I took her hand and, as we walked from the cemetery, I didn’t glance back at his grave.
Dancer wasn’t there.
I know a funny thing about eyes. Where you let them look is where they take you.
Look back and you stay stuck in a lost, forever unattainable past.
Look forward and you live.
DANI
When I arrived at Kilmainham Gaol people were having another party or something. There were a few hundred people milling around the portal to Planet X. I glanced around, trying to fathom what was going on. Surely they hadn’t all come out to see me off?
Jack and Rainey came rushing over the minute I got there. Rainey smothered me in a big mom hug and petted my hair and generally fussed over me so thoroughly I just stood there looking at her because none of the things I felt like doing or saying were socially appropriate.
“I’m so glad to see you up and about, Dani,” she exclaimed, pressing a kiss to my cheek. “We were so worried!”
I shot a look at Mac and she gave me one back, and damned if I didn’t hear her voice in my head. I didn’t tell them and never will. But I suspect Alina did. Nobody blames you and everyone loves you. Deal.
What the hell? Was everyone going to get the power of telepathy but me?
I scowled at her and ignored her for a while.
Then Enyo, Kat, and a cluster of sidhe-seers were milling around me, all talking at once, and it was overwhelming to my Mega ears, but I moved into the cluster, greeting each in turn, assessing Kat, startled to realize how different she was. Enyo on my right, Kat on my left. It felt right, us as a team, and as I searched their faces I knew they were feeling it, too. Mac didn’t know how to sing the walls back up between our worlds. It might take her a long time to figure it out. Sidhe-seers were critical. The three of us would find our places among them, and help the others find theirs.
Christian joined me briefly, iridescent eyes glittering. Told me he’d be keeping an eye on me so if I saw him sometimes hanging around, not to worry. He’d be nearby if I ever needed help.
Ryodan, Kasteo, Fade, and Barrons were standing apart, near the portal. I spotted Lor in the crowd, but he seemed to be keeping a distance from me and Mac.
But once she’d moved off to talk with her parents, he moved in, grinning down at me, and for the first time since Dancer died, I felt my face relax and shape a smile. It’s impossible not to smile at Lor when he grins at you. But there was something different about him. For the first time since I’d met him, he looked somehow…ancient, like the rest of the Nine, in a way he never had before. “You ready, honey?”
I nodded.
“I’d go through with you but me and Mac, we got a bit of a problem we’re working out.”
I narrowed my eyes. “What kind of problem?”
“Bitch killed me ’cause she got pissed at me. I’d kill her back but then Barrons would kill me and I’d have to kill him and we’d all kill each other for a few centuries like we did once before and I ain’t going back to that shitty, boring time.”
I arched a brow, waiting, but he said nothing more. I couldn’t wait to get the scoop from Mac. If she’d killed him, she’d had a good reason. “Sorry about Jo,” I said.
“Yeah,” he said.
When I finally managed to disengage myself from everyone who wanted to say “Hi” to me for some bizarre reason, I joined Ryodan, Barrons, and Mac at the portal.
“You shouldn’t come with me. He may not come out if you’re there.”
Three immutable gazes stared at me, and I was struck by the sudden realization that I might never get rid of these people. They were in my life to stay. And they were going with me now. And that was that.
I shrugged. I’d find a way to make them leave if push came to shove. “Okay then. Let’s do this.”
A hush fell over the crowd as we moved toward the wall. A dozen feet away from the undetectable portal, a tall, wide Silver had been embedded in the wall.
“We’re working to establish similar connections to many worlds. We’ve gone universal, not global,” Mac told me.
Bloody hell, how our world had changed.
I inhaled deep, exhaled slow, preparing myself for the worst. Hoping fervently for the best.
Planet X. I was going through. It was the day.
I’d never have believed I’d be leaving a world that had no Dancer in it. It was still impossible for me to wrap my brain around. Mac said it would be that way for quite a while. That I’d expect to see him around the next corner. Or I’d text him or pick up the phone to call and his absence would hit me like a two-ton truck. I knew it would be a long time before I could ever go near Trinity College again. There were places in our city I’d be avoiding permanently.
Still, I’d been loved. Incredibly loved. And that was something I’d never had before. It had changed me. Given me new parts. “Thank you, Dancer,” I whispered as I stepped through the portal.
The small island was as empty as Mac had said it was, with the exception of a new, much smaller mirror that was now suspended in the air next to the enormous one.
I turned in a slow circle as Mac, Barrons, and Ryodan stepped through behind me. The planet that shorted out my powers made me feel sick to my stomach. Bile rose and I swallowed hard. I was here for Shazam. Nothing would interfere with my mission.
I didn’t look at Ryodan. He’d seen me a total mess far too many times lately. I’d been ignoring him and planned to continue doing so for a while.