I’m so caught up in panic that I don’t notice the trap in front of me until it’s almost too late. At the very last second, I catch a glint of steel and react, leaping over it. My toes catch its edge and I stumble. If my hands hadn’t still been bound, I might have avoided falling but I can’t stop myself and I land heavily on the cold ground. I roll right in a bid to get away but it’s too late: the Mayor is in front of me, panting hard and pointing the gun in my face. For an old man, he’s pretty spry. This is what I get, I think dully, as I stare at the muzzle. This is what happens to someone who’s been housebound for almost two years and whose only exercise is jogging up and down a staircase every so often.
‘You think you’re so clever, don’t you?’ the Mayor sneers. ‘Making everyone think that little Ashley is the heroine of the hour. You’ve caused me a lot of problems, you know. It’ll take days, weeks, to win back everyone’s trust. But I will do it.’ He glances at the nearest Z. ‘It’s a shame. You really are a dreamweaver. We could have worked together. This could have been the most powerful zone in the Dreamlands. We could have changed the future together. Instead, you’re never going to wake up.’
‘Kill me,’ I hiss. ‘The other Travellers have seen you for what you are. My death won’t make a difference.’
He laughs and shakes his head. ‘They’ll come around. They always do. And I’m not just going to get my revenge by pulling the trigger. I’ve got your boyfriend.’ Confused, I blink up at him. He laughs again. ‘You forgot about that, didn’t you? Once I knew which town you lived in, it took no time to locate him. After all, you’d already told me his name. I might not have found you in person but it hardly makes a difference now. Poor little Adam McDonald.’ He smirks while my innards turn to ice. ‘So you see, I’m in control here and I’m in control there. Once I’ve taken care of him, I’ll go back and take care of your mother too. She’s not quite the accomplished liar that you are.’
The fear that I’ve been keeping at bay threatens to overwhelm me. ‘You can’t hurt them,’ I whisper.
‘Oh yes I can. And I will.’
Oh God. I stare at him mutely. I’ve fucked everything up.
‘What did you think was going to happen?’ he asks curiously. ‘Were you going to kill me in the square? Was that your plan?’
‘No. I’m not a murderer. I’m not you.’
‘You thought discrediting me would be enough?’ Scorn drips from his voice. ‘And what about when the Department showed up? What do you think they would have done?’
‘What?’
His amusement is plain to see. ‘You still think this is it, don’t you? That this forest and that town are all there is. You’re not very bright, are you, Zoe? There are twenty-four towns just like this one.’
I start. ‘What do you mean?’
‘You didn’t think about different time zones? About why all those buildings are so quaint and Eurocentric? I’m in charge of this one. The Department is in charge of them all.’
‘I thought the Department worked for you,’ I stammer.
The Mayor raises his eyebrows. ‘It would be nice to think so, wouldn’t it? Unfortunately it’s the other way around. It’s just as well your plan didn’t succeed. You think I’m a monster but I’m a kitten compared to the Department.’ He shakes his head. ‘Not that you’ll ever live to see them, of course. It’ll cause me a few issues and it won’t be easy explaining how I managed to execute the only dreamweaver who’s wandered our way in decades.’ He shrugs. ‘But I’ll come up with something.’ He raises the gun. ‘Goodbye, Ms Lydon.’
I squeeze my eyes shut, waiting for the inevitable. At least it’ll be quick. I hope my death inside a police cell won’t cause Rawlins too many problems. She was only doing her job after all. But before I hear the trigger click, there’s a sudden screech and a thunderous patter of hooves. I open my eyes and see the dark shape of Pegasus barrel forward, her horn impaling the Mayor in his stomach. She jerks her head and he’s thrown against the nearest tree. His eyes bulge and he clasps the wound, the gun dropping to the ground. ‘Oh,’ he gasps. ‘Oh shit.’
I scramble to my feet while Pegasus whinnies and flips her mane. I half run, half fall over to the Mayor, my hands covering his in a bid to staunch the bleeding.
‘You...’ he whispers, ‘you won’t escape the Department.’ His face goes slack.
I gaze at him in panic, then start thumping his chest. ‘Goddamnit!’ I yell. It doesn’t matter what I do, though: there’s too much blood. He’s gone.
I look at the unicorn. A single drop of blood falls from the tip of her horn. She whinnies again, as if to tell me that now we’re even. Before I can respond, she wheels round and gallops off, swallowed up by the darkness.
I hated the Mayor. He was a vile, murderous creature who deserved to be locked away but Dante was right: killing someone is a far different proposition to thinking about it. I didn’t really want the Mayor dead. I stare at his unseeing eyes, struck by unexpected sorrow.
‘Salib,’ I tell the Mayor’s corpse quietly as realisation hits me. ‘Salib told me not to trust the Department. He never mentioned you until the letter.’ The Mayor is right. I’ve not made anything better. In fact, they are probably about to become a whole lot worse.
There’s a crashing noise and I hear branches snap as footsteps rush towards me. Dante appears, his eyes raking my face. When he sees I’m alright – physically, anyway – he relaxes and glances at the Mayor. ‘Pegasus?’ he asks softly.