They stayed to the darker shadows of the kiosks and the potted trees; Kris leading, Diana half a pace behind doing her best to mimic the other girl’s economical movements. Their path led down the center of the concourse until they neared the second set of stairs when Kris began to veer left. She tucked into the rectangular shadow of the last storefront before a side corridor and motioned for Diana to join her.
“Shoe stores are safe,” she whispered in answer to Diana’s silent question, her mouth close to the Keeper’s ear. “What’s gonna come out? They watch these stairs,” she continued, softening her esses. “It’s why we couldn’t use them. We have to get to that hall up there. Where the sign for the security office is.”
The sign was across the side corridor and four storefronts farther east.
“We used to come down through the store at the end there…” A quick jerk of Kris’ head, the motion felt rather than seen they were so close together, indicated the corridor. “…another big one, like ours, but lately it’s been locked at night. Good thing we didn’t fuckin’ risk it.”
“Because it’s night.”
The elfin captain patted Diana lightly on one cheek.“Can’t put nothing past you Keepers.”
Diana felt her face heat up under its mask of lipstick. The store locked at night could only mean reality had found another foothold, but she decided not to mention that at the risk of being thought obvious as well as dense. She watched as Kris dropped to her belly and inched forward toward the corridor along the angle of floor and wall. Was she supposed to follow?
Apparently not.
Just as she began to seriously consider dropping to her knees, Kris began to back up. Feet under her, into a crouch, standing…warm breath against Diana’s ear. She clenched her hands to keep from shivering.
“It’s clear. Move fast, don’t make any noise, and try to look as little like a person as you can.”
“What?”
“If they see you, you want to leave some doubt about what they’re seeing.”
That made sense. Although“look as little like a person as you can” didn’t. Not in any useful sort of a way.
“All right. Let’s…”
shunk kree, shunk kree
Kris slammed back against her as a line of light split the concourse.
He was coming from the west. From the same direction they had. He’d been behind them the whole time.
shunk kree, shunk kree
Unable to use the possibilities, even in the minimal way she had in the original mall, Diana was left feeling like she imagined Bystanders must feel all the time. Helpless. Angry. Vaguely pathetic. How did they manage? Kris’ back pressed hard against her, warm and comfortingly solid. It helped. The cold glass and dark store behind her didn’t.
Shoe store, she reminded herself as the light swept through the shadows under the stairs.What could possibly come out of a shoe store.
Actually, she could think of a few things.
None of them good.
All of them thelast thing she should be thinking about right now.
shunk kree, shunk kree
She was listening so hard to the sound of the security guard shuffling down the concourse that she didn’t hear the music start inside the shoe store. By the time she noticed, it had already reached the chorus.
These boots are made for walking…
And over the faint, tinny music, another sound. Heels. Rhythmically hitting cheap carpet.
Diana winced.That can’t possibly be good.
SIX
[Êàðòèíêà: img_4]
CLAIRE WATCHED DIANA follow Kris past the guard and almost instantly disappear into the shadows of the concourse. She should have been visible longer, even dressed like a department store ninja, but this was the Otherside and the usual rules of perspective and perception didn’t always apply. Their farewells had been short…
“Remember you’re only gathering information.”
“My Summons, Claire.”
“Just be careful!”
“Well, duh.”
…and now all she could do was wait. And gather what information she could from talking to Arthur’s scouts. And help secure this end of the mall against another attack. And find an exit that could show her what was happening outside because there might be something there she could use. And checkthe lock Diana had set during the battle. And lock any of the other storefronts the elves didn’t actually use; the damage had sounded extensive, but the travel agency could be up and running again at any time.
But mostly, wait.
For her little sister to return safely from enemy territory.
Claire envied the other Keepers—all the other Keepers—who had no siblings and would never know how it felt allowing the person who’d taken their first steps with chubby fingers wrapped around yours to walk blithely into danger when every instinct screamed,“Stay here where it’s safe. I’ll do it,” no matter who logic declared was the better choice for the job.
If something happened?
She had a brief, horrid vision of explaining the situation to their parents. Infinitely worse than trying to explain how she’d only turned her head for an instant and two-year-old Diana had eaten the entire tube of yellow poster paint.
And vomited it up on the white wool rug.
So nothingwould happen. Nothing bad. This was the Otherside; all she had to do was hold tight to that belief.
Holding tight, she returned to the fire and sank down on her cushion beside Arthur’s empty chair. First, she’d talk to the elves who’d raided the food court earlier in the evening. They’d have the most recent information about that end of the mall. Arthur would know who they were.
As though her thoughts had called him, he appeared, walking around the fire with the loose-limbed self-confidence of a young man who’d never been called geek, who’d never had a girl turn him down for a date, who was captain of both the football team and the debating club…Claire shook her head and rewound the thought. He was walking with the confidence of a young man wearing a huge, mythical sword strapped to his back. A huge, mythical sword he knew how to use.
“I have sent word to Bounce and Daniel that you wish to speak to them.” Arthur sank into his chair and flipped his hair back off his face. “They’ll be here shortly.”
“Are they out scavenging again?”
“No. They’re taking advantage of the darkness to…” He finished the sentence with an incomprehensible gesture.
“To?” Was he blushing? He was. The Immortal King had turned an uncomfortable looking shade of deep crimson. Suddenly, Claire got it. “Oh. To…” She repeated the gesture. “They’re being safe, right? I mean, these kids didn’t come from the best of backgrounds and you have no idea of what I’m talking about, do you?”
“They’re in no danger.”
“Okay.” Probably best to leave it at that. Feeling, well, old in the face of Arthur’s embarrassment, Claire searched for a less loaded topic. “So, the darkness—I’m a little surprised it’s lasted this long. Time’s been moving fairly quickly up until now.”
“The darkness last as long as the fire does.”
Were it not for the implications of that statement, his relief would have been amusing. Claire glanced down at her watch. The second hand lay motionless over the two.“Great.” Once Diana reached the area controlled by the dark forces, she’d be moving in a totally different time.At a totally different time? Prepositions just weren’t set up for this sort of thing.
According to her watch, Dean and Austin weren’t moving at all. On the bright side, that should keep them out of trouble.
*
Austin poked Dean’s rigid arm with a paw and snorted. Walking around the phone, he took a closer look at the watch on the wrist below the hand holding the receiver. Stopped.
“Fortunately,” he said, trotting to the end of the counter and leaping carefully down, “time waits for no cat.”