The Time Corps Chronicles (Complete Series)

by Heather Blackwood

  “I’m just sick of waiting. If they want to do this, I would rather it happen without an audience.”

  Neil looked over the crowd as if assessing if he could fight them all off. It was his partner’s execution, and yet Astrid knew that something had to happen differently for the personal history between Elliot and Neil to play out. Elliot was supposed to be Neil’s partner for years, and according to Elliot, he would later train Neil as Neil had trained him. Her cousin had assured her that time paradoxes could not exist, so this execution had to work out differently than the sidhe meant it to happen. But she could not see how. The Unseelie and the Seelie had come to an agreement that the offending Time Corps member had robbed them of a Door. It was more than an interference. It was a grave offence, punishable by death. It was probably the only thing the two courts had agreed to in centuries. It was no wonder there was an audience.

  “The Piper is coming,” said a tiny wrinkled woman the size of a toddler.

  “Yes,” said her companion, an enormous green macaw.

  The crowd murmured and turned in one direction. They must feel the approach of the Piper. A little thrill went through Astrid. He was coming.

  She saw the bobbing of the tips of his shining black horns over the top of the panels that enclosed the stage area and his hooves made a deep reverberating sound as they struck the wood of the boardwalk. He rounded the corner, and he was just as he had been the first time she had seen him on the beach, huge and intimidating. He seemed even larger now that he was close, and she caught the faint scent of leafy trees and loamy earth, smells that were alien in this place of ocean and sand.

  The Piper did not pause, but walked straight up the center aisle to the stage, bent his powerful goat legs and leapt onto it. Then he turned and looked out over the crowd. Iolanthe of the Seelie and Governor Platt of the Unseelie came forward and stood to one side of the stage. No sidhe kings or queens were present, nothing more than small time bureaucrats.

  “I think we’re supposed to go up,” whispered Neil.

  The three of them climbed up on stage, and Astrid wondered how she and Neil somehow were in the places of authority corresponding to Iolanthe and the governor. She was necessary, but Neil was not, except as moral support. She appreciated his presence.

  “The sentence has been passed,” said the Piper. His voice was impossibly low and there was a guttural, growling sound to some of the words. “This man, Elliot Van Dorn, has violated agreements held with the Seelie and Unseelie courts and the Time Corps. The sentence is death.”

  He turned his wide-spaced black eyes to Elliot then to her, and Astrid felt her blood run hot. The scent of him was stronger here, and there was a warm male scent beneath it, utterly primal and attractive. His arms were human and well-muscled and his shoulders were broad and strong. And she felt the presence of life, plants and animals, fertility and growth. She broke eye contact. She could not allow him to distract her.

  “Door,” the Piper said. “Elliot Van Dorn has chosen you as his executioner. You will be sending him to Death.”

  She felt Elliot’s hand seek hers and give it a squeeze. He still believed in her, that she would save him. But every existing option would send him to his death.

  Well then, she would have to find another option.

  Two identical men in green brought out a large mirror and hung it on the back wall of the stage.

  “Make the Door,” said the Piper.

  “Ready?” she asked Elliot.

  He nodded. Astrid glanced at Iolanthe and Governor Platt. Both of them wore satisfied expressions. Red Fawn had her fingers to her mouth. Yukiko stared, unblinking, at Elliot, as if trying to memorize his features. Coyote sat with his legs crossed, ankle over knee, looking bored. He winked at Astrid when she made eye contact, but after a moment of surprise, she knew it was a gesture of support, not of mockery. He had not wanted the slaugh in his region, and he could only be pleased that Astrid had banished the Hunt. But otherkind politics was still politics, and he could hardly leap to Elliot’s defense.

  “Make the Door,” the Piper repeated.

  She stepped to the mirror. If this was going to work, she had to put on a good show. Doors were rare, and this would work to her advantage. Only one person present had seen what a Door into Death looked like, and Elliot wouldn’t betray her.

  “Death,” she said, loud enough for everyone to hear. The mirror bent and rippled and the misty haze that had surrounded it when Runt had died coalesced.

  Seelie, she thought. The mirror flashed an image of green and apricot, and the haze began to dissipate.

  Death. The mirror went opaque and reflective again and the fog thickened.

  Unseelie. Green, brown and purple.

  Death.

  She let the haze thicken until it was heavy and swirling. Somewhere safe, she thought. Somewhere quiet. Somewhere the sidhe could not find Elliot and could not harm him. Somewhere safe. Somewhere quiet. She repeated the words in her mind.

  “It is time,” she said, but she did not glance at Elliot. She couldn’t take even the slightest chance that this would not work. He moved forward and put his hand in front of him, as if he would part the curtain to Death before going through.

  Safe. Quiet. Somewhere the sidhe could not find him.

  Now.

  The mirror changed, and she saw rows and rows of bookcases, stretching into the back of a dark room. There were piles of scrolls and clay tablets. It reminded her of Bogdana’s library, but this place was larger by far. High alabaster windows set into yellow sandstone walls allowed diffused light to shine through. Columns painted in orange, red and bright blue, black and gold held up a high ceiling.

