by April White
I must have arrived moments after I left, because Archer was still looking at me. The scene was still the same, except Tom was on Mr. Shaw’s table in the present.
Had it been the right present? Yes! Mr. Shaw had asked if Tom was still infected.
I looked up. The metallic skin of an unexploded bomb gleamed above me. Archer was alive. George Walters was alive.
Tom had repaired time!
Ringo took a step toward me, and Archer stood up. George Walters scrambled backwards, suddenly free of the weight on his chest. I could see the instant debate in his eyes – go for the gun or run away and live to fight another day. He flung himself off the platform, and Archer lunged after him.
“Let him go!” I yelled.
“‘E ‘as the ring, Saira,” Ringo said.
I winced. Now was not the time. “Let him go.”
George Walters disappeared down the track, and I ran to Archer and threw myself at him. He caught me in his arms and I crushed my mouth to his. It wasn’t a kiss so much as it was me tasting his life and his breath and the beat of his heart. I held his face in my hands and gripped his eyes with mine. “I love you,” I said. “And I’m going back to you.” Every ounce of pain and fear and hope and truth was poured into those words, and then I did the hardest thing I’d ever done.
I let him go, grabbed Ringo, and ran to the spiral.
When Ringo’s blood flowed directly into Tom through what Mr. Shaw called a ‘battlefield transfusion,’ and all Tom’s wounds had been stitched closed, we finally heard the events of the past several weeks. Mr. Shaw wouldn’t let anyone else come into the makeshift operating room, but he sent word to my mom and Adam that we were here.
Connor told us that Adam had gotten all the mixed-blood captives out, and though it took a couple of days for them to make their way to St. Brigid’s, they had been able to sneak past the few Mongers that Walters had originally set to surround the school. Since then, there had been many more guards added and several attempts made to get in – none of them successful yet because of Miss Simpson’s wards.
Connor had woken up under a blanket in the bombed-out passage of the ghost station, mostly healed from his wounds because of the time he’d spent as a Wolf. He’d been able to sneak past the rescue workers and make his way back to school in his Wolf form, and then discovered that his mom’s search for him had been broadcast around the city. From Ava’s green-haired leprechaun, Tam, they learned that Walters claimed to be holding Connor, so when Connor showed up, they’d been relieved to find that had been Walters’ pathetic attempt to control Archer.
Tam was also responsible for all the information they had on Archer after the explosion, and through his Sight-sendings to Ava, they knew Archer was alive and recovering from his wounds. The two of them were being held by Seth Walters and his armed Mongers someplace underground in a cell that smelled like animals.
Ringo’s eyebrows furrowed. “An underground stable? I know of only one, under Camden Town. In my time, they kept the pit ponies that worked on the railways there.”
“I need to talk to Ava,” I said.
“Not in here,” growled Mr. Shaw. His gaze had been locked on Tom since he had removed the IV from Ringo, and he didn’t seem willing to leave.
I paused at Tom’s head and brushed the hair back from his closed eyes. Mr. Shaw seemed about to stop me from touching him with my now un-gloved hands, but I ignored him and leaned down to whisper in Tom’s ear. “You need to live.”
Then I followed Connor out of the laboratory and we stepped into the classroom next door.
My mom practically leapt across the room at me, and I was caught in her arms before I could even say her name. She was crying, and it made me cry, which frustrated me because I didn’t have time for tears. “Mom, I need to talk to Ava,” I said in her ear.
She nodded and stepped back. “I know, honey. I wanted to go to Archer, but I can’t do what you do.” That surprised me, and I gave her another quick hug and turned to Ava.
Ava reached out and touched my hands with both of hers. “Here. Here’s what I know.” I loved that about her. She knew, without me telling her, exactly what I needed.
Blackness, and then a door opened, and behind some Mongers were columns and some arches made of brick.
She let go of my hands and then gave me a hug. “I’m scared for him, Saira. I’m scared for them both,” Ava whispered in my ear. She hadn’t been sleeping much, and her eyes looked a little haunted. “Tam is worried. They took Archer away hours ago, and he hasn’t seen him since.”
