QUANTUM

by Imogen Rose

  “David. Shrimp, where should we meet?”

  “I don’t know. How long is it gonna take you to get here?”

  “I don’t know. Depends on when the next flight leaves from San Fran. I think the flight itself takes at least ten hours if it’s direct. We’re gonna head to the airport right away. I’ve got your number on caller ID, so I’ll call you once we get there, and then figure out where to meet. Are you being held captive or did you manage to escape?”

  “Yes, I’m under guard, so I can’t come out to you. You’ll have to find me. Kellan, I won’t even be here tomorrow. I’m being taken to London.”

  “That’s actually better. The flight time is a bit shorter. I’m going to call you as soon as we land. Will you be able to keep the cell phone turned on?”

  “Kellan, I don’t know how much juice it has. It might be better if I call you. Okay? I’ll try you in about twelve hours. Hopefully you’ll be in London by then. If I don’t get you then, I’ll try you again every half an hour after that.”

  “It’s a plan.” Kellan paused. “Arizona, make sure to take care of yourself. I love you.”

  “Love you too, Kell,” I said, and hung up. Wow.

  “So?” Justin asked, before I took my next breath.

  “Can you believe it? That was Kellan! He and David are going travel to London and contact us when they get there. Can I hang on to the cell?”

  “I guess. They’re less likely to search a royal than me anyway, it’s safer with you.”

  “So, all’s good between us?”

  He nodded.

  “The aim’s to get back home. You’re going to try to go along with their schemes until we find a way of escaping?”

  “Yeah. I’m also going to try to figure out what happened to Simla and help her. They’ll most likely separate us once we get to London. If we don’t see each other, I’ll try to steal another cell and contact you. Hopefully David and Kellan have some sort of a plan or we’re screwed.”

  “Yeah,” I replied, sighing.

  Plan? I was guessing the plan was to grab me and hightail it back home. Kellan and David hadn’t even known where I was, so whatever plan they may have was obviously in its formative stage. From Kellan’s reaction, I could tell that he never expected a phone call from me. I could only hope that David and he had additional help and it wasn’t just the two of them out on a wild goose chase of a rescue mission.

  “Well, I guess it’s time for bed,” Justin suggested.

  I nodded. It had been a long day. I’d walked for miles and miles–I was exhausted. As soon as Justin left my room, I threw myself down onto the soft mattress and buried my head in the feather pillow. I just needed five minutes of downtime before I would get ready for bed.

  The five minutes must have turned into hours. I slept like a rock, my head was still buried in the pillow when I woke. I felt like I had slept for days in a heavy, dreamless slumber. I was stiff from the awkward position I had laid down in, but managed to turn over and squinted to avoid the Parisian rays from the skylight. Turns out, I didn’t have to–the skylight had magically disappeared–not. I had clearly been moved. I could only assume that I was transported to London while I slept. I felt for the cell phone in a panic–I had put in my pocket, thank goodness–and breathed a sigh of relief as I felt the metal casing against my palm. Phew!

  I looked around. It was clear that I still maintained my Royal status. If anything, I had become more royal–this room made my last one look quite plain. I looked out the bay windows to a view of the London Eye, which I got to ride in the last time I had visited this city. I went to the bathroom, which was the size of my bedroom at home, and tried Kellan’s number. He picked up on the first ring.

  “Arizona, it’s been fourteen hours! What happened?”

  “Sorry, Kell. I’m just getting up. I can’t keep up with the whole time thing when we are being transported about randomly. I’ve no idea what the time is. I’m just happy that we’re still in the same dimension and you picked up my call,” I said, feeling intense relief at hearing his voice.

  “Shrimp, any idea where you are?”

  “Well, I can see the London Eye and the Thames from my windows, so I am guessing on the north bank.”

  “Are you high up?”

  “I guess, I really don’t know. Hold on, let me check.” I snuck back for another look out the window and then went back to the safety of the locked bathroom. “Kell, I’m guessing about eight or ten floors up. I can’t be sure. The window is locked. How are you going to find me?” I asked, knowing full well that there was no way for him to do so. I had to think of a plan, somewhere we could arrange to meet.

  “I don’t know,” he sighed. “We need more clues. Look out the window and tell us everything you see.”

  It was too late for that. I could hear noises from outside the bathroom. Someone was in my bedroom. “Kellan,” I whispered, “I’m going to try to find a way to get to the London Eye, so hang around there and I’ll try to find you. I’ll try to call you later.”

  I made my way back to the bedroom where Luna was waiting for me with a big smile on her face.

  “Good morning, Your Highness!”

  “Hey, Luna. Wassup?”

  “We’re in London! I wasn’t expecting to come, but my father asked me, so we get to spend some more time together. I love London, such a great city, amazing history.”

