Storybound

by Emily Mckay

  The strange conversation between Kane and Smyth.

  Whatever that device is that he keeps taking out of his pocket and looking at, it’s clearly something he’s using to search for his sister.

  Still, I can’t believe it.

  I blow out a breath. “You have a sister I don’t know about?”

  He wraps a hand around my arm and pulls me to standing. We’re facing away from the others, so that our words drift out to sea rather than back to their ears.

  “Look, until five minutes ago, there were only five other people in the world who knew I had a sister. Morgan, Ro, Smyth, Kendal and the Curator. That’s it.”

  “But the books—”

  “The books didn’t get everything right. Travers. Not the Traveler. And I’m not gonna fall in love with the princess.”

  “You do fall in love with the princess.”

  “In case you haven’t noticed, the princess and I don’t get along.”

  “Sure, but—”

  I cut myself off. Why am I arguing for this? It’s going to happen. He’ll see.

  “But a sister? Why didn’t you say anything?”

  “Her survival depends on her existence being a secret. So yeah, when someone showed up out of nowhere and brought hellhounds and Kellas cats down on us, and all kinds of trouble, no, I didn’t open with ‘By the way, I have a secret sister no one knows about.’ It’s not the kind of thing I tell strangers.”

  “But—” I cut myself off again. Damn his logic for being so…logical. “Okay, whatever. You didn’t want to tell me. I get that. But how do you have a secret sister at all? You are an only child.”

  “Obviously, I’m not. I gather from what you’ve said that you think I’m a changeling. A Dark Worlder, like you. I’m not. My father was a Dark Worlder. My mother was the High Queen.”

  “Your father—”

  But he doesn’t give me a chance to voice my surprise. He keeps on talking.

  “You want to know why I haven’t taken power? That’s it. I’m a halfling. A halfling has never sat on the throne of the Kingdoms of Mithres. But my birth status wasn’t that big a deal. At the time, it wasn’t shocking for the queen to take a lover, even one from the Dark World. After I was born, my Dark Worlder father rejected her. He ended it. She never quite recovered. When I was nine, the High Queen got pregnant again. This time by the king. It was a girl—the child who should have succeeded them as queen. But she was sickly. It just so happened that my Dark World father had a newborn daughter as well. Lucy. My mother changed the sickly Tuatha baby for Lucy. She’s the changeling.”

  “When you were nine,” I say numbly.

  In the books, he was nine when his mother left the king and went on the run. When they began living in hiding.

  Only a few years later, they are found by hellhounds, who bring them all to Smyth. The queen is killed trying to protect Kane from Smyth.

  This new information he has given me dovetails seamlessly with the story that I do know. If Kane is a halfling, hellhounds would not hunt him. Not if he had lived in the Kingdoms of Mithres his whole life. But if Lucy is a true child of the Dark World, then the hellhounds would always hunt her.

  “But the king acknowledged you. He bestowed power on you.”

  “The queen bestowed power on me. It was a formality. To tie me to the throne, in case she had no other children. She was young and healthy. No one expected her to die without an heir. No one thought a halfling would actually take the throne.”

  I fold that information into what I know about the politics of the kingdoms and set it aside.

  “And, ever since your mother’s death, you’ve been protecting Lucy. Keeping her safe.”

  “Trying to. But then Smyth found out about her. He kidnapped her to try to get me to betray the princess. If the princess died before the wedding—”

  “Then the Council of Sleekers could take control.”

  “Exactly.”

  I have so many more questions. How has he kept Lucy safe all this time? How did Smyth find out about her? How does Kane plan to protect her, now that Smyth knows?

  I shove all my questions aside. They’re inconsequential right now.

  Now, we have to get Lucy back.

  Still, I hesitate. Somewhere, in the Dark World, Smyth is hunting my mother. And if he finds her, then Smyth will be able to cut the thread of magic between worlds. He’ll control everything.