  The crowd drew a collective gasp and Astrid heard a commotion behind her. She stayed focused on the Door. Elliot didn’t hesitate, but stepped through without a word. The noise behind her was not one only of outrage, but of terror.

  She shut the Door behind Elliot and turned to face the crowd, ready for whatever she had to face. The sidhe were frightened, but when they realized that the Door was closed, their terror turned to fury. Yukiko and Red Fawn looked worried. Coyote grinned.

  Governor Platt gesticulated and shouted something in another language at Iolanthe, who strode toward the Piper, her goat teeth bared in outrage.

  “She has sent him to the Library!” Iolanthe cried.

  “She has tricked us!” screamed someone in the crowd.

  “Get him back!” yelled someone else.

  The Piper allowed the people to make noise for another few moments and then he said, “Stop.” He did not shout, but his voice must have reached even the farthest person, because they all went silent.

  “We shall not get him back,” said the Piper. “He is in a place far from us. And none of us, no matter how fierce, would dare to brave the Library or anger the Librarian.”

  A murmur of assent went through the crowd.

  “We will leave him where he is,” said the Piper. “He will die in the Library. He will not trouble us again.”

  The otherfolk made noises of protest, but when the Piper shifted his weight and swept a look over the crowd, they all quieted.

  “It is decided,” he said and turned. “Now, Door.” He reached his hand out to Astrid, and she was overcome with the desire to place her hand in his large, warm one. But he was merely gesturing.

  “You have violated our ways.” Now, instead of feeling heat and the disconcerting attraction, she felt the cold sting of fear as he turned toward her. “This cannot be.”

  “They are your ways,” she said, keeping her eyes on his. “Not mine. I am not obligated to follow your laws.”

  “You were born Unseelie,” he said. “The Unseelie obey their people’s ways.”

  “I made the choice,” she said. “I chose to deny the Unseelie code
. I am no Unseelie.”

  “Then what are you?” Iolanthe demanded. “You are either one thing or the other.”

  “I am human.”

  Iolanthe stepped toward her. “If you are human, then you are ours. You have eaten food in the Seelie world.”

  “I was not human when I was in Seelie. I was Unseelie then. So your laws regarding humans did not apply to me.”

  Iolanthe turned to the Piper in appeal.

  “She is correct,” he said, and Iolanthe opened her mouth to protest, but then shut it.

  Astrid then understood something about the Piper. He, surely, had seen her trying out different doors and could have stopped her if he had suspected trickery. He could have stopped Elliot from going through. He was the nearest one to Elliot other than Astrid herself. But he had not. And now, this.

  “We are done today,” said the Piper. The crowd waited, expecting him to pass down the center aisle the way he had come, but he remained. “Go now.”

  The otherkind gave him looks as they left, and he watched them go with a placid expression. Santiago, Red Fawn and Yukiko left together, the women talking and Santiago wearing a satisfied look. At last, Iolanthe and the governor left as well, leaving only Astrid, Neil and the Piper.

  “Door,” he said, and Astrid wondered if he even knew her name. Or was this some strange otherfolk practice where they didn’t want to say a name because of its power?

  “Do not attempt to bring Elliot Van Dorn from the Library,” he said. “The place is dangerous. More so than Seelie and Unseelie. Even if you could enter, you would not be able to exit.”

  “There has to be a way,” said Astrid. She watched the Piper, hoping he would reveal some tidbit of information that might help her. She wasn’t going to abandon Elliot to a library, no matter how frightening it might be. “I have to find him.”

  “Did you not see the fear of the otherkind? They know that the Library is dangerous. I warn you again, Door, you would be trapped there, even with your skills.”

  Astrid studied him for a moment, and he suddenly seemed so sad, so weary. How old was he anyway? Santiago was thousands of years old, but he retained a snide good humor. The Piper was mighty, but for a moment, she saw something else. And she understood something about him. He had defended her stance that she was not sidhe so that neither faction could gain control of her abilities. It was his way of keeping the peace and balance. That was why he was the arbiter.

  He had been the one to take the slaugh back to Unseelie. So he was able to move between worlds also, like her.

  “Piper?” she said, and her voice sounded small. “Can you tell me about Doors?”

  “I can. It is true that you are not Seelie, Unseelie or human, though human you are, in a way. You are a psychopomp.”

  The word sounded terrible, like something insane or evil.

  “A being who accompanies souls into Death,” said Neil from just over her shoulder. She had not felt him move up behind her. Then she understood why he had come, to guard her from the Seelie. Elliot must have asked him to do it.

  “The other psychopomps will come for you,” said the Piper. “And then, you will get your aspect.”

  He turned to leave. She understood that he had gone out of his way to speak with her privately.

  “Thank you,” she said. “For everything.”

  He turned back to her, and this time, there was a gentleness in the eyes, a slight softening of his sensual mouth.

  “I think I hear the sound of wings about you,” he said.

  Chapter 48

  The kettle whistled and Astrid poured hot water over the powdered hot chocolate mix in her mug. It was too warm outside for a hot drink, but she wanted the comfort of it. She was in Elliot’s trailer and Diego and Frieda were gone, taken to the Time Corps house to be with their mother. Cinderella, or rather, Pangur Ban, was alive. She had been Astrid’s guardian for most of her life. The thought made her unspeakably happy and also uneasy.

