Fuck.
Darkside ghosted into view, and she could see the archway that led into the anteroom at the edge of the kitchen. Walker lay on the floor, facing her, his arm twisted at an unnatural angle. His head was bleeding, but it wasn’t like anything Keira had ever seen. It pooled beneath his nose, black as oil, and moved like liquid mercury, tiny droplets breaking off and skittering across the floor as the puddle grew.
The sound of Susan’s voice mail message broke her concentration, and Keira realized that Jeremy was watching her intently.
“Hey,” she said, instinctively acting like someone had actually picked up the phone. “Yeah, dad’s car broke down and I’m stuck.”
Pause.
“Near Temple and Newbury. Can you call a tow truck and come unlock the house?”
The nasal auto-voice of the voice mail service cut her off and Keira prayed that Jeremy couldn’t hear it.
“Thanks,” she said quickly. “I really appreciate it.”
Keira hung up the phone, her hand trembling. Walker was only a few feet away, injured and unconscious in Darkside, but Jeremy’s stare was boring holes into her back in the normal world. She was going to have to go back into Darkside and get Walker out somehow, without both of them reappearing in the Reynoldses’ kitchen. Or getting caught by the Darkside guards before they made it back.
Great.
“Well, I guess I’ll be going,” Keira said. “Thanks for letting me use the phone.” She turned around. Jeremy was standing a lot closer to her than he had been before.
“You might as well wait here. You can have a soda. Or something. We’ll talk.” He took another step closer to her, and Keira edged toward the back door.
“Um, about what?”
“About Walker. His name’s Walker, right?”
Keira nodded.
“He’s an asshole. You and I make so much more sense, Keira.” His eyes glittered. “If you’d think about it, I’m sure you’d see what I see. We’d be good. Really good.”
“You and . . . you and me? Jeremy, that’s . . . I’m . . . very flattered but . . . ” The words barely made it past her stammering lips. Keira shook herself. “Listen, I should probably get back to my car. My mom’s on her way home from work and it won’t take her that long to get here. I have to go.”
Anger flashed across Jeremy’s face, sudden and hot as a grease fire. “You haven’t even given me a chance to finish. We do make sense. I can prove it to you.” Jeremy reached out and caught hold of her sleeve.
Every alarm bell inside Keira went off at once. The only thing she could think of was getting out of the house. She yanked her arm away, but instead of letting go, Jeremy’s grip tightened and the shoulder seam of her shirt ripped.
Jeremy didn’t seem to hear the threads tear. Still holding her by her mangled shirt, he pulled her close and kissed her, forcing his tongue into her mouth. Keira turned her head to get away from his kiss. He ended up licking her cheek.
Trying not to gag, Keira wrenched herself out of his grip and ran toward the back door.
“Wait!” Behind her, Jeremy stepped forward, but the dog darted between the two of them, barking excitedly. Jeremy tripped over the dog and cursed. In the spare second the dog had given her, Keira flipped the lock and yanked open the door, careening out into the backyard.
“Hey!” Jeremy shouted after her, as she raced around the corner of the house. Vaguely, she heard the phone in his house ringing, followed by a string of curses.
She might have gotten away for the moment, but she wasn’t at all sure Jeremy was going to let her go for good.
Chapter Thirty-Nine
PROTECTED FROM VIEW BY the wall of Jeremy’s house, Keira crouched down on the scruffy grass and reached for Darkside with everything she had. She crossed over so quickly that it hurt. It was like she’d been shoved through a meat slicer, chopping off her connection with one reality and dropping her into another.
She found herself pressed up against the exterior wall of the Hall of Records, the stone stealing her body heat with shocking speed. A scream of frustration rose in her throat and Keira gritted her teeth against it. There was no way into the Hall from this side. It was windowless. Doorless. Impenetrable. And there was no way she was going in through the Hall of Record’s main door. She couldn’t risk that.
She’d just have to go back to her world and try again. Squeezing her eyes shut, she felt for the grass beneath her bare feet. When she could feel dirt beneath her fingertips, she opened her eyes.