She smiled at Rune’s surprise. “You saved my life, Princess. It now belongs to you.”
“No, kid. That’s not how—”
“I saw the hand,” Mad Naddy said, interrupting them. She ran her glowing fingers over the slingshot, then tossed it back to Roma. “Now it’s better than ever.”
While Roma admired the unbroken slingshot, the others gathered around Nadaline.
“You saw him?” Rune asked. “Where is he?”
“Is he calling the dead?” Blue asked, her hand on the hilt of her holstered blade. “We don’t have a lot of time.”
“Take us to him,” Z said.
“Wait.” Nadaline held up her hand. “The hand has no idea what she is. She ran from me.”
“She? It wasn’t the hand then,” Z said.
“There’s never been a female hand,” Blue explained to Rune. “Hands are male.”
“Not this time,” Nadaline told them. “She is the hand, and she’s terrified. We’ll have to surround her. I know where she’s hiding.”
But she didn’t look hopeful.
Rune tilted her head at the sound of approaching soldiers. “The legislators are near. We don’t have time to coddle a scared hand. Take me to her.”
Nadaline didn’t move.
“Nadaline.” Z’s voice was sharp. “What aren’t you telling us?”
“She’s a little girl,” Nadaline said. “A child with the face of death.”
“Fuck me.” Rune threw her head back and took a deep breath. “I know her. I brought her here with me.”
“Rune,” Z said. “What?”
“It’s Fie.” Rune closed her eyes for a long second as relief flooded through her. “Of course it’s Fie. And it makes perfect sense.”
There was no recognition in Z’s eyes.
Rune didn’t have time to jog his memory. “Take me to her, Nadaline,” she demanded. “Now.”
Roma lowered her slingshot and stepped toward Nadaline. “Do it,” she said, her voice low, “or die.”
“Whoa,” Blue said, moving to stand beside Nadaline. “The legislators messed you up, so I’m going to let that pass.” She lifted her blades, slowly. “Threaten her again and you’ll be the one to die.”
Roma stared at Blue, her eyes narrowed, caressing her slingshot.
“We cool?” Blue asked.
Rune ignored the two women and jogged away with Z at her side. “Nadaline. Show me.”
They ran for ten minutes before Nadaline stopped them.
“There.” She pointed at a stone building a few feet in front of them. “She went in there.”
Rune nodded. “I hear her.”
Fie was sobbing quietly.
Rune thought the child had been spirited off by supporters, but she’d been wrong. Fie was alone, and she was terrified.
She loped toward the building, her stomach tight. “Fie. I’m here, honey.”
The crying stopped immediately.
“Fie?” Rune ran through the doorway, hesitating as her eyes became adjusted to the gloominess of the room.
And the coldness.
In her Wormwood there was an identical building to that one, but it felt different. The one in which she stood had dark shadows that moved. The air was thick and sluggish and lay over Rune’s nose and mouth like a heavy hand.
And it was cold. Freezing cold.
“Shit,” Rune muttered. Then, “Fie?”
And finally, a tiny, sweet voice answered. “Rune…”
“Yes, sweetheart. I’m sorry I lost you. Come to me and I’ll get you out of here.”
Rune squinted and stared, but not even her sharp vision could penetrate the darkness.
“I’m scared of the bad lady.”
Rune shuddered. “I won’t let anyone hurt you, baby.”
She didn’t want to ask who the bad lady was.
A darker shadow disentangled itself from the others and the little girl walked toward Rune.
The bones of her face shone like pearls in the blackness, and the shadows danced and swayed around her, parting for her like black water.
Rune’s dizziness intensified, but the shadows held her up, black fog in a cold, cold room. “Fie,” she said, or thought she did.
She thought she heard Z yelling her name, but his voice was dim and unreal. As though he were in a different room.
No.
A different world.
“Fie?” she whispered.
But that time she got no answer, and she didn’t expect one.
Fie wasn’t in the room.
Damascus was.
Chapter Nine
“Rune,” the witch said.
“Get away from me.” Rune meant to scream the words, but they came out in a hoarse whispered.
“This is my world, darling. You can’t defeat me, but you can join me. I’ll be waiting. Call for me when you’re ready. I’m here.”
She was wispy as smoke and her features were unclear, masked by the shadows and fog from which she’d formed.
“I’m here.” She lifted milky fingers and touched Rune’s face, and Rune was too frozen to move. Too frozen to try to cut the witch.
But she knew if she tried, she’d cut only air.
“Fie,” she wheezed. “What have you done with her?”