Love so alike, that none do slacken, none can die.
My hands shake as I set down the book. It feels too much like a sign. Like we’ve been dreaming about the same things.
We both know how this ends.Those were the last words I spoke to her. And now... now I’d do anything to take them back.
I fumble for a pen on Lyon’s desk. Turning the book sideways, I scribble a message in the margin:
We know how the story’ssupposedto end. But what if it doesn’t have to?
11
Through the Ley Lines
FLEUR
The light pulls me, a sharp tug to the belly, like someone yanking a leash around my waist until I’m flying. I’m everywhere and nowhere. I’m energy, yet powerless, my body moving backward so fast I can’t stop. Too fast to grab a root and hold on.
I pass over mountains and plains, through wind and water, under cities and towns. My life—people I’ve known, places I’ve lived, things I’ve done, lives I’ve lost—all of it flashes past like scenes through the window of a runaway train. The visions of my last life flicker and go dark again, the movement, the sheer speed of it, lulling me toward sleep.
Dreaming.
I must be dreaming.
Through the window of the train, I see Julio’s face. The sun-kissed crinkles around his eyes when he smiles. The way it falls as he catches me in his arms and I’m gone.
Then Jack. Always Jack.
The way he looks over his shoulder when he runs. As if he’s left something behind. Or he’s afraid to get too far ahead of me.
What do you want?
It’s a whisper in my ear, near enough to send a chill through me.
I turn from the window, expecting to see Jack sitting beside me.
Douglas Lausks smiles. There’s blood on his teeth.
The lightness in his eyes is at odds with the darkness lurking behind them. His mouth moves around Jack’s words, twisting them into something hopeless and hideous.
We both know how this ends, he croons.
A callous laugh rings out behind me. Denver sits in the next bench, his arm and the silver scythe on his sleeve swung casually over the seat back. Lixue leans on a stanchion, blocking the closest exit, her body swaying with the motion of the train. Across the aisle, Noelle watches Doug watching me. She turns away, heat flooding her cheeks.
I start at a loud thump. It vibrates the window at my back. I turn, confused. Jack clings to the side of the train, his face pressed to the glass. His fist beats against the window.
“This is the Red Line train to Shady Grove Station.” The voice through the overhead speaker is garbled, clipped by static. “This is a terminating station. This train will no longer be in service. All passengers must deboard at this time.”
Jack’s eyes open wide, his face contorted with fear, his shouts growing urgent as he pounds on the side of the train. Lights flash around him as we hurtle through the tunnel.
He presses his palm to the window, his breath fogging the glass.Our eyes meet through it. His mouth moves. One word. Over and over. “Run!”
Frost splinters over the glass. Crackles over the walls, crystallizes over the metal handrails. The air in the cabin becomes thin. Frigid and dry. Ragged breaths billow from my lips. I’m cold. So cold.
Doug, Denver, Lixue, and Noelle watch me with Winter-white eyes. Smazes curl around their necks. Weave between their ankles.
The train jerks to a stop, pitching me to the floor, my body screaming with the pain of the impact.
I turn back to the window. Jack’s gone.
