The badlands.
As they got closer to the desert, her eyes nervously scanned the ground for any movement, imagining the skulking shapes of darklings under every tree. But everything below seemed motionless, tiny and insignificant as they soared over it. She realized that they were moving much more quickly than the panther could even at full speed, taking leaps a hundred times as great as the giant cat’s.
Jonathan really was faster than the bullies.
He took her to one of the big water towers outside of town. They alighted on it, the city on one side, the black badlands on the other. It was flat on top, with a low guardrail around the edge.
“Okay, hand-rest time,” he said.
They let go of each other. Jessica was prepared this time, bending her knees as normal weight settled back onto her.
“Ow,” she said, rubbing her fingers. She realized that every muscle in her hand was sore. Jonathan stretched his own hand with a pained expression. “Oops, sorry. Didn’t mean to be all clingy.”
He laughed. “Better clingy than splatty.”
“Yeah, totally.” She stepped carefully to the edge of the tower, keeping one hand on the rail. As she looked down, her stomach did a back flip. “Okay, fear of heights still in working order.”
“Good,” Jonathan said. “I worry that one day I’ll forget that it’s not midnight and jump off a roof or something. Or I’ll forget what time it is and still be flying around when gravity comes back.”
Jessica turned toward him, put one hand on his shoulder, and the lightness returned. “Please don’t.”
She blushed and let go. Her voice had sounded so serious.
He smiled. “I won’t, Jessica. Really.”
“Call me Jess.”
“Sure. Jess.” His smile grew broader.
“Thanks for taking me flying.”
“You’re welcome.”
Jessica turned away shyly.
She heard a crunch. Jonathan was eating an apple.
“Want one?”
“Uh, that’s okay.”
“I’ve got four.”
She blinked. “Do you ever stop eating?”
Jonathan shrugged. “Like I said, I’ve got to eat my own body weight every day.”
“Really?”
“No. But flying makes me hungry.”
Jessica smiled and looked out over the town, feeling secure for the first time since last night’s “dream” had gone all wrong.
Her eyes followed a bird flying along the horizon, back-lit by the moon, which had just begun to set. She was so happy, still featherlight inside, that it took a moment for her stomach to sink.
The bird was moving.
“Jonathan, what’s wrong with this picture?”
He followed her gaze. “Oh, that. It’s just a flying slither.”
She nodded, swallowing. “I saw some last night.”
“That’s what Dess calls them, anyway,” Jonathan said. “Although ‘flying slither’ kind of sounds like a contradiction to me. But the winged ones and the crawly ones are the same creature. They change their shape, did you know?”
“Yeah, I know.” She remembered the kitty-shaped slither that had led her so far from home before turning into a snake. The flying slither was circling them slowly, its leathery wings transparent against the cold moon. “It’s creeping me out.”
“Don’t worry. Those things never bother anyone.” He reached into his shirt and pulled up a necklace of thick steel links. “And if that one decides to, I’ve got all thirty-nine links of Obstructively to protect us.”
Jessica shivered. “A slither bit me last night. Or whatever you’d call it. Tongued me.”
“Ouch. Were you messing with a nest or something?”
She looked at Jonathan sourly. “No, I wasn’t doing anything stupid. A bunch of them were helping the darkling hunt me. It snuck up on me in the grass and gave me this slither hickey.” She showed him the mark.
“Yuck. They are nasty little creatures. But it won’t bother us, I promise, Jess.”
“I hope not.” She hugged herself. Somehow it felt colder up here, as if the suspended desert wind blowing off the badlands had left a trace of itself. Jessica wished she had brought a sweatshirt.
Jonathan put a hand on her shoulder. The lightness returned, the feeling of safety and warmth. Her feet disconnected for a moment from the tower, as buoyant as a cork on water. She shivered again, but not with the cold this time.
“Jessica?” Jonathan said.
“Call me Jess, I said.”
“Jess!” His voice sounded wrong. He was staring the other way, toward the badlands outside of town. She followed his gaze.
A darkling was coming.
It wasn’t at all like the one from the night before. It shifted as it flew, muscles rippling as it transformed from one shape to another—first a snake, then a tiger, then a bird of prey, scales and fur and feathers all blurring together on its crawling skin, the huge wings beating with the sound of a flag whipping in the wind.
It could fly too, and quickly. It was headed straight toward them.
But Jonathan had seen lots of darklings before, Jessica reminded herself. He had been out in midnight hundreds of times. He was faster than the bullies.
She looked back at his face. Jonathan’s mouth had dropped open.
Jessica knew instantly that he’d never seen a darkling like this one.
14
12:00 A.M.
BEASTS OF PREY
Along with a flood of terror, a few morsels of Jessica’s daylong cram session trickled into her mind.
“Jonathan, this tower’s made of steel, isn’t it?”
He shook his head. “It’s not clean. Nothing this far out of town is.”
“Oh, right. So we…”
“Jump.”
They locked hands and stepped to the edge of the water tower. Jonathan placed one foot squarely on the guardrail and pulled lightly upward. They floated up to a precarious balance on the thin rail.
“One, two…”
Even though she was nearly weightless, Jessica’s sneakers were unsteady. She bent her knees as she and Jonathan slowly listed forward, seeing nothing below but the hard ground.
“… three.”
They pushed off, almost straight out from the tower. Jessica realized that Jonathan had meant it to work exactly this way. The scrubby earth zoomed by under them faster than ever, their momentum carrying them forward rather than up. They descended toward the ground quickly.
“That parking lot,” Jonathan said, pointing with his free hand. “Keep jumping, low and fast.”
The huge factory lot was perfect for landing. A few long trucks were crowded in the middle, but otherwise it was clear. As they arced down to it, Jess dared a glance over her shoulder. The darkling still pursued them.
They touched down on the asphalt and took one bounding step that carried them over the trucks and almost to the other end of the parking lot.
“This way,” Jonathan shouted as they flew, tugging her hand in the direction he intended. They jumped again, launching themselves toward an empty expanse of highway that led past the factory. Following Jonathan’s lead, Jessica kept their trajectory low. They didn’t want to waste effort soaring high into the sky. Only speed mattered.
They descended toward the highway, heading for a spot that was clear of cars. They were still well ahead of the darkling.
“Which way?” Jessica shouted.
“Down the highway!”
As they landed, Jonathan’s hand clenched, letting her know exactly when to push off again.
They took two more bounds down the highway, the four-lane width making it an easy target. They were moving fast. Jess glanced over her shoulder again; the darkling actually seemed to be falling behind.
But as the road led them farther into Bixby, it narrowed to two lanes, and more late-driving cars began to appear on it. Jonathan was hesitant with their jumps now as he frantically calculated how to come down in a clear spot.
Their leaps grew timid. They were moving slower and slower.