Contentment rolled through her. Here was safety, here was her heart and the place she’d longed for since the moment she’d been brought into the world. Not that long perhaps, but her whole life still.
“Talan, what will we do first?” she asked as the night fell around them.
He leaned back in the snow and stared up at the sky. “There is so much to do, Peta. So much. In the morning we will talk about it.”
I opened my eyes and stared at the interior of the Traveling room. I wanted to think about what I’d seen but I didn’t have the luxury. Unless Vetch was a fool, there would be a guard—or guards—on the door.
Cactus’s hand still gripped my belt. I put a finger to my lips. The interior of the globe glowed softly so there was no need of light. I lifted a hand and positioned the globe over London. Peta sat on top of my right foot, a light shiver running through her body.
Almost there. I lifted my finger to touch the spot over London.
“Why is that door shut?” Vetch boomed from the hall.
Cactus jumped, which yanked me off balance and away from the map. We thumped to the floor in a tangle of limbs far too loud to be missed even through the thick doors.
We were so screwed.
CHAPTER 8
“et that door open now!” Vetch yelled.
I lurched, dragging Cactus with me. Peta dug her claws into my leather boots and I fought to get to my feet. The door swung open and three guards stared at us, shock on their faces. One was my ex-lover Coal.
He gave me a strange look, his eyes a mixture of longing and frustration. He shook his head. “Take her. She can’t make the jump if more than one person is touching her.”
I couldn’t stop the scream that ripped out of me as the first guard put his hands on my shoulders. “I don’t want to hurt you.”
The guard laughed. I snapped my elbow into his throat, cutting off the laughter, dropping him to my feet. He writhed but I ignored him and his gurgled attempts to breathe. From behind the men, a hand snaked out and grabbed the second guard, yanking him backward; Ash was doing what he could to help.
Vetch glared at me and Coal approached from the other side. I lifted my hand and touched the armband, twisting it forward. Ash had bought us enough time, but we wouldn’t be able to come back to the Rim after this.
At least, not without Father.
I yanked the armband clockwise, which would take us to London. The world started to dissolve and a hand clamped around my leg.
Pain danced up through my nerve endings and arched my back. My mind felt as though it were being pulled in two directions. I fought it, but the enormity overwhelmed me.
“Lark, use Spirit to pry him off! You must!” Peta’s voice cut through the pain, and I latched onto her words. Spirit flowed through me. In the distance Ash’s voice rose up and I knew he was fighting for me, for all of us. I slammed Spirit into Coal. There was no attempt at delicacy, no way to be gentle; I grieved I had to do it at all. But it was not only my life I felt drifting on the lines of fate, but Cactus’s and Peta’s. They were attached to me, and if I died, they would too.
I couldn’t lose either of them. With a final shove of Spirit, I pushed Coal away.
Coal’s heart burst with the power, and his hand dropped from my leg. The armband sucked us through the globe, like an elastic band held too long and finally released as we were catapulted. Yet a memory hovered, thoughts fleeting even as their owner died.
I loved her. I hate her. I loved her again. She took my hand. Yet I still loved her. I hate her. Damn her. I want to save her. She doesn’t want me.
She broke me and now she is my end.
The words were echoes of all the things Coal had said to me. They swirled over and over in my mind as we were taken across the world. I couldn’t escape them, or the feeling of betrayal that came with them.
Coal had loved me still.
With an audible pop, we split the air and landed on a soft, mossy turf.
A hard, throat-tearing gasp wrenched through me. My legs wobbled as I tried to get my footing on the grass, yet it was as if I were learning to walk again. Coal’s emotions stung, biting at me even as I knew he was gone.
I’d killed him.
Perhaps I was the monster so many thought I was.
I stumbled to a stop, my hand coming to rest on a gravestone, forcing myself to put Coal away for a moment. The etched name and date in the stone blurred and I used them to help center myself once more, focusing on the details.
Brittany Ann, beloved daughter taken too soon. 1912
I looked around. Night darkened the sky here. A slow circle showed me we were in a human graveyard. In the distance was a church with a high steeple. Where were Cactus and Peta? “Peta?”
“Dirt Girl, that was not a ride I want to repeat,” she said as she stumbled out from behind another tombstone. I crouched and picked her up, burying my face against her neck.