  Yeah, we could leave Kane here. It is the fastest way for me to return to my world.

  Crab will take me because it is what he was paid to do. The princess will return to Houston as well. Based on Morgan’s expression, I’m guessing Kane asked him to make sure I get home. He doesn’t look happy about it, but he will obey his friend’s wishes.

  That leaves Ro and Kendal. I can’t guess what Ro will do, but my gut says she’ll stay with her brother. That leaves Kendal.

  Kendal cannot repay her death-debt until she saves Kane’s life. So she’ll go with him.

  One man and a Kellas cat versus all of those hellhounds. The odds aren’t good.

  If they go back to Gull Veston Island alone, they’re definitely going to die.

  And I can’t let that happen.

  Deleted from the Advance Reading Copy of

  Book Five of The Traveler Chronicles:

  The Traveler Undone

  There she was, all alone, trapped on that damn island with a psychotic monster, and she held it together.

  This tiny little Dark Worlder went up against one of the most evil bastards in the Seven Kingdoms and she didn’t back down.

  Damn. I think I’m in love.

  CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT

  I have a choice. I can save Kane or I can save my mother.

  Kane’s danger is immediate. If I don’t do something, he will die. Everything I’ve done to protect him will be meaningless.

  My mom, on the other hand, well, she’s managed to stay ahead of Smyth for years. Decades. She knows he’s a threat, and the fact that I’ve disappeared has likely made her suspect he’s up to something. So I’m guessing she can manage a little longer.

  Yeah. I know what you’re thinking. That I’m just pissed because she lied to me my whole life. Lied about who she was. Who I am. About what happened to my dad.

  My dad, who’s been in a frickin’ insane asylum for nearly six years because of her. When he’s not really crazy at all.

  This is like the worst version of gaslighting in history.

  So yeah, I’m pissed at my mom. But I’m not choosing Kane over her. She can take care of herself. At least for a few more hours.

  “Okay then.” But my voice sounds wobbly with doubt. I clear my throat and try again. “Obviously, we’re coming with you.”

  “What?” Kane asks.

  I’m not gonna lie. It’s nice to have someone else playing the part of the confused bystander.

  “Obviously,” I say more slowly. “We are not going to let you go back by yourself. That place is a death trap. Besides, you’re going to rescue a defenseless ten-year-old girl. Anyone who would let you do that by yourself is a monster.”

  I don’t look at the others as I say this.

  In my heart, I know they were ready to let Kane go on his own. But I’m hoping—okay, really hoping—that now that I’ve laid it out like this, they’ll be on board.

  My instincts pay off. Almost as soon as the words are out of my mouth, both Ro and the princess step forward. Neither of them wants to look that bad. Maybe there’s some good in public shaming, after all.

  Kane gives me a wry look as if to say, I see what you did there.

  I give him a smile back and quirk an eyebrow. You’re welcome.

  Ro speaks first. “Obviously. We’re not letting you go alone. If Cupcake thinks she can help, then I’m sure I can help as well.”

&
nbsp; The princess gives a disdainful snort. “Well, then I am sure my meager talents will come in handy.”

  I cannot imagine her talents are meager. She’s the heir to the Red Court. Her family would have spent a fortune making sure she had useful skills. But kudos to her for at least trying to be modest.

  Only Kendal doesn’t say anything, which confirms my theory that she intended to go all along.

  Kane looks at each of us. “I’m not going to ask any of you to sacrifice yourselves for me or my sister.”

  “You’re not asking,” I argue. “And you can’t stop us.”

  “That’s where you’re wrong, Cupcake. I control the loop. I control who goes through it.”

  I cross my arms over my chest. “Fine. If you refuse to take us, we’ll just walk up the stairs. We’ll arrive weakened and vulnerable. Your choice.”

  Kane says nothing, but glares at me.

  I take this to mean that my argument won him over.

