“What does it feel like to you?” Raya said.
“An engine’s hum…” Q looked around the room, his eyes widening. “We aren’t lost.” His gaze fell on the blue-and-white teacups. Wisps of steam curled from their rims, neither rising nor falling. He touched the side of a cup. “It’s still hot.”
Raya picked up the second cup and flipped it over. Not a drop spilled. She set the cup down an inch from its saucer. It slid over the table and hopped back onto its little blue plate. “No wonder no one needs to operate the engine.”
“Because nothing changes,” Q said.
Raya stared at the black door. “And to keep the train running, passengers need to stay the same too.”
The scent of rain wafted through the room. Abbie crawled out of Q’s pocket, leapt to a wall, and began setting their trap.
The Archivist admired her work, rubbing her legs together.
“Well done, Abbie.” Q angled his head to see the nearly invisible web, making a mental note of its location to avoid getting stuck in it. “Thank you.”
Abbie scuttered back to his pocket.
The scent of rain and sadness weighed the air down.
“The stowaway’s close.” Q slipped behind a bookcase.
Raya joined him, glancing down at the crystal train tucked into her tote. “I really hope Rasmus is right about this train being strong enough to hold the stowaway.”
“It is.” Q refused to entertain any other possibility. If Rasmus’s faith in the little train was misplaced, they were all dead. It was their only way of getting the stowaway to the empty train car Rasmus was preparing to decouple. Assuming Lily received Rasmus’s message, she would be on the train’s rooftop waiting with him.
Lightning crackled. Q peeked out from the bookcase, holding his breath. A downpour broke, drenching the room. Abbie’s web held fast. A lone moth flitted past the bookcase, weaving its way through the rain. Q’s tether trembled.
A dark swarm burst into the engine and straight into Abbie’s web. They tried to free themselves, tearing off their wings and legs. A humanlike figure took shape amid the turmoil of wings. It opened its newly formed mouth and screeched.
“Now.” Q sprung from behind the bookcase.
Raya jumped out, clutching the crystal train. She closed her eyes and cocked an ear. “I’ve found the track.”
Soon, Q thought, this would all be over. The stowaway and the dark he had lived in would be cast off the train and forgotten. Tomorrow, he and Raya would wake up to an eternal day, each holding the time they had bought. Raya would use her purchases to find her way back home. He would use his to convince her to stay. The gallery had shown him what she wanted to return to and he could not bear the thought of barbed ghosts shredding her as they had torn his mother.
Moths fell away from the stowaway’s head.
“Oh god.” Raya staggered back. “It’s Jace.”
Raya
Raya’s whole body shook, her eyes locked on the mass of fluttering dark wings. “That’s my brother.”
Q jolted.“What? Where?”
“Don’t you see him?” Their tether twisted, tangling like the string of questions Raya saw in Q’s eyes. “He’s right there.”
“What are you talking about, Raya?”
“The stowaway is my brother. That’s his face.”
“What face?” The crease between Q’s eyes dug deeper.
“Hiraya.”Jace’s voice echoed in Raya’s head.
“Did you hear that?” Raya gasped. “It’s Jace.”
“Raya…” Q reached for her arm. “It didn’t say anything.”
