by Tim Lebbon
“But Mallian. Ascent.”
The wisp sighs, a breath in the shadows.
“A dream. The Nephilim thinks strength means fighting. There are other ways to be strong. And the fairy was mad. Not the thing he thought She would be. She vanished as soon as you freed Her that night, and no one has seen Her since. Many believe She’s gone away from the world forever.”
“To where?”
“Other places,” the wisp says.
It settles close to her then, its movement sending a cool shiver across her exposed arm, a hardening of shadows beside her bed. Shapeless, formless, still Angela feels its presence.
“There’s schism within the Kin, with Mallian at its fore. Everyone has been stirred up, but Lilou is working to mend the rift. Mallian is… temperamental. She wants your help.”
“Mine?”
“And Vince.”
“What can we do? We’re just normal people.”
“In my world, there’s no such thing. Neither of you can function in society anymore,” the wisp says, harshly perhaps, but it tells the truth. “Prison awaits, or the asylum if you attempt to tell the truth. Which Lilou knows you never will.”
“So how can we help?”
“In countless ways. The human and Kin worlds often touch, sometimes even interact. On those occasions you could help us maintain our secrecy.”
“But I’m being deported back to Britain, a trial, jail. They don’t really know what happened, but they have a trail of corpses and a suspect who isn’t denying the murders.” Angela actually chuckles into the darkness, feeling a strange reciprocation from the wisp. “I’ll be famous.”
“You already are, amongst the Kin.” The wisp comes even closer, a shadow growing heavier around her, and its next comment comes from so close to her ear that Angela feels the touch of its breath. “Rest, and be ready for tomorrow.”
“And what’s tomorrow?”
“The first day of the rest of your life.”
* * *
Angela doesn’t believe she can rest, but sleep takes her again. For the first time since Mary Rock’s house, she does not remember her dreams.
When she wakes it is light. Her cell door is open, and Vince is standing there. He grins. She sits up.
“Vince?”
Everything is quiet. The station beyond the cell is still and silent.
“Hey, babe,” he says. “Welcome back to America, eh?”
“Where’s Volk? Where are the cops?”
“They’re… sleeping.”
“What’s happening?”
“It’s time to go. The thing that came, the wisp, is helping me get you out, and there are others waiting for us.”
“Others?” Angela stands, breathing in a rush of fresh air that carries a hint of unknown places. “What others?”
“It’ll be easier if you see for yourself.” Vince holds out his hand, eyes wide with excitement. “Come with me. You’re never going to believe this.”
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Thanks to DEO Steve Saffel and the whole team at Titan Books.
Special thanks to Howard Morhaim and Caspian Dennis, my agents, who are always wise and encouraging.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
TIM LEBBON is a New York Times-bestselling writer from South Wales. He’s had more than thirty novels published to date, as well as hundreds of novellas and short stories. His latest novel is the thriller The Family Man, and other recent releases include The Hunt, The Silence, Coldbrook, Alien: Out of the Shadows, and The Rage War trilogy.
He has won four British Fantasy Awards, a Bram Stoker Award, and a Scribe Award, and has been a finalist for World Fantasy, International Horror Guild, and Shirley Jackson awards. Future releases include additional novels in the Relics trilogy from Titan Books, and fantasy novel Blood of the Four (with Christopher Golden).
A movie of his story Pay the Ghost, starring Nicolas Cage, was released in 2015, and several other projects are in development for television and the big screen.
Find out more about Tim at his website
WWW.TIMLEBBON.NET