The Princess Electric (The Rememberist Saga Book 1) by Derek Silver

Author:Derek Silver [Silver, Derek]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Fusionpunk Press
Published: 2021-02-19T16:00:00+00:00

Part C

Into Dememtia

“Dining on memories is the most rapturous of feasts.”

- Queen Zamelerish, Architect of Forgetting

16/ The Accountant

Don’t panic.

Violet couldn’t breathe. An invisible pressure fell over her, as if she were at the bottom of a pile-on. Wavering light filled her vision. She pushed forward through the gelatinous morass of the portal. A desire to kick to the surface overwhelmed her, even though she was standing on some form of ground. She moved her hands, trying to part the jelly-like substance, tried to walk faster instead of a slow-motion crawl. Black spots danced along her eyes. She needed to breathe.

Then she punched through whatever had been holding her and she fell. Hit the ground; rolled and splayed. She sucked air in ravenous gulps. Coughed. After a few deep breaths, the sharpness of her senses came flooding back. She stood up, the asphalted ground cold and dirty and littered with trash. It was night, and dark walls of brick rose high on either side of her. She could smell rotting vegetables. Urine. Garbage dumpsters lined the alley she found herself in.

Violet turned around to look for the Rememberists who had already crossed over when someone grabbed her shoulder and flung her backward. She crunched against the wall.

“Stay back and hang in the shadows.” It was Morgan’s voice, calm and direct. “Don’t move until we pinpoint our location and assess risk.”

The t-gate she had come through hung in the air a few feet above the ground, its surface matching the tumult of the mirror from the portal room, including the gaudy, gold leaf covered frame. From her angle, Violet could see that the portal was paper-thin. Fog wisped along its surface, waterfalling and trailing over the ground.

“You all right?” Declan asked. He stood beside Morgan, looking up into the night sky. Glitter filtered downward in tiny sparks of static.

“Fine,” Violet said, trying to regulate her breathing. Before she could say anything else, Cheshire jumped from the mirror, landing cat-like. He looked around, seemingly assessing the area. Once he saw the rest of the group along the wall, he joined them. Cheshire looked at Violet, spying the accelerated rise and fall of her chest. He smiled. “You forgot to breathe didn’t you?”

“Obviously.” She shook her head, frustrated with herself for not listening. Learning to breathe while walking through Jell-O might take some getting used to.

“Don’t worry,” he comforted, “you’ll be a pro after a few more T-gate jumps.”

Dillinger jumped out of the portal next, his guns drawn and held out to the side. He quickly scanned the area. Holstering his pistols, he made his way to the group. “We’re good?”

“Yeah,” Morgan said. He placed his hand against the earphone. “We’re clear. Disengage the portal.”

A moment later the hum surrounding the portal intensified. The surface frothed; then the frame began to origami-twist, bending and folding in on itself until it became smaller and smaller. It disappeared with a puff of smoke.

“Did Melody drop us where we need to be?” Dillinger looked down to the mouth of the alley.

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