Emily stopped dead as a thought struck her. Why was she so determined to move forward with what the wizard apparently wanted her to do, anyway? The wizard was supposed to be trying to help these people—people who were more than happy to let her, and those who stood by her, die. If she continued, she’d be helping them. Were they really any better than Marianne when it came down to it?
Her gaze fell on Michael, and she remembered the Broodsman that had been executed at Seven Skies, and some of her temper cooled. They were not that bad, maybe, but good and evil weren’t black and white either. The world was always painted in shades of gray.
The thought made her feel oddly nostalgic for the comforting cool air of the ice rink. There, everything really was black and white. You always knew whose side you were on, which way to shoot the puck, and who your enemies were.
She resumed walking again, her eyes on the flat concrete blocks of the library’s roof. They were marred with footprints now, where men and women had trod back and forth through the ash. So many lives—each on its own separate path, each journeying onward toward its inevitable end. Had they all walked this world before? Would they walk it again? Or was it only a chosen few, like her and Derek—those who had the knowing—who were cursed to travel life’s roads again and again?
“What’s ’appenin’?” Celine asked as she reached her side.
“Garrett and Corbbmacc are trying to make a bridge so we can cross to the next building over.”
Emily’s heart sank a little as Celine’s eyes widened.
“Em…” Celine began, but her voice was only a whisper.
Emily put her arm around the smaller girl’s shoulders. “It’s the only way, Cel. I’ll be with you. You’ll be fine.”
Inspiration struck. “Think of it like walking across that gangplank off the boat, remember? I was terrified, but you went right over it without a second thought.”
“Yeh were scared?” Celine asked, a note of skepticism in her voice. “I didn’t think yeh were scared of nothin’ much. What were yeh scared of that for?”
“We were walking on a six inch beam over a roiling ocean that was…well…who knows how deep.”
“It’s water, Em. Yeh fall, yeh swim, an’ someone fishes yeh out. Yeh fall from ’ere…” She glanced toward the edge of the roof and let the sentence hang unfinished in the air between them.
“Just don’t fall, then,” Emily said, a small smile curving her lips. “You didn’t fall from the gangplank, and you’re not going to fall now.”
Celine closed her eyes, and Emily studied her face. Already, she could hardly remember the young, mischievous girl she had explored the apprentices’ tower with. She’d aged so much in such a short span of time. It was so unfair.
She saw Celine’s throat work as she swallowed hard, and then Celine opened her eyes. She met Emily’s gaze and nodded.
“It ain’t so much the fallin’ as the splat at the end,” she said, trying out a weak smile. “Yeh’ll be with me then?”
“Of course I will.”
Celine knelt and scooped up Rascal, coaxing him back onto her shoulder. Emily turned to the others. Mona was carrying Miraculum in a sling around her neck. The infant was happily staring up at his mother, a look of frank curiosity on his tiny face. Despite the mix of human and alien features, he was beautiful—strange, otherworldly, and even a little terrifying, but beautiful.
How marvelous it must be to be oblivious to the danger they were in, she mused. Ignorance was truly bliss.
“Are you two ready?” she asked.
“As we’re ever going to be, I guess,” Haake muttered. Mona adjusted Miraculum against her breast, and nodded.
Emily reached out, taking Celine’s and Michael’s hands in each of her own—his, large and rough—hers, small and warm.
Slowly, she led her little group across the roof to where Corbbmacc and Garrett were waiting.
It was time to get this show on the road.
Chapter Thirty-Seven
Emily contemplated the shelf. It spanned the distance between the two rooftops, but there were only a few inches to spare at either end. If the board shifted even slightly while someone was crossing, it would likely fall, plunging the victim down into the dense, murderous foliage below. The prospect was terrifying.
She looked back over her shoulder at the crowd of people who were going with Paige. Paige herself was standing alone, watching Emily and her companions impassively. She’d taken the time to restore her ponytail, and her fedora was once more in position, cocked back on her head.
