by Helen Harper
I skid towards the ornate doors that lead outside and slam them open, then come to an abrupt halt. Something is wrong. The town shouldn’t look like this.
Instead of the brilliant sunshine that normally beams down on the quaint rooftops and cobbled streets, the sky is dark and stormy. I hadn’t imagined the grey of the Western European zone; here things are even worse. The dark grey clouds remind me of Dante’s eyes and there’s a chill in the air that I’ve never felt here before. My bones feel as if they’re turning to ice ‒ and it’s not just because of the temperature. Is this related to why I apparated into the castle instead of the forest? Is this somehow happening because of me?
I look around anxiously. The street in front of me is silent and empty. On the one hand that’s good because it means I won’t be interrupted; on the other hand, there’s no one to ask about the weather. I have no way of knowing whether this is typical and I’ve not been coming here long enough for me to tell. I suppress a shiver. My need to find Esme is even more urgent than before.
I start running again. I pray that she’s at her little shop, the one she runs on a barter system to help out Travellers who find bits and pieces during their dream travels that they wish to exchange for something more fun or more useful. Esme isn’t like the others; she’s always here. In the real world, she’s hooked up to machines which are keeping her alive in a hospital. Unlike the coma victims I rescued, Esme remains awake every day and every night. I can’t begin to imagine how trapped she feels. Even when I was agoraphobic, I always knew I could escape if I had to. Esme can’t do that, no matter what happens.
I swerve round the corner onto her street. When I see her familiar figure ahead, her hand shielding her eyes as she gazes up at the strange sky, I exhale loudly in relief and open my mouth to call her. She’s already turning in my direction. ‘Esme,’ I shout, rather unnecessarily.
She doesn’t move. At least she’s not running away from me. I catch up to her, slightly breathless. ‘We don’t have long. Dante is here as well and I have no idea where he apparated. We fell asleep at the same time but I apparated into the castle. The only other time I’ve done that is when I was knocked unconscious.’ I’m aware that I’m babbling so I force myself to take a breath. ‘What’s happened to the sky? Has it been like this before?’
Esme’s expression doesn’t change. She cocks her head slightly and watches me but I have no idea whether she’s pleased to see me or whether she’d prefer me to be dead in a ditch somewhere. Finally she asks, ‘Is it true?’
I blink. ‘That I’m a terrorist? You heard about that? Definitely not! The Department made all that up. You know I’m not like that.’
Her brow furrows ever so slightly. ‘Terrorism?’
I step back. ‘You haven’t heard about that?’ I pause. ‘So what do you mean? What’s true?’
A faraway light comes into her eyes but there’s no denying her focus. ‘That you kick people out of the Dreamlands. For good.’
I stare at her. She taps her foot. ‘I … er…’ I stammer.
‘Just tell me if it’s true, Zoe.’
I sigh. ‘It’s true.’
‘Then do it.’
I’m taken aback. ‘Excuse me?’
‘Kick me out.’ Now there’s a trace of impatience in her voice. ‘Throw me out. Exile me. Do it, Zoe.’
My mouth drops open. ‘But you’re in a coma. If I do that you might die.’
She laughs but there’s no humour in it. ‘I’m already half dead.’ She reaches out and takes my hand, squeezing it almost painfully. ‘Let me leave, Zoe. Please.’
Of all the things I was expecting, this wasn’t one of them. I pull my hand away before it loses all circulation. ‘If that’s what you want, Esme, then I can look into it and…’
‘I don’t want you to look into it! I want you to do it!’
‘There are more important things first.’ As soon as the words are out of my mouth, I regret them.
Esme draws herself up, her rage palpable. ‘More important? You know how long I’ve been stuck here! You, of all people, should know what it’s like to have your life out of your control! Now you’re in a position to help me and the most you can say is that you’ll look into it? Bloody hell, Zoe…’
‘Well, well, well,’ Dante drawls from behind me. ‘This isn’t the happy homecoming Zoe expected.’
