Believing seven impossible things before breakfast was pretty much standard operating procedure on the Otherside, but even in a place where reality depended on definition, some things were apparently too much.
Diana said none of this aloud. Had no intention of ever mentioning it.
The certainty of the mall elves that it could be done because they’d seen a hundred heroes and an equal number of villains do it, had created the passage. She had no intention of messing with that certainty. Certainly not while they still needed it to get home.
Only the full toilet paper dispensers in every stall and the lack of graffiti scratched into the pale green paint suggested this wasn’t the actual women’s washroom in the actual mall—another indication of how close the segue was to completion.
Kris opened the door just wide enough for the two of them to slip through. Moving quietly from shadow to shadow, they peered out into the deserted food court.
Diana’s nose twitched at the smell of freshly brewed coffee. She must have made a noise because Kris grinned and murmured, “Starbucks.”
“You mean an Otherside corruption of Starbucks.”
“Is that what I said? I mean an actual Starbucks.”
“Man…” Diana shook her head in reluctant admiration. “Those guys are moving in everywhere.”
* * *
Claire yawned, rubbed her eyes, and realized that the lights had come back on in the department store. The fire had gone out. She checked her watch; the second hand was revolving at significantly better than normal speed. Time had become relative again. When she glanced up, the fire pit was gone and one of the mall elves, a dark-haired petite girl who looked capable of precision kneecapping, was sweeping up the ashes. Jo, Claire remembered after a moment.
“You done with us, Keeper?”
Daniel was lounging back against the few remaining cushions, one long, denim-clad leg draped over Bounce’s lap. The other boy had his eyes closed, a glistening line of drool running from the corner of his mouth and down the side of his chin. They hadn’t been able to tell her much; only that the food in the food court was a lot less weird than it had been and as the food got more normal, the meat-minds patrolled more frequently.
“And at certain times of the day, there’s like a bazillion old people hanging around.”
“Are they eating?”
“Listen, much?” Daniel had snorted. “I said they were hanging around. Kind of dropped down from the ceiling like big old wrinkly spiders.”
“Are they dangerous?”
“Nah, just a big fat pain to get around.”
“Keeper?”
“Thanks, guys. I’m done.” A little sleep would be nice, Claire thought as she watched Daniel rouse his friend and the two of them disappeared into the depths of the store, but she couldn’t risk it. The first year she was on active duty, a Keeper had fallen asleep on the Otherside; fallen asleep and dreamed. He’d woken up at his old high school…naked. Fixing the resultant fallout had definitely been one for the history books. Chapter seven. Right after the Riel Rebellion. Some nice black-and-white pictures, too. They’d pulled all the copies from circulation, but Claire knew a couple members of the Lineage who’d kept personal copies, allegedly for research purposes.
Arthur touched her lightly on the shoulder as someone carried away his chair. “I must attend to the business of the realm. If you require me…”
“I should be guarding you.” Claire stood and smoothed down her skirt. “They could send an assassin.” It would cost them a lot, single travelers always paid a premium, but she didn’t doubt for a moment that if they could pay, the darkside wouldn’t hesitate. Kill Arthur; destroy the united defiance raised against them.
“They would kill the Immortal King?”
“Don’t get too attached to the label,” she told him acerbically. “Just because you never stay dead doesn’t change the fact that you die and kingdoms fall every time you’re removed from the equation.”
“I have doubled the guards on all points leading to this level and I will be careful. But if you have nothing better to do than to act as my nursemaid…” He bowed slightly, hair falling into his face and swept up as he straightened. “…then I will be honored by your company. Although I had thought you wanted to take a look outside.”
“I do.”
He smiled and waited. He had a way of waiting that reminded her of Austin.
“All right, I’ll go have a look out the nearest doors, but I want you surrounded at all times by your best.”
“My very best went with your sister.”
“Fine, your second best, then, until I get back. I’ll be as quick as I can. Sam, you coming?”
“Nope. Not even breathing hard.”
Claire stopped, and the orange cat bumped into the back of her calves. “What?”
“It’s just something Diana says.”
“Why am I not surprised?”
“If you actually want me to answer that, I’m going to need more information,” Sam pointed out as they began walking again.
The key locking the optical shop not only continued to hold but couldn’t be moved. Claire pushed against it with one finger, then with her entire hand, then sat back on her heels with a satisfied nod.
“So, what’s it worth to you to have me not tell Diana you were checking up on her work?”
She turned her head just enough to spear the orange cat with a disdainful gaze. “What’s it worth to you for me not to tell Diana you tried to blackmail me?”
Amber eyes blinked. “You’re assuming she’d care?”
“Good point.”
On the ‘better safe than sorry’ principle, she locked the rest of the stores along the short corridor. Once they defeated the darkside, she’d unlock them and give the elves access to the entire mall but, for now, the last