  Most of Elliot’s things were gone, taken to the house, but she wanted to stay here for a little while before joining everyone at the house. They would talk with her, and then discuss how to get Elliot out. They had probably already begun. But for now, she wanted to be alone.

  She had been gone from the human world for a little over a month, and she wondered if her mother had tried to contact her. Her mobile phone was long gone, abandoned in the Seelie world, but Neil had said the Time Corps could get her another one. Even if her mother hadn’t called, she decided that she would go see her, even if only for a quick talk at the door. Her mother might not be any different, but Astrid was. She knew the house would look smaller now. The whole world looked smaller.

  She would stay in the trailer that night, she decided. And then, Sister needed her at the Time Corps house. The girl was safe and adjusting gradually to life in the human world. Astrid still wanted to attend Columbia, psychopomp or not. She still loved her art.

  Runt’s body lay in the freezer, and she would take it to Pangur Ban that evening. She wasn’t sure what the ritual was for burying their kind, but she would do whatever was required of her.

  Elliot’s little wire rabbit sat beside the sink. She tied the owl bell over the trailer door so it would jingle when the door opened. It would also protect her from any angry sidhe who might want to pay her a visit. She would pour salt wards later, make knots in cords and string them around. Perhaps she would find a church and get some holy water. For now, she would drink hot chocolate.

  When the door opened, she jumped. The man at the door was in his fifties, with graying blonde hair and a tweed jacket with elbow patches. She knew him.

  She got up but she did not embrace him. Instead, she studied his face, the lines around his eyes, the changes that age had made to his features. He had aged well, and he watched her studying him with an amused expression. Then he set a bag down at his feet and opened his arms. She hugged him.

  “How did you get out? You have to tell me.”

  “You and the others did it.”

  “But how?”

  “You’ll figure it out, just as you figured out how to send me to the Library.”

  “Why can’t you tell me? You said the Time Corps doesn’t keep secrets like that.”

  “If I tell you, then the information forms an unstable time loop. Ask Neil about it. You and the others have to come up with the idea on your own. But you succeed. I wanted you to know so you don’t torture yourself and draw a bunch of depressing pictures.”

  “Shut up. They’re not depressing.”

  “If you say so,” he said, and she enjoyed his familiar teasing tone.

  “So that’s why you came? To tell me we’ll get you out?”

  “That and I was on my way to your birthdays. I have some stolen library books to deliver.”

  She reached for the bag, and he did not stop her. Inside were her books, all the books she had received through the years, as well as padded envelopes and note paper, her airline ticket and the tiny sketch pad. There were five one hundred dollar bills in an envelope and the metalurgy book that Elliot had received.

  “The information helped me when I needed to find a smith to make the bell,” he said.

  “How long can you stay?”she asked.

  “I have time for a cup of hot chocolate. And then I have to go.”

  Astrid made another cup and Elliot slid open the window, pausing for a long time to look out at the waves. She wondered if he ever got the chance to surf.

  “The Piper said you would die in the Library,” she said.

  “I might. But that doesn’t mean I have to live there.”

  They drank their chocolate for a while.

  “It’s time for me to go,” Elliot said. He took up his bag and allowed her to give him a last hug and a kiss on the cheek.
Then he left.

  The owl bell swung back and forth, tinkling over the door.

  THE SOUND OF WINGS

  Chapter 1

  Huginn was an amnesiac raven, but he was not an unobservant one. He understood that something had gone terribly wrong, even if he couldn’t remember what it was. He and Pangur Ban sat high in the pepper tree overhanging the street in front of the Time Corps safe house. It was one of their favorite spots, away from the humans and their endless chatter. A breeze rustled the branches, providing the only respite from the August heat. Huginn heard a shout from inside the house as a car slowed and turned into the driveway.

  “They’re back,” said Pangur Ban. “I hope they have information.”

  The white cat stood and stretched, digging her claws into the bark, then leapt down to the ground and made her way to the cat door that led into the kitchen. Huginn flew up over the house and through an entry hatch that the Professor had built into the frame of an upstairs window. He joined Pangur Ban in the living room, taking his perch on the back of a wooden chair.

  “I think something bad has happened,” said Huginn, as people shouted upstairs and a woman named Hazel rushed into the kitchen, a phone in her hand. “What is it?”

  Pangur Ban looked at him, unblinking. “Do you not recall?” There was no reproach in her tone. There never was.

  Huginn clicked his beak, a nervous habit that occasionally helped him to clear his mind. It didn’t help.

  “Elliot is trapped in the Library. Do you remember Elliot?” asked Pangur Ban.

  “Of course. The young man with blond hair. Though sometimes he’s older.”

  Time travel meant that members of the Time Corps aged asynchronously with each other. Huginn was used to meeting people out of order and he remembered Elliot.

  “Yes. And the Professor and Felicia have been trying to find a way to get him back. They’ve been gone a few weeks, but it could have been longer on their personal timelines.”