“Anyway, I don’t know very much about it, but the idea is that when people die, sometimes they—I mean, their soul I guess—come back and live another life as a different person. Only, they don’t remember the life they had before, so they don’t know they were anyone else.”
Corbbmacc let out a breath, and when she looked at him again, he was smiling a little.
“Okay, yeah, I’ve heard of such a thing. Never heard it called rein-…uh, whatever you called it, but I know what you mean.”
“Yeah, me too,” Celine said, absently stroking Rascal’s fur.
There was a pause. Emily heard Paige’s voice as she argued with someone, and tuned it out.
“So,” Corbbmacc said, “is that important or just an interesting useless tidbit you wanted to share?”
Emily laughed a little. The weariness in the sound was painfully obvious, even to her, and it died abruptly on her lips.
“Yeah, I think it is important,” she said. She stopped again, thinking about how to phrase what she wanted to say. Her hand went back to the crystal, tracing its outline in her pocket.
“I think,” she said, “I think I was Derek.”
Michael seemed to snap out of his stupor at the sound of the name. He looked at her sharply, and suddenly there was nothing childlike in his gaze at all. There was an intensity in his eyes that she’d not seen there before, but still he said nothing.
“But,” Celine said, “yeh told me yeh were from a long time ago. So wouldn’t that mean Derek was yeh?”
Emily frowned. She hadn’t gotten that far in her reasoning. The idea made her head spin.
“I guess…I guess it must,” she said.
“I’m lost,” Corbbmacc said. “Who is Derek? I mean, I know he was in your vision, and he told you how to get out of the mines…but who is he, exactly?”
“I don’t know, exactly,” Emily said. “He’s someone that Michael was traveling with before…” She broke off. Michael was staring up at one of the tall, arched windows again. “Before he got like this.” She gestured in his direction.
“’Ow do yeh know that though, Em?” Celine asked. “I mean, I know he called yeh Derek, but that doesn’t mean much, really.”
“I’ve had visions and dreams of Derek. I’ve spoken to him.” She squeezed the crystal between her fingers. “And you,” she looked at Celine, “you called me Derek, when you were delirious after…after helping Mona.”
Celine frowned. “I don’t know anyone called Derek.”
Emily shrugged. “I’m just telling you what happened.”
“All right,” Corbbmacc said slowly. “Let me just make sure I understand. You’re saying that Derek was someone that was traveling with Michael, going to this lake or whatever, right? And you told me before that Derek showed you the way out of the mines and had told you he’d died there, right?” He looked at her questioningly. Emily nodded.
“Okay,” he went on. “So he died and…what? You ended up here because you were…or will be…or…shit, this is hurting my head!”
“She’s ’ere,” Celine said, picking up the thread of his thoughts, “because Derek died, and she needed to take his place.”
“That doesn’t make any sense,” Corbbmacc insisted. “Even if this multiple life thing is real, you change lives when you die, right? You don’t get spontaneously picked up and dumped into another one, body and all.”
“I don’t know,” Emily said, rubbing her face. “I just don’t know.”
Michael let out a low hiss. It sounded like an angry cat, and the three of them merely stared at him for a moment. He was still looking at the window, but his teeth were bared and his eyes were wide.
On Celine’s shoulder, Rascal had stiffened, and his fur was all standing on end. His eyes, too, were fixed on the window, and a hiss that was the twin of Michael’s emerged from between his teeth.
“Michael?” Celine said, touching his arm, “What’s wrong, Michael?”
His eyes flicked to her face for a moment, moved to take in Rascal, then went back to the window. He hissed again. The sound made the hairs on the back of Emily’s neck rise.
“What is it, Michael?” Emily asked, sliding off the table and kneeling beside him. “Are you okay?”
He didn’t respond.
Emily took his hand, hardly aware of Corbbmacc getting up and picking his way through the clutter and across the room. Michael’s rough palm was warm and sweaty. He gripped her hand tightly, squeezing her fingers.
