Legacy to Zero

32: Not-So-Hostile Takeover

Harlow

River was late.

I knew this only because we were supposed to meet today, and when she showed, the sun was fading to a purplish hue. I had no clue what time it was, but it couldn't have been a good sign that it was almost dark.

Her dimension ripped a hole in the sky. She hopped through, her smile flashing her sharp teeth. On her way toward me, she pushed her hair out of her eyes and sat, crossed-legged and clearly tired.

It hadn't taken her long to tell me she'd found Ken. Part of me figured it meant nothing positive.

She leaned back, blinking at the oncoming darkness. It settled over the two of us slowly, spreading in uneven, cut pieces, like torn scrap of paper exposing what lay underneath it. Stars and satellites shone in tandem as more appeared with every breath I took in.

"So," River said at last, speaking more to the world above our heads than to me, "it went as I expected. Ken doesn't know anything that can help us. They don't know this whole thing was for them."

For Ken. The two words thudded around in the husk of my brain. Getting louder and louder. Like a reminder to herself. Like she would forget? Like Ken was never meant to find out?

I sighed. Picked at a hangnail. "Of course they didn't."

"It's not all bad. I figured out some other things. Or rather, the squadron following you did, and I think it's a lead on the second key."

"Really?" My nerves spiked. While that was progress, I wasn't sure in which direction.

"Don't sound so excited. The only part I've figured out is that Prismatrix has it now, which means I can't get my hands on it to test my other theory." She paused. Met my gaze. "It's a locked box. It doesn't take a genius to think it's the second key from the files. Used by myself with grand value and meaning. One she deemed worth hiding."

"Rachna's original key," I said. "You think you need another key to open it? Is that... even feasible? Can an object be bound to two threads?"

Her gaze narrowed. "So many questions. And, I mean, I'm past the point where I believe anything is impossible. Impossible doesn't exist. Impossible is but the thought of someone who isn't thinking big enough."

The horizon speckled with oncoming snow. Flakes of white tumbled from above, fading before they hit the ground. A few landed on my arms, melting into cold raindrops.

"The sorcerers... on my trail... are they getting closer?" What was another question she wouldn't answer?

"Not physically." She let that statement hang for a while. Let it simmer between us, cool off in and break away with the wind. "But they will. Your biggest threat is the seamstress, who can hold her own in a fight, and she hasn't been seen in a while. The seeker is useless against Jordan's threads, and the scout? Didn't think they mattered before. Now—eh. Might push them again just to see what happens."

What she meant was they were gaining on me. On what I knew. Curse it. The second key is gone, and I'm stuck here. I wasn't going to say I messed up by coming to the Rift; I'd only get an eager could-have-told-you-that-ages-ago from River.

And yes, she was right. But I wasn't powerless here.

"Harlow," River said, making my eyes snap to hers.