He hands me a fitted long-sleeve shirt, but unlike the jersey, it’s definitely a woman’s shirt.
“Whose shirt is this?” I ask, failing to sound casual.
One minute I am threatening the dude and the next I am jealous of a phantom girl’s spare shirt.
“It belongs to Grace.”
I hate Grace the minute her name crosses his lips. What? You don’t even know Grace! Argh!
“Who’s Grace, your girlfriend?”
I can’t hide the acid in my voice. Damn this stranger and the effect he has on me.
“No.”
“Okay, and where is this Grace? Wait, you didn’t kill her, did you?”
“No, I didn’t. She was in her room. She should be out soon—she’s in Paris checking on a few things.”
“She’s in her room but she’s also in Paris? Let me guess, she has a portal in her room?” I joke.
“Good guess, but no, she is the portal. She has the ability to create portals to other places. That and speed. She can run faster than well…anything or anyone. Like I said, I am not the one to answer your questions. Sorry.”
“Oh, okay. Yeah, that makes total sense.”
Totally going to the looney bin. Maybe I am already dead. Oh god.
“Am I dead?”
“I would hope not,” he says with a laugh.
I can’t breathe all of a sudden. Everything is just pressing down on me, and I feel like someone is sitting on my chest and the floor reminds me of those sit and spin teacups at the fair. Has it always been spinning?
He studies me.
“What’s wrong?” he asks, deeply concerned.
“This is all…”
I shake my head but don’t say anything else. What could I say to explain any of this?
I blink and the spinning stops. Isn’t this what I’ve always wanted? To land in the middle of something that feels like one of my books? It’s why I didn’t want to leave New York, and here it is happening, right here in Tiny Town, and I’m reacting like those stereotypical chosen one characters I’ve always hated. It’s time to swallow down all of the panic and just roll with it.
“Look, I’m also not the ‘cheer you up’ guy. That’s Melody’s role. She’s good at that shit. She’ll hold your hand and all that crap. I’m more of—”
“Yeah, I know. You’re the ‘kill’ guy,” I reply, smiling despite myself.
“Yeah.” He shrugs, like being the kill guy is normal.
“Fine, where can I go change?”
“Down the hall. Now, can I ask you a question?” he says.
“I guess.”
“Why isn’t this whole thing freaking you out?” he says, studying me.
“It is. Trust me.”
“Yeah, but not like it should be.”
His eyes narrow on me, questions swimming in their depths. Even when they were hardened earlier, there was a softness to them. A kindness. I must be concealing my panic on the outside well, because on the inside I feel like the floor could fall out from under me at any second. Except, deep down, I don’t. I’ve always felt like this kind of thing would happen to me. My dad used to say I had an overactive imagination when I would tell him about the adventures I’d find myself in in my head. But maybe I didn’t. I was just preparing myself for whatever this is.
“I guess I’ve seen things far worse than what I saw today,” I say.
I’m not about to start babbling about how I’ve always hoped something like this would happen to me. I mean, this could turn out to be a be-careful-what-you-wish-for kind of thing yet.
“Like what?” he asks, his eyes filling with concern.
“You’re the kill guy, remember? Not the question guy.”
He nods, breaking the eye contact between us. It’s as if he caught himself caring and had to make himself stop. He steps back, clearing his throat, and when he speaks again, he sounds more official, more like he did when he was trying to get me back in out of the rain.
“The others should be back soon. They’ll have the answers you want.”
“I’m guessing like the lady in the forest, you know my name. So, what’s yours?” I ask.
“Rye.”
“Rye, thanks for saving me from that thing.”
“It’s a called a Slip Demon. And you’re welcome,” he says, actively avoiding eye contact with me.
I’m not even going to bother asking him to elaborate. What’s the point? Instead I start for the room at the end of the hall, passing the recreation room. It’s the one I came out of, the one with just a bed. All of this is just too much. I need to get out of this jersey and into these clean clothes. I also need to get away from Rye, because he’s sexy and mysterious, and where I come from that combination is dangerous.
“Hey, Wonder Woman,” he calls out just before I close the door.
“Yeah?”
“You threw yourself between the woman and the demon, knowing it could mean your death. Why? Why would you die for a stranger?”
“She had kind eyes; like you.”
I didn’t mean to be so honest but the words flew out before I could stop them. And as I look over at Rye, he is now the one filled with questions. He’s about to ask but thinks better of it and stays silent.
“I’ve watched a house disappear and a blazing portal fade away. When I am done changing, will you be here or fade away too?”
“I’ll be right here. Promise,” he says, his voice soft yet certain.
Given everything that’s happened his words shouldn’t carry weight with me but they do. In fact, looking into his eyes, I am all but certain he is telling the truth. I lock the door behind me and close my eyes.
I see the Slip Demon and the blood gush out of the woman next to me in the forest. I should be terrified but I’m not. Instead what I feel is excitement and anticipation as the