A fresh surge of fury bubbled up inside her. Not even an offer to take them safely ten feet across to the other building, she thought. Garret was right; Paige’s decision had nothing to do with time. It had everything to do with her wounded pride. She wanted to punish them.
She felt Celine’s fingers tighten around her own, and she turned back to her friends, sending one last venomous look in Paige’s direction.
“I’m going to hold the board steady while the rest of you cross,” Garrett said. “I’ll go last. Also, I’m not idiot enough to go first.”
A ripple of nervous laughter ran through the little group, dying almost instantly. Silence fell for a long moment as they all stared at one another. No one moved.
At last, Emily extricated herself from Celine’s grip and stepped forward.
“I’ll go first,” she said. “I’ll hold the other end for everyone else.”
Corbbmacc looked as though he was about to say something, but Emily shook her head at him. The look on her face must have been more forbidding than she’d intended, because he blinked at her in surprise and took half a step back.
She was startled to see no further protestations rising to his lips. He trusted her. They were all trusting her, following her down this path. They believed she was doing the right thing by taking Michael into the mountains and had all left the relative safety of the Brood to stand by her. It was time that she wore the C like she never had for the Wolves. Casey had always been the natural choice for captain of the teams they’d been on, including when they’d played with the boys. She’d always known what to say and when to say it. Emily had always been too caught up in the trials and heartaches of her own life to fill that role. She wasn’t sure she even could fill that role, but she guessed she was going to have to try.
Slowly, she looked at each of them in turn. They were all staring at her expectantly. She saw no trace of doubt in any of their faces. If they were going to follow her, she owed it to them to lead.
She turned to Celine, whose face was set and drawn. Her lip quivered, and she was pointedly looking anywhere but at the makeshift bridge.
“I want you to come after me, okay? You can crawl along the beam and just keep your head up and your eyes on me.” Her gaze swept the others. “Everyone should crawl. Less chance of the board splintering if the weight is more widely distributed, and we’ll be able to move more quickly with a lower center of gravity.”
She stepped to the edge of the roof, knelt beside Garrett as he held the shelf by its corners, and began to crawl.
She moved slowly at first, testing the wood beneath her before committing to each motion. It was easier than she’d anticipated. Garrett held the board steady, and the shelf, while narrow, was strong enough to hold her weight.
Halfway across, she heard a rustle and creaking of wood, and she stopped. The sounds died away, and she was about to continue when she heard them again. They came from directly below her—little more than a whisper that disturbed the stillness of the streets.
Unable to help herself, she lay flat on her stomach and looked over the edge and down into the mass of green.
A single blue eye glared malevolently back from amidst the branches of a tree that had grown up against the side of the library. She could feel a wave of enmity emanating from its cold depths. The branches twitched, seeming to stretch toward her with hungry anticipation, though she was still well outside their reach. The tree’s high
est boughs were ten feet below her, but that distance seemed to be shrinking even as she watched.
The eye blinked, then vanished amidst the leaves.
Heart hammering in her chest, she got back to her hands and knees and finished crawling across.
When she was safely on the other rooftop, she looked back at the others.
“It’s growing,” she called, pointing down into the gap between the buildings. “We need to hurry.”
She positioned herself to crouch beside her end of the board, placing her palms firmly on its corners as Garrett was doing across from her.
“Come on, Cel,” she called.
Reluctantly, Celine removed Rascal from her shoulder and set him down at her feet. The kitsper looked back and forth between his mistress and Emily, almost seemed to shrug, then unfolded his wings and flapped across the space with graceful ease.
“Damn show off,” Celine muttered as Rascal landed neatly beside Emily, looking back across the bridge at the others.
Everything in his manner seemed to say, “What? What’s the big deal?” And for the first time, Emily realized she no longer felt revulsion when she looked at him. He was just part of their little band now. He certainly felt more like family than Haake did. The willowy man creeped her out slightly with his twitchy movements and quavering voice.
