The Last Spell by J. A. White

Author:J. A. White
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Publisher: HarperCollins
Published: 2017-01-20T16:00:00+00:00

The doors of the train closed behind them with a sucking sound. It was warm inside the car, and stuffy, like a room whose windows have remained shut for an entire season. Lifting the lid off a trunk bolted into the wall, Kara found black jumpsuits and masks connected to metal canisters. According to the placard inside the lid, these were to be used only in the event of an emergency, in which case they would be forced to evacuate the train and traverse the Clinging Mist by foot.

Kara really hoped there wasn’t an emergency.

Though it was a fair assumption that someone was driving the train, they were its only passengers. Before they even had time to sit, the Swoop began to pull away and then jerked to a sudden halt. A loud screeching noise filled the car. Pressing her face against a long, soot-cornered window, Kara saw a metal wall in the process of closing behind them, sealing off the station from the infectious air. Once this was done, a second partition opened in front of them, and they pulled out into the darkness.

The ride was smooth, and it was difficult to tell how fast the Swoop was going, though Kara suspected that they were moving very fast indeed. Through swirling mists she saw the shapes of buildings, some abandoned, some cast in the bluish light of the glorb lamps that surrounded them like tiny moons. The track headed off into many directions and glowed in the darkness like a phosphorescent web.

“Except for the threat of horrible death just beyond these windows,” Lucas said, “this is actually kind of fun.”

He slid into the seat next to her and their hands brushed together. Kara felt her cheeks grow warm. Grace, sitting on the opposite bench, looked from Kara to Lucas and back again.

“Why don’t we go see what’s in the other cars, Taff?” Grace asked, her eyes remaining on Kara. She grinned in a knowing way.

“Really?” Taff asked, his voice flush with excitement. “You want to explore?”

“Oh yes,” Grace said in a perfect deadpan. “I live to explore. Make sure you ask a ton of questions, too. That will only make it better.”

Taff scrambled to his feet. Kara could still hear him talking as they moved to the next car: “So I think what we should do is start from the very end and then make our way back again. Do you want to count the windows? Also I really want to look underneath all the benches. I find that hidden spots usually hide the most interesting—”

The door between cars slammed shut.

“Do you trust her with Taff alone?” Lucas asked.

“She won’t hurt him,” Kara said, surprised by how certain she felt. “She likes Taff, in her way.”

“It just seems strange, after what you asked me to do,” Lucas said, referring to a request that Kara had made several nights ago when everyone else had been asleep. “It made me think that you didn’t trust her.”

“That was just a precaution,” Kara said.

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