My heart sinks. Damn it, he got here far too quickly. And if I thought Esme was angry with me, it’s nothing compared to her reaction to Dante. She glares at him, angry fire sparking from her eyes. ‘You,’ she spits. ‘What do you want?’
He loops a heavy arm over my shoulders. ‘Zoe and I are here to save you all. Again.’ He points upwards. ‘When did that happen?’
‘What do you care?’ she snarls.
‘I belong here as much as you do. How long has the sky been that colour?’
Esme still doesn’t answer his question. Instead she turns back to me, hopelessness in her expression. ‘You’re still with him?’ she asks, in quiet desperation.
My jaw works. ‘I…’
She rolls her eyes. ‘I should have expected as much.’ Her shoulders slump. ‘No wonder things are falling apart here.’ She turns to go inside the daberhashery.
‘Wait!’ I call.
Esme isn’t listening. She stomps in and slams the door behind her. Dante tuts. ‘We don’t have time for this. Let’s go.’
I touch his arm. ‘We need people on our side, Dante.’
‘We can worry about that later.’
‘Do you have any idea why the sky is like that?’
‘No.’ He looks at me and I have the sudden feeling that he’s looking right through me. ‘Do you?’ he asks. ‘Why didn’t you apparate into the forest?’
‘I don’t know,’ I mutter. ‘And I need to talk to Esme.’
‘Let’s get to the Mayor’s records first.’
I shake my head; I’m not going to let him gainsay me on this. ‘She can help us,’ I insist. ‘But she’s not going to if you’re around.’
His silvered eyes narrow. ‘We don’t need her.’
‘Yes, we do.’ I take a deep breath. ‘Let me go in and speak to her. You keep saying you need me to trust you again. Well, you need to trust me too. Give me fifteen minutes then I’ll meet you at the Department building in the square. We’ll take things from there.’
He scans my face. ‘I don’t want her to plant ideas in your head.’
‘I’m capable of thinking for myself.’
He grimaces. ‘You’re right. I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to insinuate that—’
‘It’s fine,’ I interrupt. ‘Fifteen minutes and then we’ll get the records we need. Okay?’
His eyebrow twitches. He obviously wants to deny me but he knows I’m still not entirely his. He thinks he’s going to have to tread carefully to keep me on side. Unfortunately for him, he has no idea how carefully. Eventually he gives me a reluctant nod.
‘Thank you,’ I tell him. I reach up to kiss him on the cheek, to show him that I’m not abandoning him, but he turns his head at the last minute and I find my lips planted on his. He groans and draws me close. I feel myself yield almost instantly. Goddamn it.
‘I love you, Zoe,’ he husks.
My insides harden. ‘I love you too.’ And then, somehow, I manage to pull away. ‘Fifteen minutes.’ Without another look, I turn away and enter Esme’s shop.
At first glance, she’s nowhere to be soon then I hear a loud curse from the back of the shop. I walk across a floor covered with detritus – old toys and scraps of metal and various bits and pieces – and peer over the counter. Esme is hunched there, her hands balled into fists. ‘Get lost, Zoe,’ she says dully, not even trying to hide the fact that she’s crying.
I close my eyes briefly then vault over the counter to join her. ‘I’m sorry,’ I say softly. ‘If you really want me to try and kick you out of the Dreamlands, that’s what I’ll do. I promise. But I want you to think about it first. It could cause
irreparable damage to your physical body. We have no idea…’
She draws in a shaky breath. ‘I can’t stay here any more. Damn the consequences. Do it, Zoe. Just do it.’
I crouch down beside her. ‘I will. I give you my word.’ The hope in Esme’s eyes is painful to look at. ‘But I need your help first.’
She wipes her eyes and looks at me. ‘The sky?’
I shake my head. ‘I don’t know what that’s about. Maybe something to do with me, maybe not.’ I gesture helplessly. ‘I can’t worry about it now. I’ve got to stop the Department.’
She laughs harshly. ‘Take a look around. The Department are still here. Every time I try to re-organise the shop, they come in and destroy everything again. They don’t like that I’m here. They think I have power that I don’t.’ She curses under her breath. ‘I’m the least bloody powerful person here.’