  I loved London, too. This was my first home. I was born here, at Saint Mary’s Hospital in Paddington. Even though we moved away a long time ago, I was still very familiar with this city. We came back for frequent visits, usually around the time of the annual Wimbledon Tennis Championships, which my mother procured tickets for every other year–happy memories of Pimms and strawberries–however, no need to share that with Luna. I was glad to see her. If anyone could be persuaded to do a bit of sightseeing, it was Luna. Now I needed to convince her to take me to the London Eye. “So, Luna, what’s the plan for today?” I asked, hoping that there were no major ones.

  “As I promised you in Paris, you will get to see Potomal this morning, once you are ready. He’s waiting for you.”

  Typical! I tried to remain emotionless as I took in this bit of information. I had no idea if I should feel apprehensive or not. More importantly, I needed to get word to Justin about the London Eye plan. “Great, I’m looking forward to meeting him,” I lied.

  “There is a selection of outfits in the wardrobe for you to choose from. I’ll take you to him, once you’re dressed.”

  “Help me out, Luna. I don’t have a clue what to wear. Just choose something for me while I take a shower. Okay?”

  By the time I came back, she’d laid a smart olive suit on the bed for me, with complementing shoes and a bag. I hurried into them and sat still while Luna arranged my hair into a bun. Since I was clearly not dressed for flight, I’d have to come back and change before trying to get to the London Eye. Okay, it was time to face the big boss.

  I had expected someone much more stuffy and formal-looking. Luna’s dad looked like an ex-rock’n-roller imprisoned in a linebacker’s body and squashed into a Donald Trump suit. It was just all wrong. I was surprised; he was so unlike either Luna or Stan, who now stood beside his father, beaming at me.

  “Your Highness, it’s a pleasure to have your company. Please do join us for breakfast,” Potomal said, ushering me into the large dining room.

  This was some serious wealth. Everything was opulent, even the door hinges. We walked past the main dining table–which I guess would seat about fifty–to a side room with a smaller table where we took our seats. It was just the four of us. I wanted to ask if Justin was going to join us, but decided to wait. I didn’t want to disrupt the current pleasant mood in the room. When we had been served and taken a few bites, I noticed Potomal sitting back in his chair, studying me–and my most unroyal table manners, no doubt.

  “Are you looking forward to seeing your grandfather?” he asked, catching me off guard.

&nbs
p; “I wasn’t aware that I was,” I said vaguely, hedging my bets.

  “Of course, you weren’t,” Potomal agreed. “We will be returning you to your grandfather in a few days. Until then, it’s an honor to have you as our guest. Luna and Stan will entertain you, perhaps show you around the city.”

  “What am I doing here in the first place?” I asked as softly as I could, so as not to provoke him in any way, but I could see his face clouding over.

  “You are here as our guest,” he said firmly, and got up. “I shall leave you in Luna and Stan’s capable hands. Have a good day and I’ll see you at breakfast again tomorrow.” With that, he disappeared out of the dining room, leaving me rolling my eyes at Luna.

  “You said that I would get some answers,” I said accusingly, staring her down with my best death glare.

  “What do you want to know?” she asked. “I’ll try to answer what I can.”

  “First of all, what the heck am I doing here? What gives you–or your dad–the right to just take me from my home and hold me captive? Answer that for starters. I am seriously pissed off!”

  Luna took a deep breath, clearly startled by my outburst while Stan muffled a snicker.

  “Oh, go on and snicker if you want, you overgrown Sigma puppy.”

  That was it. Stan was practically on the floor chortling with his mouth open. Not a pretty sight. I grabbed Luna’s arm and pulled her all the way back to my room and threw her onto my bed. “Well? Start talking or I’m going to thump you!”

  “You’re planning to get violent?” she asked, surprised, as that would have been the least possible scenario that she could have anticipated.

  “Yeah, so start talking.”

  Luna cowered; I felt a bit ashamed. I was obviously not going to hit her–probably.

  “Start by telling me what I’m doing here.”

  “Your Highness, you are our leverage to gain control over your grandfather.”

  “Say what?”

  She looked at me like I was an idiot. “Well, my dad wants control of the Sigma-W,” she explained patiently. “Since your grandfather has control at the moment, we need leverage to make him step down. You are part of that plan.”

  There was absolutely no point telling her that my grandfather died a long time ago and that he had so not been a Wanderer. I was piecing it all together slowly. This had to do with Gramadea, I was sure of that. She was the only Sigma-W I knew in our family. Apparently Rupert was a dormant one…. I sighed. Grandfather. The must mean Gramadea’s husband. They thought I was Rupert’s kid. I had never been told anything about Rupert’s dad. Could he be the leader? Gramadea was married to the leader of the Sigma-W? It would all make sense if that was the case. So I was now deeply submerged in a paranormal royalty-fest, with takeovers thrown in. How jolly! Mom’s head must be exploding!

  “Your Highness?” Luna whispered.

  I had totally forgotten about her as I was pondering the possibilities. What was it that I needed to ask her? “Where’s Justin?”

  “He is at training with Olivier this morning. Simla is with them, as is Madison.”

  Oh, so Simla was back. I wondered what they did to persuade her to rejoin them. What was their role in this takeover? “I’d like to see them.”