  I turn to the others. “Okay, here’s the plan. Kane will open a loop to Crescent Island. We all go through.” I pause for a fraction of a second to see if he’s still going to argue with me. He doesn’t. “On Crescent Island, we search for the timekeeper. Once that person is out of the equation, you’ll be able to do magic on the island, which should help with our hellhound problem. Then we find Lucy.” I look at Kane. “I assume you have some way of finding her?”

  “I do.”

  “Once we have Lucy, Kane opens a loop back to the boat and we’re on our way. And then we deal with Smyth.” And I would have to deal with my mother. “Any questions?”

  Ro looks around nervously. “If we need to take out the timekeeper, why didn’t we do that the first time around?”

  “Before we went to the island, we had no idea where the timekeeper might be,” I say. “Now that we’ve been there, it’s obvious. He or she is in Smyth’s house on Crescent Island. It’s the only building there. Any other questions?”

  No one has any questions. Doubts, however, appear to be plentiful if the expressions on everyone’s faces are an indication.

  Yeah, their confidence in me is awesome.

  But what other choice do I have? Even if I could let Kane and Kendal face certain death, I’m not going to leave a ten-year-old girl at Smyth’s mercy.

  Deleted from the Advance Reading Copy of

  Book Five of The Traveler Chronicles:

  The Traveler Undone

  She may be tiny, but damn, that girl can fight.

  I’ve got to admit, I like that in a woman.

  CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE

  Just for a moment, when we first land on Crescent Island, everything seems peaceful.

  That should have been my first sign that shit was about to go very bad.

  Because suddenly, the howls of hellhounds rend the air.

  I whirl around. There’s a row of them lined up along the cliff of Gull Veston Island.

  “Well, this should be fun.” Ro pulls a hair band from her pocket and starts scraping her hair back into a ponytail.

  The hellhound closest to the bridge creeps forward. He puts his front paw on the first board, testing it. The wood creaks under his weight. He loses his balance, tipping over the rope railing of the bridge and tumbling over the side. His anguished howl as he falls seems to echo up through the canyon.

  “At least they can’t cross the bridge,” I say cheerfully.

  But as soon as I say it, one hellhound starts eyeing the gap between the two islands. Sure enough, he backs up several steps and then runs forward. His powerful back legs spring off the edge of Gull Veston Island as he launches himself to Crescent Island. He lands with an earthquake-inducing thud, his front paws on firm ground, his back paws clawing to gain hold. His back legs flail, digging into the rock. Anger and desperation war within his bloodshot eyes as he struggles to climb to solid land.

  Kane raises his blackthorn rod and shoots a burst of red-hot energy toward the hellhound. Before he can use it again, the princess steps forward. She holds both her hands palm out toward the hound. Even from a few feet away, I feel magical energy pouring through the air from her. The force knocks the hound back, his claws gouging deep trenches in the earth before he finally tumbles over the side, pulling a chunk of limestone with him.

  The princess dusts off her hands, as if this is the kind of thing she does every day. For all I know, it is.

  She says, “I’ll keep the hellhounds at bay. You go find the timekeeper.”

  “I’ll stay here,” Ro says, crouching down and placing a hand on the ground. “I don’t like the way the ground shook when that hellhound landed. I’ll do what I can to stabilize the island from within. But you should hurry.”

  “And I,” Kendal adds, “will stay here as the communication link.”

  She nods slightly in Kane’s direction as she says this.

  Kane nods back, then he and I head for Smyth’s mansion.

  The mansion is only a hundred feet away, but still we run, urged on by the increasingly frantic yelps and howls of the hellhounds. There is another earth-shaking thud as we reach the steps of the mansion. I glance back to see the princess sending another hellhound to its death.

  “She’s good,” I say as I pause at the steps, expecting to hit the jello barrier.

  But instead, Kane waves his hand and the barrier that should be there…just isn’t. Which is pretty powerful magic for a guy who supposedly needs a wand to do spell work. Before I can mull on that tidbit, Kane responds to my comment about the princess.