‘You’re wrong,’ I say quietly. ‘You’re stronger and more powerful than you could ever realise. And not just because you’re here all the time, not just because you have this shop.’ I take her hands. ‘You see through them. And you see through me. You have your own mind and you’re not going to let yourself be swayed by anyone. That’s power. What the Department have is intimidation.’
‘They’re in every zone, Zoe. They have their hooks into everything. You can’t stop them all.’
My voice is grim. ‘Watch me.’
For a long moment, Esme doesn’t say anything. Then she sighs and pushes back her hair. She gets to her feet and dusts herself off. ‘Tell me what you need.’
***
Fifteen minutes later, I’m staring back at the imposing – and incredibly ugly, out-of-place – Department building. Dante is leaning against the wall, his eyes hooded. I raise my hand to wave but when he turns his head he motions at me urgently. I stare at him; I don’t have the faintest idea what he wants me to do.
He points to the side and gestures again. Suddenly, I understand: he wants me to hide. My eyes narrow but for now I do as he says, taking shelter behind the familiar fountain in the town square. Dean Salib smiles benevolently down at me. As I crouch behind his stone figure, I throw him a glare for good measure. There’s a part of me that still blames him for all of this, even if he has been dead for months.
I peek over the edge. Dante has resumed his casual position. My eyes narrow – what exactly is going on here? A moment later, when the Department doors open, I finally realise.
Two Department bastards step out, Moe and another one I don’t recognise. Dante pushes off the wall and greets them. From above the sound of the fountain, I can just make out their words.
‘Where is she?’ Moe demands.
‘I don’t know.’ Dante’s voice is grim. ‘She got away from me in Switzerland but I know she was heading back here. She always apparates in the forest. We should go there and head her off. Goodness only knows what she’s planning. I can go to her home and see if she shows up there. That way we’ve got all bases covered.’
‘I don’t like it,’ Moe mutters. ‘There’s too much left to chance. And what the hell is up with that sky?’
‘It’s her,’ Dante says. ‘It has to be. We have to stop her.’
‘You were supposed to keep tabs on her,’ the other Department prick says. ‘You were supposed to bring her on side.’
Dante shrugs. ‘I can’t help it if she’s a lunatic. That’s what happens when you spend the best part of two years trapped inside your own house. She can’t see the good that we do here and she thinks that we’re all evil maniacs.’ He points upwards. ‘She’s the one we need to worry about.’
Moe arches an eyebrow. ‘She might have a point about evil maniacs where you’re concerned.’
Dante’s mouth turns down. ‘We’re supposed to be working together.’
She pats him on the arm. ‘And we are. Get to her house, find her and don’t lose her again.’ She whirls off, her Department buddy following in her wake.
I wait until they’re both out of sight. Only when I’m sure the coast is clear do I poke my head out. Dante nods for me to join him. ‘I’m sorry about that,’ he says. ‘I had to play hard ball to get them out of the way.’
‘I understand.’
‘Do you? Sometimes your expression is a mask, Zoe. I wish I could tell what you’re thinking.’
I’m thinking that I no longer have the faintest idea which side he’s really on. He seems to be playing the Department as much as he’s playing me. I prevaricate. ‘If they’ve been hanging around here all this time, won’t they have found the records and destroyed them already?’
He smirks. ‘They’re not that smart. And the Mayor was never that stupid. He made sure all the really important records were kept hidden out of the way.’ He tugs at my sleeve. ‘Come on. We don’t have any time to spare.’
I follow him through the door and into the same shabby corridor that I remember from before. The faint smell of cabbages still seems to linger. There’s no sign of anyone else in here but I’m still wary. ‘Are you sure we’re alone now?’
He nods. ‘I’m sure – but we probably don’t have long. The Department will be sending all the reinforcements they have to this zone now they know that you’re on your way here.’
‘Do they still want me to work for them?’ I ask. ‘Or have they realised that’s never going to happen and they want to kill me instead?’
