“Go,” Ava said. “You’ll know you the second we find anything.”
The nurse, Mary Ellen, forced me to put on a hospital gown, and then she started an IV.
“Seriously? At worst, I need an ACE bandage, not an IV. Why do I need a hospital gown?” It wasn’t wide enough for my shoulders, so no matter what I did, it wouldn’t close in the back. The nurse kept averting her eyes. “Can’t you just slap on a Band-Aid and send me on my way?”
“Don’t be so grumpy. Let us take care of you. The IV will keep you hydrated.” Mary Ellen slid the needle under my skin quickly and almost painlessly. “No eating or drinking. We need to keep your stomach clear, in case that’s a break, specifically a compound fracture, and requires surgery.”
“Surgery? I can’t have surgery. I don’t have time. I have to …” In that second, everything in the room softened around the edges. I forgot what I was mad about. “What did you just do?”
“I gave you a little something for the pain, and to calm you down. You’re rather … agitated.” She frowned and took a step back before leaving the room completely.
“Agitated? You haven’t seen agitated.” Panic couldn’t eclipse the meds rushing through my system. Drugs that strong could have the same numbing effect as alcohol. I wouldn’t be able to feel anyone’s emotions, not even my own.
Not Lily’s.
I struggled to sit up, to keep my eyes open, but the nurse must have given me enough of the painkiller to take down a horse.
I don’t know how, but that’s when the wall between Lily and me tumbled down.
I’d known we were connected, but the pain I felt now was so sharp I could’ve been in her skin. Every emotion was amplified. She was pissed off and scared and worried. The pissed-off part made me hopeful for one brief second, and then my muscles spasmed as if I’d been running for days. My stomach twisted in knots.
She wasn’t okay.
Fear. Desperation. Fear. Desperation.
I fought against both as I fell into a deep sleep.
Chapter 50
My eyes flew open.
Fear. Desperation.
Lily.
Her pain was coming from a clear direction, and it wasn’t just emotional.
The clock said 5:00. An hour before sunset. My left arm was wrapped in a half cast. I pulled the two IVs out of my hand and climbed out of bed. My legs were steady enough, and my headache had settled into a dull throb. My clothes were neatly folded inside a cabinet, and I put them on as quickly as possible, considering my injury. I couldn’t find my cell phone anywhere. Lily’s emotions were coming more steadily now, ripping me in half with anxiety.
I stuck my head out my door and looked to the right and the left, and then I took off for the stairs.
Once I made it to the street, I started running, holding my injured arm close to my chest. The hospital was only a few blocks from downtown proper. Barricades blocked all the through streets, and the sounds of music and laughter floated on the evening air.
I’d forgotten it was Halloween.
Deadline. The word took on a whole new meaning.
The crowd was thick with costumed ghosts and witches in pointy hats. Superheroes, villains, mummies, vampires, and werewolves filled the sidewalks and streets. The rush of emotions ranged from giddiness to disappointment, and combined with the remnants of my pain-med buzz, it all blocked out the clarity I’d felt coming from Lily ten minutes ago.
“Focus. Just focus.” I stopped to lean back against a tree and close my eyes. I recalled what it felt like when I kissed Lily, when I held her. It only made things worse. I’d be better served by remembering her fear, since that’s what she was feeling now. The night she saw her first rip, the one of the hanged man. And then the way she’d felt when we’d landed on the sidewalk after leaving Em and Mike behind.
I opened my eyes.
She was in the center of town.
I pushed my way through the crowd, trying to avoid the little kids. A pissed-off parent could hold me up, and I didn’t have any time to waste. I almost tripped over a little boy with white-blond hair. I reached out to put my hand on his head for balance, and hit a tree shoulder-first when he dissolved.
He’d saved me from entering into a full-blown rip.
I ran faster.
The main stage was set up right in front of the chamber of commerce, which meant the throng of people got even thicker as I got closer. I worked my way around to the far right side of the bandstand, finding an open stretch of ground in front of one huge speaker. Volunteers wearing bright orange pumpkin daze T-shirts walked in and out of the office building, carrying things like glow sticks and coolers of iced-down water bottles.
Lily was here, in the clock tower.
I felt her fear.
I couldn’t feel who was causing it.
Jack.
Chapter 51
I sneaked into the building behind a volunteer who was holding a tray of caramel apples, and immediately headed to the meeting area at the top of the clock tower, following Lily’s emotions. I flattened myself against the half wall that blocked the stairs and slid closer, listening. I could only see Jack.
“I’ll keep looking as long as you want.” Lily’s voice was raw. Relief still flooded through me at the sound of it. “But I don’t know what I’m looking for. Is there a certain size, any specific details? Can you give me anything? There are so many maps. Maybe if you could just give me the place of origin?”
Agony replaced my relief when the screams started. They became pleading sobs that faded into whimpers. Each one sent fury racing through my veins. If I wanted the chance to get her out of here, there was nothing I could do but ride it out.
Through it all, Jack remained statue still. He didn’t even have to move to inflict pain.
The most frightening enemy has weapons you can’t take away.
“Any other complaints?”
She didn’t speak. What memory had he shown her?
“Get it together and keep searching. I thought the first five times we went through this made that clear. Understood?”
“I understand,” she answered, her voice faint, broken. I was going to make him sorry he’d ever even looked at her. I scooted to the right just a bit, and Lily came into view.
Blood poured from a split in her lip, and a fresh bruise bloomed on her cheek. He’d put his hands on her, too. I had to breathe through my rage to keep the grip of my fingers from splintering the wood of the top stair.
Sitting with my back to the half wall, trembling, I tried to figure out a plan of attack. Killing Jack with one hand would be difficult. But not impossible.
“This is just sad.” Jack. Right beside me.
He was smiling.
“Too afraid to deal with me so you knocked me unconscious?” I sneered.
“Less about fear, more about convenience.” The smile got wider.
“Go to hell.” I stood and jumped the two steps left on the staircase. In a split second, he was at Lily’s side. Holding Poe’s duronium knife.
“How did you get that?” I asked. My stomach dropped. It was impossible to keep him from seeing the way her fear affected me. “It was you. You killed Dr. Turner.”
He didn’t answer directly. “How about we come to an agreement? Let your flavor of the week find what I want, and then I’ll decide if I feel like killing anyone today.”