  “You will, at dinner. Would you like Stan and me to show you about in London in the meantime?” She pointed to the Ferris wheel. “We could take a ride on the wheel, I haven’t been before, but I’ve heard that the view is spectacular,” she said, trying her best to placate me.

  Perfect. What to do about Justin, though? If I got a chance to escape, I had to take it. Anything else would be utterly foolish. I would come back for Justin and Simla. I needed some time to think this through. This would be a one-chance deal and it had to be successful. “Luna, I’m going to get changed before we go. Can you give me some privacy?”

  “Yes, Your Highness. I’ll go and get Stan organized to come.”

  “Can’t it just be the two of us? We could go shopping after, at Harrods and Harvey Nicks. Does he have to come?” I asked, rolling my eyes at her to compound the need for male-free shopping time.

  “No problem. As you wish. I’ll go and get changed as well. I’ll be back in about half an hour, is that long enough?”

  “Yup,” I said, and grabbed my cell as soon as she left. I stopped myself from calling Kellan right away. I had to think this through first. If Kellan and David had made any concrete escape plans, I’m sure he’d have told me during our last conversation. They probably assumed that we would somehow make a run for it through the streets of London and then catch a flight home. That was not going to work. Luna would whisk me off to another world before I could say burger. We had to be smart.

  I needed David to transport me off quickly before Luna could comprehend what was going on. That would, however, mean leaving Kellan behind as David could only wander with one person at a time. That was not going to happen. There was no way was I leaving Kellan behind. I needed David to get Kellan to safety first and then come back and wait for me by the wheel. It was time to call them.

  “Kell?”

  “Arizona, are you coming? We’re at the London Eye already. How long are you gonna be?”

  “I’ve been thinking about how we’re going to do this, a plan, you know, and I was thinking that David needs to get you to saf….”

  “Shrimp,” Kellan interrupted. “My phone is running out of juice. Don’t worry about the details, just get here ASAP!” And he cut the call.

  I called him right back, we had to agree on a plan or this would never work. He wasn’t picking up, his cell must have died. What now? I hurriedly changed into jeans, t-shirt and a hoodie. Then I stepped into a pair of black sneakers. I was ready to run. I was going to have to run, as there was no way I was going to let David take me while leaving Kellan behind. This sucked. However, I would at least get to see Kellan, even momentarily. It was better than nothing. I missed him like crazy. And, it was certainly possible that they actually had a plan. Or so I hoped. Whatever way this was going to play out, I’d find out soon enough, as Luna walked into the room.

  “Ready, Your Highness?” I had become sadly used to the Your Highness thing.

  I nodded and got up to follow her out.

  We walked down to the Millennium Bridge and crossed over to the south side of the Thames, to Victoria Embankment. Although there are numerous bridges across the Thames, I remembered that this was the first pedestrian-only bridge built in the last century. I remember Ella having a tantrum on this bridge the last time we crossed it.

  “Shall we head up to Harvey Nicks for tea after our ride?” Luna inquired.

  “Sounds good,” I said, feeling a bit bad for her. She seemed like a really nice girl. Too bad she was caught up in her father’s schemes. I didn’t take my eyes off the big Ferris wheel as we approached it. We walked toward the ticket booth and I immediately spied Kellan. My heart skipped a beat. It took everything I had to pretend to ignore him. I didn’t want to give Luna any indication that I was up to something. Thankfully, Kellan did the same, standing leaning against a fence, looking casual as he chatted with David, who didn’t even glance at me. They were talking to a third person, with her back to me. She came into view as we brushed passed them on out way to the booth. Gramadea.

  I let Luna get in front of me as we walked to the ticket stand and took our places at the back of the line. I noticed that Gramadea left David and Kellan chatting with each other and then took her place in the line, right behind me. As Luna stepped up to the kiosk to pay for the tickets, Gramadea laid her hands on my shoulders. I shut my eyes and felt the weightless sensation of wandering.

  When I felt my feet come into contact with a solid surface, I opened my eyes and steadied myself, holding on to Gramadea’s arm, but not for long. I found myself pulled from her and enveloped in a warm, tight embrace. I didn’t have to look to see who it was, I could breath him in as my nose nuzzled against his neck. Kellan. We stood there for ages, not moving,
standing dead-still, stuck to one another, hoping time would do what it wanted around us as long as it left us alone.

  “Shrimp, you okay?” Kellan whispered into my ear. The warmth of his breath made me quiver. “Arizona?”

  “I’m fine. Really. I’m just so tired. So tired of being away from you.”

  He pulled me even closer as I heard a cough from behind me. He didn’t loosen his grip.

  “Gramadea?” he queried.

  “Kellan, we should go inside,” she said.

  “We’ll join you in a bit,” he said firmly, not showing any indication of following her or loosening his grip around me. I could feel her leave; we were alone. Kellan let go of me with one arm, the other one still wrapped around me and we walked over to a bench and sat down as closely as we could next to each other.