His value to us was immense. Too much to risk losing. Somehow, I had to find a way of proving to him that we offered something of equal value to him. Otherwise, I was relying on him to help simply because he wanted to be rid of us from Dracos and for the rips in the veil to stop. I had to find a way to offer him more than that.
While those thoughts were whirring around my head, Jevyn and Famil had been gazing at each other almost like they were communicating in their own secret language of looks and facial expressions that I knew took years of close friendship to develop.
I couldn’t help wishing that one day Jevyn and I might develop something similar.
“Very well, Jevyn. I will do as you ask. I understand what is at stake now. You want all Earthly viruses to stay off this planet, and presumably you want it not to be known that I am working on it?”
“Secrecy would be good. If news got out that Katie and Nova carry a form of the VAMP virus, that could lead to all manner of problems for both of our families.”
“In that case, secrecy is what we shall have. I have no desire to do anything that might bring danger to our families or could cause conflict between them. I will need at least one of your friends to stay with me here while I run tests and to test any possible cures on.”
Jevyn nodded and turned it over to me with a hand gesture.
“I’ll stay,” Nova said before I could even open my mouth.
I flashed a look over to him. Was it safe? I didn’t want to risk losing Nova in some weird experiment, but I also didn’t want to lose the opportunity for a cure.
“It has to be me, Katie. You need to go back with Jevyn and make sure the rest are okay and get Lynnette and Derek back home safely. I can stay here in the lab?” He cast a glance at Famil who shrugged her assent. “That also means I won’t be out and exposed, so fewer people will know that I’m here. It works for everyone.”
I hated being put in this situation. I did need to go back, and I had to get Lynnette and Derek back before they caused any more havoc, but the idea of leaving Nova here with Famil, after everything they had been through, was unappealing to say the least. However, I already knew that I had little choice in the matter. Somebody had to stay. Nova was right when he said it had to be him, and as much as it hurt me, I nodded my agreement.
“Very well, then. That is settled. Katie. You and I need to go and find Lynnette and Derek and get them back to Pathya and off this planet. Good luck, Famil,” Jevyn said as he and Famil stood and embraced,. “And keep in touch about progress.”
“I will certainly do that,” Famil said. “Now, you two should go and tell those two strange people you brought with you to put back any equipment they might have stolen while we were talking.” She directed that comment at me.
I blushed slightly at the idea that I might actually be able to control Lynnette in any way. Short of knocking her out, I couldn’t, but hopefully Jevyn would help me make her see sense.
“I’ll try,” I said eventually.
“I’ll see to it,” Jevyn said quietly.
I turned to Nova. I could feel the urge to cry prickling at the back of my eyes. I didn’t want to leave him behind, but I had to.
“Please be careful,” I said, grasping his hands.
“It’s you who needs to be careful. You’re off in a weird flying ship, back to that strange city, and then going back through a rip that might end up killing you, and all in the company of Lynnette and Derek. I’m facing having to give a few blood samples. I’ll more likely die of boredom than anything else.” He gave me a big smile, but I could see the worry in his eyes. I fished inside my pack for the last, almost empty, vial of blood which I pressed into his hand.
“That should keep you going for a while. Take it.”
Nova closed his hand over the tiny glass tube with a hint of red liquid at one end. “Thanks, Katie. I’ll see you soon with some good news, I hope. Look after the others.” I threw my arms around his neck and hugged him tight while a single tear flowed down each of my cheeks.
“Katie, we should go,” Jevyn said from behind me. I gave Nova one more squeeze and stepped away, turning and walking out of the laboratory without looking back. If I had, I would have broken down at the idea of leaving my best friend behind in this odd place, even if it was the right thing to do.
Chapter Twenty
Katie
Pathya, Dracos
AS WE CLIMBED off the flying machine, I did my best to rearrange my hair into something resembling my normal style. Lynnette looked completely windblown, but she didn’t seem too concerned about it. She was worried about something though.
“Look, Katie, the deal was I got whatever I could find as payment for opening the veil, right?”
I nodded absentmindedly. She was already getting on my nerves with her selfish attitude, and she had only spoken to me to say that since we got back in the flying machine.
“Well, so far I’ve found next to nothing. I know we’re going back to the rip next, but I need some time in the city to try and find some more stuff to make the whole trip worthwhile. Five minutes in the market as we walk through back to the rip. What do you say?” She put on a forced smile.
I rolled my eyes and reluctantly said okay while I waited for Jevyn to climb down.
“No going back into the Darkwaters though,” I said with a note of warning in my voice.
Her face pinched.
I shrugged. “It’s that or nothing.”
In the end, she accepted my ultimatum.
Once we reached the city, Lynnette and Derek dashed ahead while Jevyn and I took a more moderate pace.
“Don’t forget. Meet us in twenty minutes at the gates into the market,” I yelled after their rapidly disappearing forms. Lynnette threw a hand up in acknowledgement as she vanished, followed closely by Derek, around a corner.
Neither Jevyn nor I spoke for most of the walk back. It wasn’t an uncomfortable silence by any means, as we both had plenty on our minds to occupy us as we walked, and I was enjoying the opportunity to try and get some of the things rattling around my head in some kind of logical order.
