    But she wasn’t asleep.
    Not by a long shot.
    Lately she barely slept at all. She was a walking ghost. Pale, eyes rimmed in gray, drifting through the day, a shadow of herself.
    It made me furious, because I was so damn helpless.
    Skye relaxed, then to my relief, she finally drifted off. She’d barely slept five minutes before she tensed.
    â€œNo!” she rasped, her entire body rigid, her fists balled tight around the sheet.
    â€œSkye,” I whispered. “It’s just a dream.”
    I caught the wisp of a giggle. A cruel cackle, cloaked in the dark. But it wasn’t Skye laughing, and nothing about the night was funny.
    It was a remnant of Nil.
    You let us go , I thought. Fury ripped through my veins. It’s over.
    You left , came the thought, cold and amused. But I never let you go.
    Fifteen minutes later Skye’s nightmare roared back.
    Wake, dream, scream, repeat.
    When the day broke, I shook off the dark. It was time to get Skye help, now . And I knew exactly who to call.
    I slipped onto the balcony and rang Skye’s dad.
    He answered in seconds. “Rives?” Concern rippled through his voice. “Is everything all right?”
    â€œI need your help.” I paused. “Something’s wrong with Skye, and it has to do with Nil.”

 
    CHAPTER
    12
    NIL
    AFTER NOON
    This one may have been a poor choice.
    The sense of him during passage was profound, both his strength and flaws. The island waited for him to wake, knowing that the time to choose a different one had passed. Time was the one element out of the island’s control.
    Now the male was here.
    The rest would be up to him.
    In recent weeks, the island’s capacity for guidance and protection had shrunk dramatically, especially with the energy constantly directed toward the ones beyond the seam, an expenditure of electria both necessary and debilitating.
    More precious electria had been required to sustain those humans already here.
    The last of the island’s waning power had been needed to acquire