I closed my eyes and inhaled sharply. No – nothing could happen to Archer now that I’d found my way back to him.
Strong arms encircled me from behind, and Adam’s voice spoke in my ear. “You brought him back.”
I turned and flung my arms around my friend. The tears I’d put on hold in my mom’s arms came gushing out in Adam’s. “You got them out,” I said, half-laughing, and half-sobbing. I kissed his cheek and he wiped my tears off with a smile.
“I have to go,” I said to him. “I have to get Archer and Tam.”
“Take me with ye,” said Ringo, but I shook my head.
“I need to bring them both back. I’m too slow with four.”
“I’ll go with you.” My mom looked fierce and strong and very, very determined. There was a look in her eyes that I knew I’d inherited, so I didn’t bother to argue. Apparently Ringo knew that look too, because he pressed something into her hand.
“Take this. It’s loaded,” he said quietly.
I stared at the gun Ringo had just given my mother. It was the gun he had picked up off the platform in 1944. I hadn’t known he’d carried it forward.
My mom pocketed it carefully, then held my hand as I began to trace the chalkboard spiral I’d drawn earlier. “Do you know where we’re going?” she whispered to me.
“No. I just know I’m going to him.”
She searched my eyes, then finally nodded and took a deep breath. “I’ve missed you,” she said quietly.
“Me too, Mom.”
The nothingness of between seemed colder and darker than before, and it took every ounce of my concentration to focus on Archer. I forced my mind away from the memory of his embrace on the ghost station platform. I did not want to go back to 1944 – I needed to find my Archer now. So instead, I put everything I had into wanting to hold the human man. I imagined a man who could walk in the sun, who recovered from wounds one day at a time, who could watch a sunrise with me from a roof.
I imagined a man I could grow old with.
The landing was tough - my knees hit the brick floor hard enough to hurt, and my mother’s gasp told me we’d been between for a long time. Illuminated by an overhead work light, the room we were in was empty except for a table in the middle.
A table on which Archer lay.
My mom’s intake of air became a sob, and she rushed forward. I hushed her unthinkingly while I drew my knife from its sheath. The door to the room slammed open and a Monger rushed in, gun in hand. I pulled my arm back to hurl the knife in it, but before I could let go, my mom smashed the gun Ringo had given her down on the Monger’s temple and he crumpled to the floor.
I stared at her in shock. “You just pistol-whipped an armed man.”
She looked shaky and a little stunned at her own actions.
“You’re pretty badass, Mom,” I whispered as I slit through the zip ties at Archer’s ankles and wrists. “Archer!” I leaned close to his ear and whispered loudly as I shook his shoulders. He didn’t seem to have fresh injuries, although there was a cotton ball taped to the inside of his elbow. They’d taken blood.
He started to come around, though his eyes had trouble focusing for a few seconds. “Saira?” he whispered. It sounded like he didn’t believe what he was seeing, so I pulled his hand up to touch my face.
“It’s me,” I said. “We have to get the leprechaun and go.”
He tried to smile, but it came out lopsided. “Help
me up,” he said. His voice sounded crackly, like he was dehydrated, and I wondered exactly how much blood they’d taken from him.
My mom got on the other side of him, and between the two of us, we got Archer to his feet. “Hi Claire,” he said quietly, and she kissed his cheek, which made him smile.
“Which way to your cell?” I asked quietly as we maneuvered around the Monger my mom had knocked out. When I put my hand to Archer’s chest his heart was pounding, and his breath came too fast like he couldn’t get enough air.
“This way.” Archer directed us down a long open center hall full of support columns.
“Ringo said this place is under Camden,” I whispered as we walked. Archer seemed to be counting his steps, and his eyes were closed.
“The stables for the railway horses. I should have remembered,” he said. He sounded far away, and my mom looked over at me with the same worry I felt. The place felt strangely empty, and I didn’t like that there had only been one guard. When Archer finally stopped and whispered, “Here,” my radar for danger was pinging like crazy.