I had made absolutely no progress with that when we turned the final corner and ended up back in the market.
“How long do we have before Lynnette and Derek are due back?” I asked.
“A few minutes, why?” Jevyn asked, adding a shake of his head like I’d pulled him from deep thoughts.
“I’m going to have a quick look around rather than standing here looking conspicuous.”
“Stay away from the Darkwaters. Don’t even go near the edge. I might not be able to talk Truth around again.”
“I won’t,” I said. “I’ll stick to this little part of the market and no more. You’ll probably be able to see me the whole time.”
“I’m more worried about what Lynnette and Derek are up to,” he said, casting a concerned look across the street.
“Won’t be long,” I said, tossing a grin with him. Lynnette really did seem to be trouble with a capital T.
Somehow, I needed to find something that would get Lynnette to shut up and be satisfied that she had gotten a fair deal, while also being enough to stop her from wanting to rip open the veil and head back once Jevyn and I disappeared from her life. The sooner that happened, the better. She had to be one of the greedier people I’d ever met.
Problem was: I had no money and nothing to trade. I’d never knowingly stolen anything in my life. It wasn’t in my nature, but as soon as I set foot in the market, I knew that was going to be the only way I was going to be able to do it. Feeling guilty, but hopefully not looking guilty, I started to peruse the stands as I walked.
Most of them were going to be of little use to me, although the stands with food were very tempting. I couldn’t imagine that Lynnette intended to set up a cooking school focused on exotic foods from another world, so reluctantly, and with the enticing smells making my empty stomach rumble, I passed them by.
One stall did catch my eye. On i
t were various pieces of what I assumed were jewelry. Bracelets, bangles, necklaces, and the like. They all looked very plain, and from what I could tell, speaking with the owner, medicinal in purpose, although the grandiose claims he made about the efficacy of each piece sounded similar to those made by every quack hawking some useless trinket back on Earth. What caught my eye was that one of the bracelets was clearly solid gold.
According to the holder, it would cure all maladies of the blood and the magic within it would also ensure that any child born to you would be free of all deformities and be destined for a life of power and luxury.
I looked him straight in the eye when he made those claims, and without so much of a twitch of guilt, he looked straight back at me.
It would have been the perfect thing for Lynnette. Something valuable, although the price the seller was asking was very low. Maybe it was just a knock-off or something. Of course, with gold being in such plentiful supply and of little intrinsic value on Dracos, the low price was perhaps not so surprising.
I was torn about whether to go back and ask Jevyn to barter for it on my behalf or try to distract the seller in some way when I heard shouts in the distance from farther down the market. The seller, who had grown bored when his enthusiastic sales pitch had failed to excite me, immediately perked up, heading out from behind his stand to peer down the market toward where the frantic and loud shouting was coming from.
I had a bad feeling about this.
I stepped up behind the man and tried to see what the source of the commotion was, only to be greeted by the sight of Lynnette and a red-faced Derek sprinting through the market, with the crowd behind them hiding whoever was chasing them. As they approached, I saw two men emerge from the crowd, their coats flailing out behind them, waving their fists, and shouting in a language I didn’t understand. It sounded like a coarser version of the language Jevyn had used with Famil.
Lynnette spotted me in the crowd as she sprinted toward me.
“Run, Katie. We need to get back to the rip now.” Then, she and Derek were past, breathlessly pounding along the cobble surface.
I saw my chance. Waiting for a few seconds, I raised my arms behind the cocky seller, and waiting until the right moment, I shoved him out into the path of the two pursuers.
A collision punctuated with bumps and groans of pain was the result. Flailing limbs flashed around as the three of them tried to free themselves.
I turned, grabbed the bracelet, and shoved it in my pocket. Then, I grasped the edge of the stand and, pulling it with all my might, managed to tip it over on top of the three still-struggling men.
An explosion of jewelry leapt up as the stand hit the ground, and with everyone’s attention on that, I moved away through the jostling crowd until the path was clear enough for me to run.
When I got back to where Jevyn, Lynnette, and Derek were standing, I could see they were arguing about whether to wait for me.
I just kept running, yelling over my shoulder for them to follow me. After that, I assumed the slap of shoes behind me was them trying to keep up.
Eventually, I was forced to slow down as my energy level dropped off quickly. Maybe the hunger pangs I’d been feeling earlier were something more than just a need for food?
“Keep going. The tear is just around the next corner,” Jevyn yelled from behind, and with a supreme effort of willpower, I forced myself to keep up my speed.
Around the corner, Jevyn pulled up to a halt.
“What the hell is going on?”
Lynnette was breathing heavily while Derek looked like he was on the verge of a stroke if the blood didn’t start to run away from his head soon.
“The man was an idiot,” Lynnette said through her panting.
“What did you do?” a clearly angry Jevyn asked.
“He wouldn’t accept my trade.”
“Why?”
“He said I wasn’t offering enough.”
“What did you do?”
“I told her not to,” Derek said.