Celine dropped to her hands and knees, then started across, keeping her eyes firmly on Emily’s face.
By the time she was over, Celine was shaking uncontrollably. She sank to the rooftop and covered her eyes. Rascal came over to her, nuzzling her face with his nose and mewing softly.
“It’s okay, Celine. You did great.” Emily looked back at the others. Michael, apparently without coaxing, was already climbing onto the shelf, exhibiting that strange grace he’d shown when they’d climbed into the tree at Seven Skies.
He made his way steadily toward her until he had reached the halfway point, then he stopped and leaned over to one side, staring down at the tree beneath him.
Oh, fine, Emily thought, he’s going to freeze.
But Michael didn’t freeze. Instead, taking them all by surprise, he bared his teeth and spat into the leaves with obvious relish. The branches swayed, stirred into a frenzy, and tried to strike out at him, but the bridge and its traveler remained beyond their reach.
“Come on, Michael,” she said, feeling her heart start to speed up again.
Michael looked at her, nodded, then continued toward her with quick, sure movements. Within seconds, he was sitting beside her on the roof, looking no worse for wear.
“I’ll be damned,” Garrett said, as Emily watched Michael scoot across the concrete blocks to sit by Celine. He picked up Rascal and plopped him into his lap, scratching the creature between his wings. Rascal arched his back, and even from several feet away, Emily could hear him purring.
Corbbmacc and Mona crossed with relative ease. Neither of them seemed to suffer from a fear of heights. Miraculum lay motionless in his sling as if sensing the need to remain still as his mother made her way over the bridge.
Emily chanced a glance downward. There was no doubt that the tree was growing—and fast. The topmost branches were only four or five feet beneath them now. They swayed in the air, searching blindly for something to catch hold of.
“Hurry!” she called, and Haake came forward.
He reminded her even more of a spider as he crawled across the board with those strange, jerky motions and unnatural speed. He reached the roof and skittered off to stand beside Corbbmacc and Mona, wheezing heavily.
Now only Garrett remained.
“Be careful,” she told him as he stretched his arms, working out some of the stiffness from holding the board still. There would be no one to hold the far end for him.
Corbbmacc knelt down beside her, and together they held the shelf still as Garrett made his way toward them. He moved very slowly, careful not to jostle the far end.
As it turned out, holding the board steady was not the problem. Garrett was considerably bigger and heavier than any of the others, and as he made his way farther out over the void, the shelf began to bow under his weight.
Below, the rustle of the leaves and the creak of stretching branches drifted up to them as Marianne’s flora strained to reach the bridge.
“Hurry, Garrett,” Corbbmacc growled. The big man was almost two-thirds of the way across now…
And that was when the board snapped.
The crack rang out into the morning air like a gunshot, and the shelf folded.
Garrett let out a snarl and hurled himself forward, reaching for the edge of the roof. His fingers missed it by inches, and he started to fall.
There was a buzz above them, and a blurred form dove out of the sky toward Garrett. Emily and Corbbmacc staggered backward as Paige caught Garrett under his arms and hauled him upward. With a grunt of surprise, she was abruptly brought up short.
Emily crawled forward, looking down between the buildings.
One of the tree’s branches had curled around Garrett’s ankle, holding him fast. Twigs dug into his flesh, and the green leaves were suddenly spotted scarlet.
Paige’s wings beat harder as she fought to pull him loose. Garrett kicked out frantically, trying to free his leg from the tree’s grasp.
There was another terrible crack, and for a moment, Emily thought they’d managed to snap the branch.
Then Garrett let out a howl of pain. His leg seemed to have gained an extra knee halfway up his shin. It bent at a wholly unnatural angle, and the sight made Emily’s stomach turn over.