“Can you tell me what’s wrong?” she repeated. She followed his gaze and saw Corbbmacc clambering up onto a broken chair to look out of the high window.
For a long moment, Corbbmacc was totally motionless.
“Shit,” he said, and at first, there was no emotion in his tone whatsoever. “Shit shit shit…”
Emily got up and hurried toward him, weaving her way between the remains of broken furniture and the dusty corpses of ravaged books.
She reached him and, almost knocking him off the chair, climbed up beside him.
She stared at the world outside, painted in the same shades of gray that all of Hellsgate was—only now, that gray was broken by a sea of vibrant green.
Vegetation of all kinds had sprung up around the library. Thick tree limbs blocked the doors; thorny vines covered the dragon sculptures and clung to the walls, their tendrils swaying in the early morning air like vipers scenting prey.
The library was surrounded by a wall of living flora that quivered with unnatural life. The vivid colors of their leaves and flowers seemed far too bright against the dismal backdrop of Hellsgate’s abandoned streets.
She turned to Corbbmacc, and he stared back, looking grim.
“She’s coming,” he said. “If she’s done all this…” he gestured through the window at the greenery outside.
“She’s close,” Emily finished for him.
Chapter Thirty-Six
Corbbmacc leapt down from the chair and headed for the back wall, and Emily followed him. Celine was on her feet, coming toward them and dragging Michael along behind her. Rascal still sat upon her shoulder with his tail arched over his back, making him look something like an overgrown scorpion. His fur still stood on end, and his eyes did not shift their focus from the window.
Without warning, he sprang from Celine’s shoulder and flapped over to the sill, where he perched, surveying the world outside. He hissed again, and the sound warped into a furious yowl that seemed an echo of Emily’s own dismay.
“What is it, Em?” Celine asked.
“Marianne,” Emily said. Celine’s face went white as she fell into step beside them. There was no need to say more.
Corbbmacc ran along the back wall, glancing through open doors as they passed. Through them, they saw grim-faced men and women packing up their meager possessions.
“Garrett!” he shouted. “Where the devil are you?”
Emily became aware of the sound of Paige’s raised voice again only when Corbbmacc’s shout interrupted the argument Paige was having. Emily followed him through an open door and into Paige’s tiny office room.
Garrett and Paige were facing each other across the scarred expanse of the desk. Paige’s antennae were fully extended from the back of her neck, quivering in the air as though a fierce current had electrified them.
As they came bursting into the room, Garrett glanced toward them. Paige followed his gaze, and her fists clenched and unclenched spasmodically at her sides. Her face was blotchy, and some of her hair had come free of its ponytail and was plastered to her sweaty brow. Her fedora, usually so meticulously positioned on her head, now sat askew.
“Get out,” she snarled.
“Garrett,” Corbbmacc said, ignoring Paige and grabbing the big man’s shoulder, “we’ve got a problem.”
“I said, get out,” Paige repeated, forcing her voice back to an even keel. “All of you.”
“What is it?” Garrett asked.
“Marianne…she’s close. All the exits ar
e blocked.”
“Shit.” Garrett stared at his brother-in-law for a moment. “Are you sure, Corbb?”
“I’m sure. There are trees and vines and shit everywhere.”
Paige stood stunned for the space of a heartbeat, and then seemed to recover herself. She glared at Corbbmacc, swiping the renegade strands of hair from her eyes.
“I don’t know what game you’re playing, Corbbmacc…” she began.
“Jesus Christ!” Emily cried, slamming her palms down on Paige’s desk and leaning toward her as her patience finally snapped. “Get over yourself already. All you have to do is look out a fucking window, and you’ll know it’s true.”
Paige opened her mouth to retort, but apparently thought better of it. Instead, she swept past Emily and left the room.
Emily turned to Corbbmacc and Garrett.
“I take it there are no tunnels that lead under the library? Like the ones we used to get into the food stores?”
