“I’ve been traveling for a while now,” he reassures me. “And we know where the danger is coming from. Once Mario’s involved, this will all be over. And then you and I get to figure out where we go from here.”
“What if I don’t want to go anywhere? What if I just want to stay plain old Jessa?”
I hear him chuckle. “You could never be plain old Jessa.”
“What if I don’t want to travel?”
“Then you don’t.” His fingers are still stroking my hair, and my eyelids are getting heavier as the minutes pass.
“I don’t want you to go away,” I tell him.
“I told you I’m not going anywhere.”
I turn my head to look back at him, and it’s not easy to do because I’m definitely feeling light-headed from the NyQuil.
“I mean after. After this is all over. I guess you’ll want to go back to whatever you were doing before.”
“What I was doing before was looking for you,” he reminds me. “And now I’ve found you. I’m not going anywhere.”
I feel his lips against my temple, and I close my eyes, savoring the sensation. He’s warm against my back, and where his arm circles my waist. His fingers are in my hair again, and then through a fog, the bright white of the classroom hits my eyes. I immediately tense and turn my head, looking around.
“Rudy won’t be joining us,” Mario tells me as I take my seat. “You can relax.”
“You know?”
“I had a hunch, after our last session. It’s confirmed now—and he’s on the run.”
“What’s going to happen to Finn? He can’t stay awake forever.”
“No, he can’t. I’ve been given permission to take on a second Traveler—which is not generally allowed—but this is an extreme circumstance.”
“Rudy has a second Traveler,” I say.
Mario nods. “Yes, he does. He’s been using Finn for information about you, and another Traveler to do the dirty work where you’re concerned. Arranging for all your calamities to revolve around Finn ended up causing more suspicion, instead of diverting it.”
“You’ll take care of Finn?” I ask. “He’ll be safe?”
“I can’t guarantee that,” Mario says quietly. “Not any more than I can for you. Forecasting can be uncertain when you’re dealing with people of free will. We deal in suppositions and potential outcomes, not absolutes. But at least we know what we’re up against.”
“Easy for you to say. You didn’t lose a best friend shortly after almost being tortured, killed, and eaten by cannibals. And now I still have to watch my back.”
“The Traveler is still out there.” Mario nods. “He’s sure to try again.”
“Or, she is,” I add. “I think it was a woman who pushed me through into Finn’s world. I couldn’t see her face, only her gloves and jewelry. It all happened too fast.”
“You should have known Rudy was going to watch there—he knew how fond you two were of the place.” Mario’s tone carries a world of consternation.
“Thank you for helping me.”
“I had a feeling Rudy would look for a reality that could do his dirty work for him,” Mario continues. “Add in the fact that Finn would be reluctant to go back to his own reality, and it was perfect for Rudy’s purposes. The Traveler couldn’t have ever had a counterpart there, so that might give us a starting place for narrowing down who it is. The trick was figuring out where in that reality the Traveler would send you, and when you fell asleep, I found you.”
“I was only asleep for a minute or two,” I say.
Mario shrugs. “I work fast.”
“Well, let’s keep that reality off the travel list as far as return visits, okay?” I shiver again, remembering. Rudy wasn’t playing games. Rudy really did want me dead.
“So … what now?” I ask.
“Rudy can’t kill you directly—normally, he can only use the Traveler to influence events around you in order to facilitate your death,” Mario answers. “But he’s gone rogue, and he’s desperate. I need to figure out exactly what he’s planning to do to be sure we’re countering properly. Stay alert, stay with Finn, and I’ll let you know what the next steps are as soon as I can.”
“I’m not just going to sit around waiting for someone to kill me again,” I tell him. “Or Finn. We’ve got some clues, and I’m going to start following them. I can start with the lady at the historical society—she can give me the list of people who bought tickets to the ghost tour. If we can find the Traveler, maybe we can ask some questions and figure out what Rudy’s doing.”
Mario gives me a grudging nod. “Whatever you do, make sure Finn is watching your back.”
“And I’m watching his.”
“You’re more important.” His eyes hold mine. “We can’t allow the convergence, Jessa. Too much is at stake.”
Finn, I think. Finn is at stake. And all the other Moms and Dannys and Dads and Bens—and Jessas.
The fate of them all, resting on me, and I have no idea what I’m doing.
42
Missing