Dante doesn’t answer, which I suppose is answer enough. I trail after him, past the Mayor’s old office and the room with the filing cabinets with the coordinates of all the people he managed to document from the Bubble. We keep going to the end of the corridor. Dante turns and looks at me. ‘Are you ready?’
I nod, my heart in my mouth. He smiles back, satisfied, and turns the door knob.
Whatever I’d been expecting, it isn’t this. Facing us is a bare room; the walls have peeling wallpaper, the floor is covered by a worn carpet and there’s not a single stick of furniture. Suddenly I’m wary. Has he been leading me into a trap all along? I tense; I’ll defend myself to the death if need be. I can still use my dreamweaving skills if I have to.
Dante doesn’t glance at me. Instead he starts looking around, placing his hands along the walls and occasionally knocking.
‘What are you doing?’ I ask.
‘The records have to be here,’ he says.
I watch him as if he’s mad. ‘Dante, there’s nothing here.’ I can already feel disappointment gnawing at me, even if it’s not entirely unexpected.
‘There has to be.’ He continues feeling his way around. Then he gets down onto his hands and knees and starts lifting up the carpet.
‘But…’
‘I watched the Mayor come in here on several occasions,’ he says. ‘If he kept those records anywhere, it would be here. Help me look.’
This is a waste of time; Dante’s been merrily leading me up the garden path. I hang back for a moment then shrug and move to the opposite corner, mimicking his actions with the carpet. When I’m sure he’s no longer looking, I pull out the folded piece of paper from my pocket.
‘Dante,’ I breathe. ‘I think I have something.’
He freezes. ‘What?’ he asks slowly.
I pretend to pull out the paper triumphantly from a gap between the floorboards. ‘Look.’ I unfold it. ‘There are names on it. Lots and lots and lots of names.’ My face shines. ‘We’ve found it. We’ve found the Mayor’s records.’
Chapter Fifteen
Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that.
Martin Luther King Jr
Dante’s eyes travel from me to the piece of paper and back again. He stares at the floorboard where I ‘retrieved’ it and, for the first time since I’ve known him, he is utterly nonplussed. Ha!
‘That’s … wonderful,’ he manages.
‘You were right all along,’ I tell him. ‘I wasn’t sure before but now I know.’
‘Know what?’
I smile happily. ‘That I can really trust y
ou.’
It takes him a moment but then his silver eyes flicker with warmth. ‘I’m glad, Zoe. You don’t know how glad.’ He holds his hand out for the paper but I look down and pretend not to notice.
‘There are a lot of names on here,’ I say. ‘More than I could have imagined.’ I whistle for added effect and carefully place the paper in my back pocket. ‘We should get out of here before more of the Department show up.’
Dante’s eyebrow twitches as he tries to decide whether to argue or not. Fortunately he accedes to my request and nods, pushing back his dark hair with one hand and gazing at me in a manner that seems designed to show off his chiselled features to best effect. It’s in that one movement when I really know that I’m done with him. The gulf of lies and deceit that he created between us has finally penetrated my physical desires as well as my rational thought. I’m not sure what I feel when I look at him now but it’s certainly not lust. Sadness, perhaps.
Before he can read what’s written on my face, I whirl round and speed back down the corridor. I don’t look back but I know Dante is on my heels. I smirk. His eyes are no doubt fixed on my arse at the moment, not because he thinks it’s pert or cute but because that’s where the golden list is hiding. Let him look, I think sardonically, for all the good it will do him.
Pushing open the door, I blink rapidly. The sky seems even darker than it was before. My plans might be well under way but I don’t feel good about what’s happening because the Dreamlands are acting so strangely. I look around; it’s later now so there are more people milling around. All of them are looking upwards and all of them appear as troubled as I am.
‘Zoe!’ There’s a shout from across the square. I glance over and my heart immediately lightens when I spot Bron. I ignore Dante’s irritated huff and jog over towards him. Several heads turn in my direction but no one approaches me.
The second I’m close, Bron reaches out and envelops me in a bear hug. It’s nice to feel wanted for once. ‘I was worried about you,’ he says in my ear, although I know he’s eyeing up Dante behind me. ‘You’ve been gone for months.’