The Time Walker by Abigail Edwards

Author:Abigail Edwards [Edwards, Abigail]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2023-06-27T04:00:00+00:00

Chapter Twenty-Six

The Siberian Village of Tarkha / May 5th, 1910

Greyfoot is dreaming.

It is strange, firstly because he doesn’t usually dream. He typically blacks out at the end of the day and wakes from a coma in the morning, with nothing but dead sleep in the space between.

And he is back in Tarkha. That is the other strange bit.

He stands in the room that was once his grandfather’s apartment, and is now his brother’s property. There used to be two beds and a pile of quilts on the floor, but now a single bed stands in the corner, and Greyfoot’s things are missing, and the room looks dusty and unused. The fireplace is cold.

A figure stands before the window, blocking the pale gray light, staring down into the quiet street and turn a whalebone knife over and over in their hands—blade and grip, grip and blade.

“Do you know who I am?” There’s a rasp in the woman’s voice.

Floorboards squeal. A huge man stands behind him. Greyfoot feels the sheath against his leg, but it’s empty.

The woman turns. She towers over him; the room feels small. Her red-blond hair is pulled back tight and piled atop her head. Her face is hard and thin, weatherbeaten. A thick, ropy scar crawls across her cheek, from her ear to the edge of her nose. She looks him up and down. Her voice is low. “Answer me.”

There is something about her eyes that doesn’t feel human. Pale eyes—wolf eyes. See-through-your-soul and chill-you-to-the-bone eyes. “No,” he whispers.

She crosses her arms. “My name is Isabella. What about now?”

Maybe he isn’t dreaming. Maybe he is far away from Ally and Marjani and Deeps and Manuel, somewhere where they won’t find him and he can’t find his way back to them. With every second that passes, the dream solidifies into reality. A shiver runs through him.

“You may have heard of me as the Captain.” The woman pauses. “Right?” She says it softly, but it sounds like a threat.

Greyfoot nods.

“You have undoubtedly heard many stories about me. They’re all true. I’ve brought you here because I think you might be of use.” She looks back out the window. “I’ve been told you are the key to finding Nova.”

“Who told you that?” His throat is dry. “I don’t know her. I don’t know where she is.”

“Of course not. But you can bring me Ally Titania.”

“No.” Damn it Greyfoot, think before you jump.

She raises her chin and looks down her nose at him. “No?”

He swallows. “I…no.”

“I’ve seen twigs like you before,” she says. “Whisked away by a time traveler, and suddenly you’re a hero.”

“I’m not—”

She holds up her hand. He falls silent. The giant behind him shifts on his feet, and the floorboards creak beneath his weight. “You’re right. You’re not. You aren’t special. I can cut your throat and let you bleed out on your own bedroom floor and no one will miss you. I can have Tom Copper break your spine, and I’ll still eventually get what I want. It’s only a matter of time.

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