strands plastered to her forehead and her neck, like she’d been out in the wet for a long time instead of just a few seconds.
“I just meant that you got back here quicker than I expected.”
“I know a shortcut.” Moonlight caught the silver locket at her neck. “I used to come out here a lot.”
Ash waited for her to say more, and, when she didn’t, he crossed the dock, hesitantly. His skin felt alive. Was it out of the question to reach for her? He didn’t know. She seemed so different than she had the night before, at the masquerade.
He rested his hands on the wooden banister just beside her, close enough that his thumb grazed her hip. He could feel the heat radiating off her body. It made it hard for him to think. He couldn’t remember what he’d wanted to talk to her about.
“I looked for you this morning,” he said, and something dark passed over her face.
“You looked for Dorothy,” she said. “I’m not Dorothy anymore.”
He frowned. Is that what she thought? “A new name doesn’t make you a new person.”
“It’s not just the new name, though, is it?”
“You mean . . .” He brought his hand to the scar that cut across her face, but she inhaled, sharp, before he could touch her. He froze, fingers hovering above her skin. “Is this . . . okay?”
She closed her eyes and was quiet, dark lashes trembling against her pale skin. “Yes.”
He lowered his hand to her scar. Every nerve in his palm flared so that all he felt was spark and heat, and it was a long moment before his fingers processed the texture of her skin. He didn’t know what he’d expected. The scar looked like it would be rough to the touch, but it was soft and warm and familiar. It was her.
She’d been holding herself stiffly but, the moment he touched her, she released a breath that was almost a sigh and seemed to melt into him. “Ash.”
Ash lowered his forehead to hers. Her damp hair stuck to his skin, and he could feel the shape of her locket press into his chest. He was instantly transported back to the Dark Star, to the first time he’d touched her, the first time he’d kissed her. Had it really been only three weeks ago?
No. Not for her. Dorothy had lived a year between that moment and this one. The realization opened up a deep hole inside of him. Because of him, she’d spent a year here, alone.
“Come back with me.” Ash hadn’t realized what he was going to say until the words were already out of his mouth. “Please, you don’t belong here.”
“I wish I could.” She pressed a hand to his chest, frowning. “But that’s not why I came. There’s something I need to ask you.”
“Can it wait?” he murmured into her hair. She still smelled the same, like soap and lilies. How was that possible?
“It’s important. I need you to think back. Did the Professor ever mention Nikola Tesla?”
The words were so strange that Ash frowned and leaned away from her, caught off guard. “What?”
“The Professor was doing experiments with Nikola Tesla.” Dorothy cast an anxious glance at the door behind Ash and then shifted her gaze back to his face. “Did he ever say anything about that to you? Anything at all?”
“I don’t think so.” Ash frowned. “What—”
Dorothy cut him off. “They would’ve had to do with traveling through time without a vessel. Does that sound familiar?”
It didn’t. Ash scratched the back of his neck. “It isn’t possible to travel through time without a vessel. A few people tried, back before the Professor built his time machines, but the anil is too volatile, and they were all badly injured.”
“Yes, but the Professor went on experimenting with it, to see whether he could find a way.” Dorothy fiddled with the locket hanging from her neck, her fingers anxious. “Think. Maybe he wrote something in that journal of his? Have you read the whole thing?”
Ash was already shaking his head when he remembered the ragged edges he’d found poking out of the binding. “Wait a minute,” he said, almost to himself. “There were entries missing. I don’t know where they went, but—”
He was interrupted by the sound of wood creaking, a footstep on the other side of the door, and he shifted into the shadows, his skin humming. A second later the back door swung open and the bartender walked onto the docks. She