That’s when the alarms went off.
The school doors burst open. Uniformed students piled out through a cloud of smoke. Girls screamed and boys shouted. The younger ones cried while the older ones hugged them. Sirens blared as fire trucks came to the rescue. Smoke seeped from windows, from vents. Law enforcement arrived just behind the firemen, and soon enough medics piled out of ambulances.
“You will end up where you are needed most.”
Okay. I got that part. But what good would my Shield do in such a crisis? This was a job for a Magnet, someone who could either control or douse a fire. Come on, lady. There must be some mistake. All I carried was a mirrorglass blade plus one paralyzing Calling. A lot of good that would do me in the case of a fire.
Hands shoved into my pockets, I turned on my heel.
And saw her.
The details still stand out to me now. Funny the things you remember, huh? Her light-gray sweater hung to her knees, and her brown hair was wrapped in one of those twisted mom-type styles at the back of her head. She approached the school steps, both hands covering her mouth.
I froze and stared. Squinted. Was it really her?
Closer, closer. Identity confirmed. A younger Elizabeth Ember. There was no mistaking it.
I looked left and right. She must have sensed me staring because she glanced over her shoulder and made brief eye contact. But her gaze didn’t remain. She didn’t know me. Had never seen me before in her life. Was this some sort of nightmare? Did the vial contain a hallucinogen?
A man who I assumed was a teacher or staff member passed Em’s mom. She touched his shoulder.
Everyone knows I have excellent hearing. Still, I moved closer to catch the full conversation.
“Please,” she begged. “Eliyana Ember. My daughter. I can’t find her.”
The man’s mouth turned down.
I hated him already.
With apologetic eyes he pointed her toward the gathering of firemen and paramedics, then moved on.
I nearly intervened at that point. The coward should’ve, at the very least, escorted her to someone who could have given her information. Where have all the men gone? For the love of sea salt, show some decency.
Elizabeth stopped another teacher, a woman this time, and then a fireman. I listened intently, desperate to know what had happened to Em but unsure what to do. It wasn’t real. I was watching a scene that had already taken place. Like a movie. Some memory of Em’s I was supposed to know for whatever reason.
But no one Elizabeth stopped helped her. No one. Was that it? Was that the end of the vision? No way. I couldn’t help it. Every fiber of me itched to talk to her. So, naturally, I did. I kept it casual, trying not to disturb the order of things. As much as it seemed like a dream, it felt completely real. I could walk, talk, jump, flex.
I found my place next to Elizabeth, keeping my head down and face turned away. She didn’t notice me at first, too distraught to see past her worry. “Your daughter is in there?” I asked.
Tears streaked her younger face. “She isn’t with her class.” She gestured toward a group of students in the park across the way. “No one has seen her. I don’t know what to do.”
“I’ll find her.” What else could I say? Dream or reality, I wouldn’t let Em die. I would always save her.
Always.
I started to walk away, but she grabbed my jacket sleeve. “Don’t you want to know what she looks like?”
I smiled but didn’t lift my head to face her. “I’ll find her.” Then I jogged up the school steps two at a time and entered the building. No one stopped me, too busy tending to the chaos. Smoke filled my lungs in a snap. I sprinted down the hall, my boot soles squeaking against the floor. My eyes watered. Sweat seeped from anywhere it could.
“Em?” I coughed and hacked, drew the collar of my shirt up over my mouth and nose. Inhaled again. “Eliyana.” Her given name sounded awkward, but for all I knew, she wouldn’t answer to Em yet.
I can’t pinpoint the moment it occurred to me. But sometime between finding myself standing before the school and calling her name, my intuition kicked in. My venture into the smoky halls wasn’t a dream. My encounter with Elizabeth happened in real time. Somehow I’d journeyed to the past, to New York. Two things occurred to me at once. One a question, the other a realization.
One, what was in the vial?
Two, I had to save Em. Again.
I jerked each classroom door open. Searched in supply closets and beneath desks. In the cafeteria. The auditorium. The gym. The heat and smoke pushed me back toward the exit. I continued on. I’d not crossed a single flame. The danger wasn’t too bad. I’d certainly faced worse.
Where would the future queen of the Second be? The place was abandoned, for crowe’s sake. I tugged on each locker. Shouted until my throat dried out. Maybe it was my inherent need to save her that drew me into the girls’ bathroom. Whatever it was, when I pushed the door inward and heard her crying, I knew Em’s sobs before I ever laid eyes on her.
“Hello?” I called through my shirt mask.
The crying ceased.
One corner of my mouth curved. I peeked beneath each stall. And there, in the one at the far end, waited two bare feet. I knocked.
She sniffed and sobbed again.
My heart twisted. “You okay in there?”
No answer.
“Hey, look, I mean no harm.” I winced at my empty words. As if she’d believe me. I knew what she’d gone through as a child. The bullying left a deeper scar than Gage’s bullet to her knee. What else could I say? “Your mom is looking for you.” C’mon, man, you can do better than that. “I can’t leave here without you.” Oh, very chivalrous. I sounded like a moron.
She opened the door but wouldn’t look up at me. At least a foot shorter than me, the girl couldn’t have been older than seven. But it was Em without question. Dark hair to her shoulders. Mirrormark covering the right half of her face. Her eyes looked different from those of the girl I’d fallen for. Same spirit, but way more fear. Too much fear.
“They took my shoes.” She swiped hard at her eyes, making them redder than they were before. “Then they shoved me in here and I fell in the toilet.” She speaks to the ground, bites her lower lip, and tucks a lock of hair behind her left ear.
Man, she was adorable. I wanted to comfort her, to tell her I would always save her and she’d never be alone. Instead, I reined in my heart and held out my hand.
She didn’t take it. Of course she didn’t. This was Em before. Em scared. Em afraid of everything.
“I can carry you.”
She shook her head. Hair fell into her eyes and she blew it away. “Can you just go get my mom? I really want my mom.”
“I promise I’ll take you to her. We can go right now.”
Another head shake. She backed away into the stall. “I just want my mom. Please, I need my mom.”
Her desperation made me want to punch whatever barnacle had made her so afraid. I had half a mind to pick her up and carry her over my shoulder like I did the night I saved her from the castle dungeons. I wouldn’t terrify her, though. But I couldn’t leave her there either. How to get through to her? The smoke grew thick, leached through the vents. She gagged and I choked. I blinked away the burn in my eyes.
To say I was at a loss can’t do the feeling justice. I was torn between acting and empathizing. I don’t believe in accidents. A random stranger gave me a vial of something that tasted like death. I didn’t end up next to a terrified mini Em. I was sent to her. What was it she said to me once? Something the younger Song sister had shared with her.