My mom reached for the door handle, but I stopped her. “Wait,” I whispered. I sent my Cat’s senses out to see what sort of predators might be lurking in the shadows, and I found what I’d feared.
“There are Mongers in there,” I breathed. I almost cried, because I felt at that moment like I was the strongest person among us – and that wasn’t an encouraging thought.
We backed away from the door and tucked around a corner from the cell where at least three Mongers waited with Tam. I had no idea if Tam was even still alive, and I wished with all my heart that Ava was there with us.
“Archer, can you reach out to Tam?”
He shook his head. “I haven’t tried. Ava’s the one he communicates with.”
“But your Seeing skills should be better now that you’re fully human, right?”
He barked a quiet laugh. “I’m not entirely sure how human I am – they’ve taken a lot of blood from me, and I’m not strong – but I’ll try. If I can, what should I tell him?”
The problem was, I didn’t know. My mom whispered urgently. “How many Mongers are in with him, Saira?”
“I think three. I’ve been running down our assets in my head, and they’re not good. One gun, two daggers, two Clockers, and a Seer.”
I looked over at Archer – my husband. He was so pale, and weaker and thinner than I’d ever seen him. The scruff of a beard grew on his face, and it shocked me. I’d never seen hair on his face before, and it made him somehow more vulnerable and stronger-looking at the same time.
My mom broke my silent contemplation. “And a Shifter, don’t forget that.”
My eyes widened, and I grabbed at the Shifter bone I still wore under my shirt.
“I’ve got him. He’s scared, but he’s alive,” Archer said.
The bare bones of a really bad plan were beginning to form in my mind. “If he can get close to the door, I’m going to come through as a Cougar. As soon as they stop shooting at the door, he should dive through it.”
Archer looked at me like I was insane.
“It’s a crap plan, but it’s all I’ve got. My Cat is low enough to the ground that they’ll probably miss. If Mom shoots into the room at around chest height, and Tam and I stay low, then you can kick the door closed as soon as we’re back through it.”
He held my gaze for a beat longer, then narrowed his eyes. “It’s a spectacularly crap plan … but I have nothing better. The downside to taking the cure.”
“Yeah, we’re going to be talking about that.”
He reached for my hand and whispered, “I can’t wait.” There wasn’t a sarcastic-sounding tone to it, and I smiled. Archer closed his eyes, and I knew he was relaying my instructions to Tam.
“Mom, if I have to draw a spiral, it’ll take too long. Do you think if I start it, you could, I don’t know, hold it open for us?”
“Is such a thing possible?” she asked with awe in her voice.
“I think so. I drew one in 1944 with no specific Clocking location in mind, and somehow I held it open long enough for us to be pushed into it. Then, once I was in it, I focused on where to go.”
She looked skeptical, but then nodded. “I’ll do what I can, but you’ll have to draw it.”
I pulled out the piece of chalk I’d pocketed from the science classroom and drew on the brick just around the corner from the entrance to the room. It was out of the line of fire, but close enough to reach if either of us got injured, and at this point, I was feeling very vulnerable.
I carefully cleared my mind of any destination as I drew, and my mom watched me closely. When I’d finished the last spiral, I handed the chalk to her. “Can you feel it in your mind?” I asked.
She wore a startled expression. “Yes, I believe I actually can. It’s as though there’s a great, yawning hole in the wall behind that spiral. But everything in it is the blackest of blackness.”
“Yes, that’s it,” I said as I began stripping out of my clothes and handing them to my mom. I paused for the briefest moment. “Archer,” I whispered to him.
He opened his eyes and found me.
“Like my trousers?” Impossibly, the buckskin trousers Ringo bought me had survived, and I flashed him a quick turn in them, wearing just the trousers and a camisole.
Archer smiled a tired yet appreciative smile. “Very much.”
I leaned over him and gave him a quick kiss. “I look forward to you showing me how much,” I whispered. His eyes flashed with interest, and I hoped I had inspired him enough to stay conscious until I could get him to Mr. Shaw.
