Page 224 of Eight of Swords, Part Two

It could be a lie, but it doesn’t feel like one.

Kade faces the sign once more.

This time, when he moves closer, he says aloud, ‘I’m not leaving, I don’t want to leave, I just want to touch the sign.’

He keeps saying it over and over and although he aches from the fall and starts to feel incredibly thirsty, he makes it to the metal sign and touches it.

A crackle-snap of static bites his fingertip.

Kade stays where he is, scanning around, hand on the sign.

It’s not a sunny day, but if he strains his eyes, he sees that what light there is gleams vaguely iridescent, like the cascading, liquid structure of a…

‘Bubble.’

Kade looks up at the sky.

It shimmers faintly.

Oh God.

All this time.

All this fucking time.

‘Kade,’ Pete calls out. ‘We’re good to go.’

It’s hard to breathe.

The air is thin.

Dusty.

Only it’s not. It’s just his lungs tightening.

And it’s cold here too.

Icy fucking cold.

It hurts.

Only it doesn’t. It’s just his skin lying to him.

Kade turns away, unmoored.

‘Hey, so.’ Pete is waiting. ‘Where to?’

Kade wipes his eyes, a hand over his heart.

‘Home, please.’

✴

The journey home is quiet.

Pete doesn’t ask what Kade saw, and Kade doesn’t try to explain. He sits in the back of the SUV, watching Varrow City gather around him again.

The closer they get to the Tower, the easier it becomes to breathe.