Immortality by Dana Schwartz

Author:Dana Schwartz
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: St. Martin's Publishing Group

18

By the time Hazel Climbed the long set of stairs that led back to the streets of London, the first light of dawn was beginning to creep across the sky. She felt electrified, alive, her brain asking a thousand questions and reaching a thousand conclusions all at once. It was real, then. It was all real, and she was at the heart of it. She knew it hadn’t been a dream—everything that happened with Beecham last year—of course it wasn’t, but it had all been so wild and sudden and preposterous that Hazel never allowed herself to fully accept it.

But here she was. A secret society of immortals, the most famous academics and artists and philosophers in Europe. And they had invited Hazel to join their number. Sort of.

As she walked across the cobblestones glossy with rain—Did it rain while I was down there?—a familiar ache returned, the longing for Jack. If he were here, she would have been able to tell him everything. They would have been able to stay up all night, to walk every corner of this strange city together, loping through the alleys of London while they talked about everything that had happened. Who else could she tell? The problem with learning about immortality, the Tincture, was it made someone sound mad if they tried to describe it. Jack had been the only one Hazel had truly been her full self with. He was the only person with whom she could share every part of herself and who listened and accepted her with full understanding. He had seen her and he had loved her.

But then where is he? The nagging voice in the back of Hazel’s mind hissed cruelly. If he is alive, then why hasn’t he written in the months since he disappeared with a city, an address? Why hasn’t he come and found me? Even if Jack was alive, the truth was he was still gone, and so the ache remained.

She couldn’t return to her apartments: there was simply too much going on in her head to be contained by that small, simple room. The streets were still quiet, but if Hazel paid attention, she could feel London beginning to come to life around her. The smell of fresh-baked bread rose like steam from the windows of bakeries, and birds were tittering around the inky wet grass of the park. Hazel ignored the walking path and strode straight across the lawn itself, ignoring the way the mud and damp began to creep up the hem of her skirts.

She hadn’t even known where she was walking, but somehow as the sun was just beginning to crest the horizon, Hazel found herself at Kew, walking through the silent gardens and toward the infirmary.

The Palace was still fast asleep. Hazel gave a nod to a yawning guard and entered through the gate. It was a few steps down into the infirmary, and the temperature dropped several degrees as she entered. It was dark and cool as a cave, and the neat jars of herbs glittered on their shelves.

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