Total pages in book: 146
Estimated words: 144277 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 721(@200wpm)___ 577(@250wpm)___ 481(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 144277 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 721(@200wpm)___ 577(@250wpm)___ 481(@300wpm)
“I’m a scholar,” he’d said.
And I had laughed.
“It is funny?”
“Surprising. I never suspected you were an academic. What do you study?”
“The ancient ruins of the desert. The tunnels below the city. I collect artifacts. And we don’t even live in a tower.”
“We’ve gone rustic? Don’t tell me we’re living down-city?”
“No. We live under the city in the diggers’ camp. And our children run around barefoot and muddy. But they laugh a lot, Clara. And that’s the only thing that matters. We laugh a lot too. We don’t have any spark, except for the water pumps, and sometimes we crave the sunlight, but we’re happy. And there are cave rooms down there with holes in the ceiling where the sun shines through, where plants and trees grow, and the kids can run in the grass. And at night, when they’re all sleeping, sometimes we steal away to one of these open-topped caves and make love under the moonlight.”
My eyes swelled up with tears. Because it was a nice dream. A nice life. A nice future. And I was immediately sorry that we didn’t think of it sooner.
That we didn’t know better than to play a game with a god.
Because there’s no way to win.
We lose.
“Clara?” I pull back from the memory and find myself looking into Tyse’s glowing blue eyes. “Are ya OK?
I nod. But I’m not sure I am.
“Are ya mad at me?”
Am I mad? I’m not sure. On the one hand, I think I have a reason to be. He’s kept a lot from me. A lot. Especially for a man who holds loyalty and truth in such high esteem.
But I say, “No. I’m not mad. Thank you for telling me. But… you do understand that I can’t go on.”
“What do ya mean?”
“What do I mean?” I actually laugh. “I’m home, Tyse. In my own world. And Finn Scott is on the train line. This train line.” I point at the ground, realizing too late that we’re not actually on the train line, but he knows what I mean. “I have to find him. I have to—”
I never get to say the rest because there is a sudden gale of wind. A wind so strong, it sucks the breath right out of me. Suddenly I’m flying through… blackness? The night? The sky?
No. The ground.
I know this because I slam into it, a sharp pain shooting up my spine as I look up and see…
A face.
But not a face I know.
Or the face I’m looking for.
A stranger with glowing blue eyes. Not Tyse Saarinen.
He smiles, revealing crooked, yellowed teeth. “I got her!” And he laughs. Maniacally. “I got her!”
And that’s when I realize where I am.
Flat on the ground. Back in the tunnel. On the train line.
With a horde of blue-eyed augments staring down at me.
Then, something zaps me. Making my whole body shake.
After that, I’m gone.
17 - FINN
“Clara?” I lean in, trying to see better. “Is that her?” I look at Jasina and immediately want to take back the question.
She looks… devastated.
I laugh. “That’s stupid. Oh, my god.” Glance at the image on the glass plate. Scoff. “That’s not her. What the hell—”
“Oh, stop.”
“What? I’m seeing things.”
She points to the plate. “It sure looks like Clara to me. And there’s only one way to find out for sure.” She looks me dead in the eyes. “We’ll go check.”
She turns, and I turn with her, but that’s as far as we get because there is a man standing in the doorway watching us.
Jasina lets off a surprised squeal, taking a few steps back.
I pull her behind me, quickly assessing the man and who he might be. He’s tall, has neat hair. Neat clothes—a kind of black suit, though it’s a weird style I’ve never seen before. And he’s smiling at us. Like he’s amused.
“Hello,” I say, taking a step forward and extending my hand. Jasina is clutching the back of my shirt, but lets go when I move. “I’m sorry. We got lost.”
The man laughs. “Did you now?” His accent is strange. I can understand him just fine, but all the words are pronounced funny.
“We were… on the train. And got lost. Wrong stop.”
“Is that so?”
I’m not quite sure what to make of him. Is he unhappy that we’re here? “We didn’t mean to invade your office—if that’s what this is.” I pan a hand at the room. “We’ll be leaving now.”
I take another step, but he doesn’t move back. And he’s blocking the door, so… “Or… well… we can stay if you like.”
“I would,” he replies. “I think we have a lot to talk about.”
I want to confer with Jasina about this, but she’s not making any kind of move to come out from behind me. And she’s the kind of woman that would insert herself into the conversation without hesitation if she had something to say. So she obviously doesn’t.