Corbbmacc shook his head. “I would’ve taken us in that way if there was. That’s one of the reasons the Brood uses buildings like the safe house and the library…it’s safer.”
“It also limits our options for retreat,” Garrett said, “which is something I’ve been warning Paige about for years.”
“She doesn’t listen to anyone, Garrett.”
Paige came back into the room with her hands clasped behind her back and her expression tightly controlled.
“Our conversation is over,” she told Garrett. “Please leave so I can finish packing.”
Corbbmacc wheeled on her.
“And what are you going to do with all those people out there who can’t fly? Are you going to leave them here to die while you and your flyer buddies head for Coalhaven? Just casualties of war in the name of the Brood, right?”
Paige’s expression changed as suddenly as if Corbbmacc had slapped her, and Emily saw what seemed to be genuine hurt in her eyes.
“Of course not,” Paige said. “We’ll carry them all to a safe location a few at a time until everyone’s out, and then we’ll head for Coalhaven on foot. I can’t believe you would think such a thing of me, Corbbmacc.”
“Really?” Corbbmacc snapped back. “You can’t believe…after everything…”
Garrett placed a hand on Corbbmacc’s shoulder, and his mouth snapped shut. There was a moment of silence.
“Remember who it was that came for you and your family when you were being taken to the mines,” Paige said very softly.
“We would appreciate it if you would take us as well,” Garrett said, gripping Corbbmacc’s shoulder tightly. “We can split up once we’re all out of the library.”
Paige’s gaze left Corbbmacc, and she studied Garrett for a long moment, as if she were weighing her words very carefully.
“I’m sorry, Garrett, but my people have to be my priority now. You made your choice, and I’ve made mine. There may not be enough time for us to get everyone out, let alone adding your group.” She turned toward the cot against the wall. “Please go, now. I have to hurry.”
“Yeh bitch,” Celine said very quietly.
Paige either hadn’t heard or pretended not to.
Garrett steered Corbbmacc toward the door without a word, and Emily, Celine, and Michael followed them out.
They walked back to the center of the main room in silence. Mona and Haake were waiting for them, each with a pack on their shoulders. Mona cradled Miraculum in her arms, and he stared up at his mother, reaching up and tugging on the collar of her tunic. All around them, the sounds of activity filled the empty space.
How much time did they have, Emily wondered. How close did Marianne need to be to exert that kind of control over the plant life?
“What the hell are we going to do, Garrett?” Corbbmacc fumed. “She’s just going to leave us here to fight and die. I can believe she’d do that to me, but to you?”
“I let her down,” Garrett said. “In her mind, there is no greater betrayal. No matter what my reasons might be, she only sees me as a traitor.”
“What’s going on?” Haake asked, his high, slightly reedy voice quavering.
“We’re trapped in here,” Corbbmacc raved. “And the woman who led us here has decided we can all just—”
“Enough, Corbb,” Mona snapped at him. She turned to Emily. “You tell us.”
“Marianne’s coming. Or maybe she’s here already,” Emily said. “She’s got her trees and things blocking all the ways in or out.”
From behind them, Paige’s voice rang out across the room.
“Everyone up to the roof. Now. Take whatever you’re carrying and leave the rest behind. Let’s go.”
Emily looked at Corbbmacc, and was surprised to find him looking back at her. In her mind’s eye, she saw the shapes of the buildings as they’d looked a few hours ago in the street outside. They’d reminded her of enormous predators, crouching in the dark and waiting to pounce.
“Let’s go up to the roof,” she said.
“Up to the roof? And then what?” Corbbmacc asked, his voice rising in tandem with his frustration. “Are you just going to sprout wings and carry us all to a magical island? Does your knowing do that too?”
“What are you thinking?” Mona asked, ignoring her brother and studying Emily speculatively.
“Nothing very specific,” Emily said. “We’d at least have the high ground up there. Maybe we can get across to the roof of another building.”
“I don’t know,” Garrett said, his eyes on his son. “Trying to get across is dangerous.”
