“So,” he sighed, finally letting go of Jo’s hand. He leaned back against the couch cushions, arms stretching along the back behind Jo’s shoulders as if the furniture was the only thing propping him up. “Who’s going to tell Takako?”
And, because even this alternate universe seemed just as willing to kick its immortal patrons in the ass as the real world had ever been, Takako chose that exact moment to walk into the common room.
“Tell me what?” Before anyone could say anything, the woman’s eyes were drawn from her team to the television. Jo watched as a sort of quiet horror overtook Takako’s face. It was only seconds later that Jo witnessed a person shatter.
Chapter 4
Stand Down, Soldier
“TAKAKO, WAIT!”
JO wasn’t sure exactly what she would say if the woman chose to listen to her plea and stop, but she still kept her pace behind her. In fact, the entire group from the common room had followed Takako into the hall the moment she’d turned on her heel.
In the end, Wayne had been the one to tell Takako what they knew about the destruction currently ravaging her home country. And, while Jo had anticipated a more emotional response, the way Takako had nearly sprinted in the direction of the briefing room hadn’t exactly been unexpected.
Jo had done the same thing once, when she’d first woken in the Society. When she’d been desperate for escape and would have given anything to return home. Takako’s desperation to affirm her perceived reality stemmed from a different source, but Jo recognized it all the same.
“There’s nothing you can do, Takako,” Eslar called uselessly from the back of the group. Takako seemed oblivious to the comment, possibly ignoring it. But if the expression on her face was anything to go by, she was lost in her own head. Even with a persistent pace, Jo felt like she was left frantically trying to keep up.
Luckily, Wayne seemed to have a longer stride than hers, quickly pulling himself around the group and in front of Takako. About a foot away from the front of the closed briefing room door, Wayne planted a hand into the hard line of Takako’s shoulder, forcing her to come to a sudden stop.
“What are you going to do?” he demanded, pushing hard enough that the woman had to take a step back for balance. Wayne looked almost unnaturally serious. “Whatcanyou do? Shoot the mountain?”
“Get out of my way,” Takako bit back, slapping Wayne’s hand away and attempting to walk around him. Wayne easily blocked her path.
“You’re being a dumbass,” Wayne huffed, standing his ground.
It seemed weird to hear Wayne curse, opting for something biting and incredibly modern instead of his usual colloquialisms. It made the tension thicker somehow, and as the two faced off, the rest of the group gathered behind them, waiting to see who would end the stalemate first.
For a moment, it looked like Wayne would win, but something in their silent exchange must have chipped away at his resolve. Jo couldn’t see Takako’s face from where she stood, but she could see Wayne’s, and as if a telepathic conversation had taken place, she watched the man’s expression fall and a sigh escape the downturned line of his lips.
Then, to everyone’s surprise, Wayne stepped aside, allowing Takako to wrench open the door and hurry into the briefing room. It was a move brought to an almost instantaneous halt, however, Takako’s form pausing barely a foot inside as Jo and the three men filed in around her.
Seated at the head of the table, as if he’d been waiting for them to arrive, was Snow.
Jo was momentarily stunned, reminded instantly of how long it had been since she’d seen him: at the end of their last wish a few weeks ago. But her last real interaction was when he had taken her through the Door, a night she might never forget. Both compounded together pulled forward lingering questions, and now certainly wasn’t the time to ask. Why had he shown her his magic? And what had he meant when he’d said “the truth about hers”?
He looked as ethereal as always, silver hair falling like moonlight over one of his eyes as he stared Takako down. It was neither the time nor place to be admiring Snow’s beauty, but Jo felt suddenly awkward in his presence. It was like being back in high school around Yuusuke for the first time—before they’d established themselves as purely just friends—but so much worse.
Another string of wordless dialogue later, Takako tensed without warning, startling Jo out of the distraction that always seemed to overcome her around Snow. When she redirected her full attention to the situation at hand, it was to find Takako glaring at Snow, poised and strung tight as if in anticipation of an attack.
“Let me out, Snow,” she said suddenly, voice low and harsh, practically a growl. Snow seemed unfazed.
“No,” he replied simply, getting to his feet with a casual air that didn’t fit with the strained and restless atmosphere at all. “There is nothing that can be done now and none of you should risk being tempted to spend your extra time unnecessarily.”
“I have to help them,” Takako grit out, hands tightening into fists at her side. Jo felt the pain in the woman’s voice tug on her own heart. “I have to save them. That’s what we do, isn’t it? Save people?”
“Sometimes,” Snow admitted, and Jo could practically taste the bitterness on the back of her tongue from everything left unsaid. Sure,sometimesthey saved people, but sometimes they didn’t. It depended on the wish. And even though Takako must have known that, Jo also had little doubt that, for Takako, making any desperate attempt to help her kin was the only conceivable action.
“Then let me go to them,” Takako tried again, not pleading, not demanding, but hopelessly lost somewhere between.
“No,” Snow repeated, holding his ground with an intimidating authority. If Jo didn’t know any better, she’d say the temperature in the room had dropped, a crackling energy shifting between the two like a magical standoff. Then, Snow added, “It will be torture for you to see them and be unable to help.”
“I won’t ask you again, Snow,” Takako said, tone hard. “Let me out.”
Snow stayed silent, but his answer was clear. He would not move.
Unfortunately, Takako’s response was clear as well. Suddenly, almost too quickly for Jo to see the transition, Takako was pulling a gun from the holster at her hip and pointing it in Snow’s direction.
