“Yes, ma’am. I’ve already been aware of that.” Leah stood and saluted.
Lyra stood and saluted back. “There is one more thing I’d ask of you. In case anyone asks, tell them that I was rude and offensive to you.”
“Yes, ma’am.” Leah left the room and stepped out into the hallway. Before she’d entered Lyra’s office, the complex hadn’t felt like a safe haven, but she was surprised at how much less so it felt now.
THIRTY-FIVE
Warren woke in the middle of a forest instead of the underground passage. Confused, he stared around at the sunlight streaming through the emerald trees and bushes surrounding him. He clenched his right hand and found that it was still there, still made of metal, and it was still tight around the spear. Some things hadn’t changed.
Birds sang in the trees and fluttered from branch to branch. Somewhere off to the left a brook gurgled as it passed. The scent of pines and grass filled his nose, and he thought he smelled apples as well. His stomach rumbled at the apples. It had been over three long years since he’d had fresh fruit. The only apples that existed these days were in cans or dehydrated packages.
He realized the fiery pain in his side was gone. He decided to take hope in that. There was no way he’d gone numb to that, and no way the damage had healed on its own.
“Get up, Warren,” a familiar voice urged. “In this place, no one will try to harm you. This is a safe place.”
The ground vibrated slightly as someone walked toward him. Screwing down the fear that throbbed within him, Warren rolled over and got to his feet. He brought the spear up in both hands. The duster felt solid and impenetrable around him, hardly shifting except to conform to his movements.
A strange creature stood in front of Warren. It took a quick step back from the spear.
“I would appreciate it if you wouldn’t wave that in my direction,” the being said. “That’s a powerful weapon. If I’d had my choice, I would have left it behind. But it, like the coat that you wear, seems to have bonded with you.”
“Who are you?” Warren demanded.
The creature stood barely four feet tall. Slender and elfin, it didn’t look like a threat. That didn’t mean anything. Warren had seen demons no bigger than his little finger burrow into a man’s flesh to seek out his heart or his brain and kill him.
The being’s features looked mismatched, as if they’d been forced together instead of growing naturally. Its nose was a large oblong that dangled almost to its upper lip. The eyes were too small and pushed too far together. The mouth was a slash. Dark, curly hair framed the elliptical face with a chin so crooked it looked like a comma. More hair covered its bony legs. A yellow breechcloth fluttered in the gentle breeze.
“I am Thakelrot,” the being announced, and smiled hesitantly.
“That’s a name,” Warren said. “It doesn’t tell me who you are, what this place is, or how I got here.”
“You haven’t died and gone to some afterlife, if that’s what you’re thinking.”
“No.”
“You humans have interesting ideas about that.”
Warren stepped forward and thrust the spear to within inches of Thakelrot’s throat.
The little being held up his hands. “This is what I get for the kindness I’ve shown you? After I pulled you from that passageway to this place and healed your wounds?”
“If you’ve done all that, then you can tell me what I want to know.”
Thakelrot looked into Warren’s eyes. “You know me, Warren. You know my voice and you know this place.”
It took Warren a moment more, but he did know the being. “You’re the Book.”
A smile curved the slash of a mouth. “Yes.”
Warren lowered the spear but didn’t let down his guard. He looked around.
“You’ve been inside the book before,” Thakelrot said.
Warren had. “It didn’t look like this then.”
“The Book has many pages. You’ve not seen them all. No one has.”
“And you weren’t there.”
“I was. You just didn’t see me.”
Warren considered that. “You pulled me into the Book?”
“To save your life, yes.”
“What about Naomi and Lilith?”
“Naomi carries the Book. She saw me pull you into it. She couldn’t very well carry you. And now that I’ve finally managed to separate myself from Lilith, I don’t want to endure that again.”
“I can get back out?”
“Of course. I am not a jailer.”
Warren studied the homely face. All of his life, Warren had been lied to. His mother had lied to him first, followed by his stepfather, and continuing on through the foster homes and “friends” he’d made who leaned on him because he could be counted on to come up with his portion of the rent and utilities.
He couldn’t tell if the being in front of him was lying.
“I wanted to you to be safe,” Thakelrot said. “When you were knocked unconscious, they would have had no choice but to leave you behind.”
They could have stayed, Warren thought.
“They’re afraid. The passageway didn’t completely close as you’d hoped it would. The Gremlins dug through.”
“Will my companions get away?”
“Yes. There is time. You planned well.”
“I need to get back there.”
“Take a moment. The last time you were inside the Book you only saw one of the wars the demons have waged in the past. You can learn from this experience.”
Warren gazed around at the forest. “Where are we?”
“Inside the Book.”
“I meant, this place.”
“This is one of the worlds that the demons devoured. Better yet, this is a memory of that place. It no longer exists, but within the pages of this Book, this place can live on forever. At least, as long as the Book remains whole.”
Thakelrot walked down to the slow-moving brook. “Follow me.”
For a time, Warren walked in silence beside the small being. The beauty of the forest overwhelmed him. Before the invasion, he’d taken parks for granted. Then, once the Burn had started consuming London and it had become unsafe