  “Yeah, she is good,” Kane says, a note of surprise in his voice. “I didn’t expect that.”

  That note of admiration in his voice? No, I don’t notice it.

  Okay, barely notice it.

  Of course, she’s good in a fight. I knew she would be. And of course, that impresses Kane. I knew it would.

  This is good news. After all, admiration could be the first step to love.

  “Do you want to stay together?”

  Kane’s words snap me out of my thoughts. “Wait. What?” Do I want to stay together? “No. I mean, I have to go back.”

  Kane smiles, looking a bit bemused. “I meant, do you want to search together or split up and cover more territory?”

  “Oh.” I can feel myself blushing. “Yes. We should split up. We’ll get more done. Definitely.”

  Oh God. Now I am blushing and babbling. It’s a good look, I’m sure.

  “On second thought, I think we should stick together. You seem distracted.”

  The front doors of Smyth’s mansion lead directly into a long, wide hall with a massive staircase at the end. Kane takes off down the hall, assuming I’m going to follow him. I do, obviously. There are doors leading off on either side. Kane heads into the first room on the right.

  It’s a Victorian sitting room, complete with fireplace, camelback sofas, and knickknack-laden tables everywhere. No timekeeper here.

  The room to the left of the front door is a library with dark wooden bookshelves and old, leather-bound books. For someone who claims to despise the Dark World, Smyth certainly has a taste for Victorian decorating.

  The other two rooms on the first floor are similarly uninteresting. Everything looks as though the cast of Downton Abbey just left.

  As we creep toward the staircase, I ask Kane, “Do you think this is magicked? Maybe the timekeeper is here and we just can’t see him?”

  Kane pauses halfway up the stairs and glances back at me. “No. Sleekers aren’t good at illusion.”

  Huh. What exactly did that mean? Was that some kind of jab at my inability to hide my emotions?

  Of course, if it was, I probably deserve it.

  And if I get killed on this island because I’m distracted, worrying about whether Kane likes me likes me, then I deserve that, too.

  The stairs conti
nue up to a third floor, but we stop on the second. Kane is nearly to the first door on the right, when I hear a faint thump-thump from a room at the front of the house. I stop Kane with my hand, then nod in the direction.

  And there it is again. Thump-thump.

  He frowns and gives his head a little shake.

  Yeah, it’s faint, but how can he not hear it?

  Thump-thump.

  I jerk my head in that direction a second time, shoot him a “follow me” glance, and then head toward the thumping sounds.

  The room is at the front of the house, facing Gull Veston Island. I guess we’re feeling cautious, because we both pause in the doorway. A pair of large windows flank a door that leads out onto a balcony. It’s a bedroom, maybe once a child’s bedroom, based on the murals of delicate fairies and toadstools painted on the walls. Whatever it once was, it is now empty of furniture, except for a single chair—a big, comfy padded armchair, covered in butter yellow fabric. And sitting cross-legged on it is a boy.

  He can’t be more than nine. Maybe even seven or eight. He doesn’t glance up when we enter. Not even a flicker of awareness mars the concentration in his expression. He is focused entirely on the two balls that he is juggling in his hands.

  The balls are smooth and glassy, with swirls of gray and misty blue, like marbles the size of tennis balls. They are almost too large for his small hands. He throws one straight up into the air. It hovers for an instant at the apex before falling to land in his open hand. Then he throws the other straight up into the air and catches that one. It’s not really juggling. Until his face contorts into a frown of extra concentration and he throws both balls at the same moment and catches them with the opposite hand.

  This time, the instant he catches the balls, the sky outside his window darkens. He has just reset dawn.

  “Whoa,” I murmur. “I did not expect Morgan’s metaphor to be so…unmetaphoric. He really is juggling time.”

  Kane shuffles forward a step so that his shoulder almost touches my back. He leans closer to me to murmur, “Juggling?”