Q clenched his hands at his sides. “So you did lie to us.”
Raya held out her palm. “Even this knot is a lie. Manon didn’t turn into an Echo even after she kept her memories. This knot isn’t our bond to the train. It’s a leash to make sure we don’t stray from the train’s rules. Why should I believe anything you say, Rasmus? Nothing out of your mouth will ever convince me that the person I saw at the engine with my own two eyes wasn’t Jace.”
“The same two eyes that saw what the stowaway did to the gallery and what it was about to do to the engine,” Rasmus said. “The stowaway would have destroyed this entire train if Abbie hadn’t caught it in her web. Do you really believe that your brother is capable of that kind of destruction? Do you really think he’s a monster?”
“Jace isn’t a monster.” Raya’s voice faltered. “Maybe he’s just lost and scared. Maybe he’s just trying to ask for help but doesn’t know how. You told us yourself. The storm is heavy with sorrow because it’s absorbing the stowaway’s sadness. Monsters are evil, not sad. What if—”
“That’s a lot of maybes and what-ifs to wager the lives of everyone on this train,” Rasmus said. “Let’s look at the facts. Your brother is dead and the Elsewhere Express is a train for the living and their thoughts.”
“It’s also a place for second chances,” Raya said. “Or was that a lie too?”
“It’s the truth.” Rasmus jutted his chin. “The Elsewhere Express gives its passengers everything they need to find their place and purpose here.”
“I agree.” Raya nodded. “It gave Q his sight. And even if you’ve locked Manon behind a door, she still gets to live an eternity in the little heaven she’s made for herself with her husband’s ghost. But Isearched for my compartment unable to imagine what the Elsewhere Express could possibly give me. And then I saw Jace at the engine. He isn’t on a rampage, Rasmus. He’s here so that I can do what I was born to do. He’s here so that I can save him and set things right.”
A tiny bell rang. Rasmus jumped up from his chair. “We need to go, Q.”
“How do we trap the stowaway without Abbie?” Q said.
“I have another—” Rasmus glanced at Raya. “I’ll tell you outside.”
“Don’t do this, Rasmus,” Raya said. “Please, just hear me out.”
Rasmus pulled out a chair for Raya. “Be quick.”
Raya sat down, her heart racing. “Thank you. I—”
Abbie peeped from Rasmus’s pocket. Rasmus gave the spider a nod. Abbie jumped from his pocket and onto Raya’s shoulder.
“Abbie?” Raya said.
The spider swiftly spun a web around her and secured her to the chair.
“This is insane, Rasmus.” Q ran over to Raya. “Let her go.”
“Is that really what you want me to do?” Abbie leapt onto Rasmus’s shoulder. “Do you believe that the stowaway is her brother?”
“I—” Q shook his head. “I don’t know.”
“Then answer this question instead. Do you believe that whatever the stowaway is, it’s a danger to the train and must be stopped?”
Q drew a heavy breath. “Yes.”
“Rasmus lied to us, Q,” Raya said. “He’s lying now. Jace would never hurt anyone.”
“Raya will be safer if she stays here, Q.” Rasmus looked at Abbie. “Keep her bound.”
Abbie nodded and hopped off him and onto the desk.
“Let me go!” Raya tried to pull her arms free.
“I’m sorry. This is for your own good.” Rasmus buttoned up his jacket. “You let the stowaway go once. I can’t allow you to do it again.”
Raya strained against her silver bonds.
“You’ll only hurt yourself,” Rasmus said. “The only way you aregetting out of Abbie’s web is if she frees you. She won’t. Not until I tell her to. The only thing stronger than a spider’s web is its word.”
“We can’t just leave her like this,” Q said.
