NYCTOPHOBIA – FEAR OF THE NIGHT

"Just jump!"

Alice gave Nyx an incredulous look. "Can't I just go downstairs and out the back door?" she whined.

"Have you heard the way you walk?" Eris whispered. "It's like you're trying to wake the entire house. Just jump!"

Alice looked down at the one-and-a-half-story drop before her, clutching and unclutching her hands as she balanced on the balcony railing. It was after much debate that she had persuaded Eris and Nyx to let her come with them to a party just a few blocks away. And, so far, they regretted that decision immensely.

Eris and Nyx had gone every year since Nyx was sixteen. It was so crowded each year that no one ever noticed two strange-looking girls in attendance. No one knew them, no one even looked their way—they blended into the throng of people.

Alice sighed. "What do I do when I hit the ground?"

"Just tuck your legs under and roll. Otherwise you'll jar your ankles."

"You guys are paying my hospital bill."

Eris and Nyx stood under Alice's balcony, which overlooked the family graveyard. It was Eris who'd woken Nyx earlier. Undoubtedly, the dream had shaken her, and Eris had noticed. But she didn't ask questions. Nor did she say anything as Nyx pulled a silver locket from her schoolbag and placed it around her neck. Watching Erebus suddenly change from man to bird the other afternoon had made her all too aware of just how many ravens had been sauntering around the house lately. Maybe one of them was him.

Nyx needed to know more about these "ghosts" and the city that Erebus spoke about. She needed to know if he was crazy or if there was something going on that they were all oblivious to. And if she had to coax him out of the trees, she would.

"Three," Eris counted, bringing Nyx's attention back to the matter at hand.

Alice bent her knees, bobbing up and down.

"Two . . ." they both said.

"One!" Alice pushed off the railing, landing on the ground a second later, and rolling into the bushes.

***

Blocks away, a boy leaned against the side of a frat house. Hundreds of mingling voices and the sound of laughter filled the air, while music made the wall vibrate. Dark hair blew across blue eyes as
he stared down at the half-crumpled piece of paper in his hand, the names Erebus Salem and Nyx Lahey written messily.

He'd heard rumors. Whispers among soldiers and village people. The names seemed to carry all the way through the Hallows, from the ranges to the sea, the desert people to the sky dwellers. People were growing hopeful. But the Council had said nothing so far.

But Cole needed to know. He needed to see them for himself. He needed to know whether this hope was even worth it.

—

"Wait, which one of these guys is actually throwing the party?" Alice asked as they approached the veranda of the frat house. People trickled in and out, and the floors were slick and sticky with spilled drinks. Music and hundreds of conversations caused her ears to buzz.

Eris made a face. "Oh, I have no idea. I bet half of these kids don't know who's throwing the party."

No one even seemed to notice them as they walked in, slipping seamlessly through the crowd to the backyard where there was a pool, party lights, and a bar. And beyond that, a thick, dark forest. People squealed as they tackled each other into the pool, and the smell of barbeque was strong, filling the air.

Grabbing three cups from a girl walking around, Eris turned back to Alice and Nyx, and handed them over.

Eris sighed, her shoulders drooping several inches. "Here's to a night where no one knows our names. And thank God! I've been looking forward to this for a whole-ass year."

They clinked their glasses together as the party thrummed around them.

"Here's to being no one for a night," Alice said.