“Not to what?” Jevyn asked, looking more downcast with every word of the conversation.
Lynnette didn’t even have the grace to look contrite.
“She tried to cast a spell.”
“What?” Jevyn was livid, his voice raised and high-pitched.
“Oh, it’s all right, Jevyn. It didn’t work. But as soon as she tried, the man yelled out that she was a witch and started to run after us. I don’t think he was very happy.”
I didn’t know what I was more amazed at. The story or the fact that Derek managed to string more than a couple of sentences together.
Jevyn was suddenly all business. “Right, you,” he said, pointing at Lynnette, “and you, and you, I want you off this planet, now. I can’t risk you being found here with me.” He made a motion with his hand, and the air seemed almost to split around me, setting in to the regular shape of the rip nearby. “Come on, let’s go.”
With that, he grabbed both Lynnette’s and Derek’s hands with one of his own, and mine with the other, and with a tug, we were into the rift.
With another pull on my arm, we exited, jumping down onto the road outside Lynnette’s shop, back in Boise, Idaho, in the good old US of A where buildings were all firmly planted on the ground. I thought back to the palace and wondered if I would ever see it again.
Definitely not, if Jevyn had his way. His face looked almost purple with anger.
“Let go of my hand. Please,” Lynnette said with fake sincerity.
“Why?” Jevyn asked.
“Because I think we need to get off the street, don’t you?”
“I agree,” I said. The last thing we needed was to be spotted appearing out of thin air. If a SCAR patrol happened to come by, we could be in big trouble.
Jevyn relented and let all three of us go. Lynnette dashed for the door, opened it, and we all piled inside. We headed for the back room, out of sight of prying eyes.
Lynnette and Derek made a quick dash for the door down into the cellar before Jevyn could start in on them again. That left me as the sole focus of his ire.
“Jevyn—” I said before he spun to face me with eyes ablaze.
“No, Katie. I’m not listening to anything you say anymore. It is too dangerous for me and my family. Those two idiots have jeopardized me just by being there. Lynnette’s little stunt could cost me everything. Only dragons are supposed to be magical on Dracos. Seeing somebody who has magic and is associated with me and so clearly not a dragon means that I can be accused of bringing harmful people across a rift. If that becomes widely known, my family is finished. We would be challenged and, if we lost, could be killed. I should never have let her stay there. You need to stop your search for dragon blood, and I need to go back to Dracos and try to repair the damage that stupid woman has done.”
He turned on his heel and headed for the door to leave. I couldn’t let him go. I didn’t want him to go. He wasn’t just a source of dragon blood anymore. I knew that in my heart. I needed him on my team long enough to at least get Nova back with whatever cure Famil managed to brew up.
“Wait,” I yelled at his back as he strode away. “Please!”
He stopped at the doorway and turned to look at me.
“Let me show you.”
“What?”
“Let me show you why I need you to stay here, at least for a while.”
“What can you show me?”
“I can show you what the people behind the virus, the government, are doing to ordinary people who never asked to be a part of this. I need you to understand why I’m willing to put myself in any amount of danger to find a solution to this.”
I had been hoping to convince Jevyn to stick with us and help by my words, by trying to explain how bad things were. I actually felt ashamed that fellow human beings could do the things that had been done simply to stay in power, and yet they were there, out there, even in a sedate place like Boise, if only anyone cared to go out of their way and really see wha
t was happening.
I’d gone out of my way because I wanted it to end.
Something in my voice—desperation, most likely—made him stand still.
“You’re a brave woman, Katie.”
“And you’re a brave man for even thinking about helping us, but we desperately need your help. If you leave now, the chances are we will all either be dead or captured within a day.” I didn’t know if that was true, but I figured some mild embellishment at this stage wouldn’t hurt. I was desperate. “Can you be brave for a while longer? Because without you, this could be all over.”
I stood my ground, matching his gaze for what seemed like ages. Downstairs, I could hear voices when the others realized that Lynnette and Derek were back. I ached to see them all again, but right then, the hugs and squeals and backslapping would be just a distraction.
Without thinking, I stepped toward Jevyn as he stood, and then I slipped my arm through his and turned him away from the back room, away from the noise, and walked through the shop and out through the door.
Chapter Twenty-one
THE WALK TOOK us an hour. We stuck to the main roads rather than skulking around in back alleys and paths because that would have looked a whole lot more suspicious than a couple of young people walking the street arm in arm. Although my focus was on showing him why he should stay and help, I couldn’t help but notice the warm feeling I got from his body being close to mine.
I could smell the place before I reached it, and from Jevyn’s reaction, he could too, putting his hand over his nose and mouth.
Ann Morrison Park had been transformed from a green and pleasant place for a family to come for an afternoon walk, or to jog, or walk the dog, into a humming, hectic horrific camp for people who had been displaced by the virus. It had only ever been intended as a short-term measure by the city council, but it was still there, still attracting people to its relative safety.
If only they knew.
Although there were fences, ostensibly to keep people in, there were plenty of ways of getting in if you wanted to, and I wanted to, so I could show what the people who sought to control us had done to those who were still left alive to suffer.
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