I finished stripping, then whispered to them, “Love you both,” before I Shifted.
Archer moved into position right outside the door, and he propped himself against the wall to stay upright. His hand stroked my fur as he whispered into my Cat’s ear. “One, two, three.”
He pulled the door open, and I streaked inside the nearly pitch black cell as gunshots blasted into the empty doorway. My Cat’s vision was perfect, and I spotted Ava’s leprechaun just inside the door as I barreled into the legs of the first Monger. He went down with a yell and crashed into the second guy. The third stopped shooting so he could see what was happening, and Tam lurched out of the cell and into the dim light of the main cavern. More shots were fired – a couple of them even came from outside the cell. My mom had reached her arm around the door frame and was shooting wildly into the room to cause confusion.
I hurled myself through the doorway before the Mongers could regroup to go after Tam. The door slammed shut, and Archer dropped the wooden slat across the front of it. Then he collapsed onto the floor at my feet. My mom yelled, “Tam! Get him!”
Feet were pounding on stairs, and I knew we had just seconds left. I moved behind Tam as he heaved Archer’s arm up over his shoulder and half-carried, half-dragged him to my mom.
A Monger rounded the corner just as Tam and Archer got to the spiral. I spun and roared my biggest, scariest roar at him. He pulled up short and stared at me just as Archer reached out and grabbed the ruff of my neck.
And then we Clocked.
I forced the image of the science classroom into my angry Cat’s brain, praying that an animal’s vision would be enough to Clock us to the right place. We landed after just the right amount of time between, and I was gratified to see it was the place I meant to go. Tam was quietly sick in the corner, Archer was unconscious, and my mom called for help with him. Ringo and Adam were on either side of him in an instant.
They laid him down on the floor while Connor ran to get Mr. Shaw. My mom motioned me out into the hall, and I followed her into another classroom. She dropped my clothes and shut the door.
“Shift and get dressed.”
I mentally thanked my Cat for her help, then did as my mom said. When I was pulling on my boots she dropped down in front of me to capture my gaze.
“We’re in trouble, Saira.” I really looked at my mom for the first time
in weeks, or in my case, a span that felt like several lifetimes. She looked worried and tired, but she looked more beautiful than I’d maybe ever seen her. Being in love with Mr. Shaw suited her.
“Seth Walters is controlling people with the ring. Yeah, I heard.”
“He blames you for the fact that there is any resistance at all. None of us are safe, but if he catches you, I’m afraid of what he’ll do. What we just did to get Archer was necessary, but it can’t happen again, honey. You can’t put yourself in his way like that.”
My mom was terrified. I’d never seen her so afraid, and I felt like I needed to comfort her. “Mom,” I started, but she interrupted me.
“You’re stronger and braver and smarter than anyone I know, but I want you to seriously consider something, Saira. Consider taking Ringo home, and then you and Archer go away somewhere, to some place or time where none of this can touch you. Just live out your life with him safe from the hatred and the danger. We’ll survive here, but I wouldn’t if something happened to you.”
I finished pulling my boots on and then pulled her to her feet. I hugged her with everything I had, and I said into her hair, “I love you, Mom, and believe me, I get your fear.”
She stepped back and searched my face. “Something happened,” she said, and I nodded.
“Yeah, something happened. Archer died, and I was alone …” My eyes filled with tears, but I put a firm clamp on the waterworks – I did not have time for this. Not yet. I took a deep breath to push the sobs back down.
My mom pulled me back into her arms. “Oh, Saira! I hoped you would never have to know that pain, even for a minute.”
“But I do, Mom – we both do. We all get our share, so no, I’m not going to let you or anyone else take it on just because you can bear it. I can bear it too, and if we all stand together, maybe we can stop just bearing it and instead, do something.”
She stepped back and wiped the tears off her face with a laugh. “You top me by five inches, so I’ve looked up at you for some time. Now I find that I look up to you as well. It makes me very proud that despite my best efforts to give you no upbringing at all, you’ve become a remarkable woman.”