Paige twisted in the air and yanked with all her might. There was another snap as Garrett’s leg broke in a second place, but he was suddenly free, and Paige shot upward. Garrett dangled from her grasp like a broken marionette, and the effort of keeping them both in the air made cords stand out on her neck and arms. For one terrifying instant, Emily was sure Paige would simply drop him. He was far too heavy for her, surely.
With one last push, Paige swooped down toward them and all but flung Garrett onto the roof at their feet.
Garrett grunted as he hit the concrete and clutched his leg. A sliver of shiny white bone protruded out and over the top of his boot, and blood was soaking into the leather, dying it a brilliant crimson.
Paige hovered in the air for a moment, breathing hard and staring down at Garrett. It was impossible to read her expression. Then she turned and flew back to her people without a word.
Emily scrambled to Garrett’s side.
“Corbbmacc,” she said, “give me your shirt. We have to tie something around his leg to slow the bleeding … ”
She pulled the boot from Garrett’s foot, wincing at the sight of the bone, startlingly white amidst all that torn, scaly flesh.
She turned toward Corbbmacc, already reaching for his shirt, when she was shoved roughly aside by a pair of tiny hands. Caught off guard, she toppled onto the hard concrete, skinning her palms painfully.
Swearing, she sat back up again, and found herself nose to nose with Celine.
The girl was already reaching for Garrett’s leg, her hands trembling.
“No, Celine,” Emily said, slapping her hands away. “You can’t do that again.”
“I ’ave to, Em,” Celine said, reaching forward again.
“It’s not that bad,” Emily said. She grabbed Celine’s wrists and forced her hands away. “We can tie up the wound and stop the bleeding.”
“And then what?” Celine shouted. “Which of us is goin’ to carry ’is arse? Or are we just gonna leave ’im here for Marianne?”
She twisted out of Emily’s grip.
“It ain’t bad. It won’t take much. Not like Mona or Michael.”
Emily reached for Celine again, but Corbbmacc slipped his arms around her from behind and held her back.
“Let her do it,” he said, his voice strained. She could feel his breath on her ear, and his grip, while firm, was gentle. “It’s the only way we’re all getting out of here.
”
“You saw what happened last time,” Emily said, struggling to free herself. Corbbmacc’s arms tightened about her.
“There’s no time.”
All the fight went out of her as she watched Celine lay her hands on Garrett’s broken leg and close her eyes. Blood ran between her fingers, staining her pale skin a deep, dark red.
“No…” Emily whispered, and the word was drawn out into a long, sibilant moan.
The same soft glow flowed from Celine’s hands once more, only now it was muted beneath the gray light of day, and they contracted, clutching at Garrett’s leg. Emily saw the trembling as the power surged through her friend’s small body.
Garrett screamed. The sound echoed between the buildings and rolled out across the city like a clap of thunder. It seemed unspeakably horrible, issuing from the big man’s alien throat. Its rumble shook her very bones, filling the hollow places inside her with a deep, monstrous roar. Rascal’s frightened yowl joined it in discordant harmony, and Emily thought that the combined sound of their cries would surely haunt her dreams for the rest of her life.
There was a moment that stretched out for what seemed like an eternity, and then Celine let go of Garrett’s broken leg. She collapsed face down beside him on the roof, panting, her hands covering her eyes.
Emily pulled free of Corbbmacc, and he let her go. She went to Celine, tears blurring her vision.
“Celine?” she said, shaking the girl. “Celine, are you okay?”
Celine rolled over and looked up at her. Her face was wet with tears and as pale as death. Was it Emily’s imagination or had the white in her hair spread? She couldn’t be sure, and the uncertainty was worse than knowing.
“It’s a’right, Em,” Celine said, still breathing hard. “I’m a’right.”
She sat up, and Emily put an arm around her. Her tunic was nearly soaked through with sweat, and heat emanated from her in waves. Beneath her arm, Emily could feel the tremors that still racked Celine’s tortured frame.
“You can’t keep doing this, Celine,” she said.
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