“And there’s Michael,” Celine said, and she could not disguise the tremor in her own voice.
“More dangerous than staying here and waiting for Marianne and her men to find us?” Emily asked.
“She’s right,” Mona said. “It isn’t a great option, but it’s all we have.”
Garrett looked hard at his wife for a long moment, then nodded curtly and turned away.
“This way,” he said and led them through the debris toward a narrow staircase in the far corner.
* * *
Emily stood at the edge of the roof, looking down into the street below. Thickets of brush, trees, and limitless forms of flora surrounded the library on every side. The dragon statues were nearly entirely lost amidst the shiny green leaves that covered everything. The smell of jasmine was thick in the air, its sickly sweetness mixing with the stench of the city. She couldn’t decide which was worse.
The sight of all that green made her stomach clench, and a wave of cold despair swept over her. It seemed hopeless. Even if they could get away from the library, it was only a matter of time before Marianne or her guards caught up with them.
She looked eastward, studying the mountains where, she hoped, someone was waiting for them on the shore of a great lake.
But between them and that mythic body of water stood an enormous expanse of green, clinging to the mountainsides above Hellsgate. So much opportunity for Marianne to use her twisted power to catch up to them and keep them from finding any answers.
She let her gaze drop again to the greenery that had sprung up around the library and smiled bitterly. If Marianne could conjure trees that spontaneously sprang up from the pavement, it didn’t seem like it would matter if they blundered into a forest or not.
Behind her, she heard Paige issuing instructions, and then the buzz of insectile wings as a few of the flyers took to the air, carrying men and women in their arms.
“She isn’t all powerful, you know,” Garrett said at her shoulder, and she tore her eyes away from the green hell below to look into his face. She hadn’t heard him come up beside her, and she felt a faint stab of resentment that he could read her expression so effortlessly, while his was still a mystery to her.
“Isn’t she?”
“No. It takes a lot of energy for her to make something like this happen.” He gestured down at the wall of green beneath them. “She’s probably resting now, counting on this to keep us here for
a while. It would explain why she isn’t here already, anyway. The evil queen needs her beauty sleep.”
“It can’t take enough of a toll,” Emily said bitterly, thinking of the patch of white in Celine’s hair.
“Emily!”
She turned at the sound of Corbbmacc’s voice and saw him coming back onto the roof from the stairwell, lugging a huge wooden board that had apparently been a shelf.
She made her way over to him, giving Paige and her company a wide birth. She took an end of the shelf and helped him carry it across the roof.
“What are you doing with that?” Garrett asked, falling into step beside them.
“Bridge…maybe,” Corbbmacc grunted, and together, he and Emily lowered the shelf.
It was maybe ten feet long and a little more than a foot wide. Garrett’s gaze flicked back and forth between it and the gap between the library and the next building over doubtfully. If the shelf did bridge the distance, it would be a near thing.
“Corbb,” he said, “this does not look like a good idea to me.”
Corbbmacc shrugged. “If you have a better one, Garrett, spit it out. Short of jumping, this is the best thing I can think of.”
“If we’re going to do it, we need to do it now,” Emily said, breaking into the boys’ debate. “I think we have to try.”
She scanned the roof for the others and saw them standing in a small knot at the far end. Celine and Michael had stayed far back from the edge, and Rascal was winding around their ankles, mewing. Mona and Haake were deep in conversation. How in hell were they going to get them across? Celine was terrified of heights, and Michael—well, Michael was Michael.
“Help me with this, Garrett,” Corbbmacc said, and together, the two men began sliding the board out over the gap between buildings.
Emily started across to the others, nervously fingering the crystal in her pocket. All around her was the low murmur of hushed voices as the rest of the Brood awaited their turns to leave.
She felt an intense urge to kick Paige, who was deep in conversation with one of the other flyers, as she passed. Paige could have taken them. If Garrett was right about Marianne needing to rest, then surely there was time for them all to leave safely.
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