Somehow, Jane finally quit screaming.
She lay on the floor, her mind trying to shut down in order to avoid the sheer agony of her pain. It filled every inch of her, every organ, every cell, every molecule. Her nerves bristled with it. The slightest movement of her ragged breathing sent fresh pinpricks shooting across her skin, through her skin, into her blood and muscles and bone. She hurt, she ached, she stung. The pain consumed her. The only thing that kept her from weeping was the promise of even more pain.
I tried to help him, she thought. I was only trying to help him. How? How could he have done this to me?
Her eyes had been closed for a long time, the prospect of seeing the damage to her body too horrific. But finally, she allowed her eyelids to slide up. The movement sent a new wave of agony across her face and through her head, as if needles had pierced her skull. But she kept her eyes open.
She did not, however, have the courage to move anything else. She saw only what she could from her current position, crumpled like a rag doll. But it was enough to let her know her life was over.
Shards of gold, small but jagged, covered every inch of her body, jutting from the skin at all kinds of angles. Blood was everywhere, seeping from the wounds. Her body was like a sea of red, a million tiny golden icebergs breaking the surface. Most of the shards appeared to be fused to her skin, impossible to remove. She could only imagine what her face must look like. A beast. A hideous beast.
A bit of the old Jane returned to her then. The one who’d been courageous and strong, unwilling to break under any task or trial. The one who’d fought on, no matter what.
Realities help me, I can do this. I will do this.
Bracing herself, Jane counted silently to three, readying her mind and soul for what she was about to do. Then, as quickly and as efficiently as she could, she pushed her arms below her and stood up.
The blood-curdling scream that erupted from her was inhuman—the terrified shriek of tortured demons. The sound tore through the air, filled the world around her, pierced her own ears until they bled. It seemed impossible that she didn’t faint from the pain that had ruptured inside of her like the detonation of a nuclear bomb.
She stood still, enduring. Eventually, the pain lessened. Barely, but enough so that she had the awkward sensation of bliss, a warm calm.
All things are relative, she thought.
Then, a very strange thing occurred to her. She didn’t understand it, didn’t know how the thought formed in her mind or where it came from. Perhaps it had been something Reginald had said in the moments before he ran away, something he’d told the boy about Dark Infinity. No matter—she’d figure it out later. But regardless of how she knew, she did know.
She had changed forever. In the midst of all the horror, perhaps there was a silver lining after all. Yes, she knew. She knew.
Mistress Jane had no Barrier Wand within her reach. No one in her Reality had a Wand to pull her away from this place. No one, anywhere, had a lock on her nanolocator besides those who could do nothing about it. Yet, despite all that, Jane winked herself away, away from the Fourth Reality and back to the Thirteenth.
She did it by thinking it.
Yes, she had changed forever.
Chapter
49
An Unfortunate Meeting
Tick looked dead.
He lay flat on his back, his head cradled in Sofia’s lap as every last Realitant stood in a group around them, staring down solemnly as if it were a funeral. Tick’s face was pale, scratches and welts marring almost every inch of him. His clothes were ripped, bloodied, even melted in some places, attached to the skin. But he was breathing, marked by the slight rise and fall of his chest.
Man, Paul thought. When that dude wakes up, he’s gonna hurt something awful.
They were gathered in an open grassy area of the ruined park, ignoring the hundreds of people who had evacuated Chu’s mountain building. Most of them stood in silent huddles, staring back at the black structure, probably in shock at how close they’d come to dying.
“Gonna be just fine, he will,” Mothball announced, kneeling next to Tick. “Sofia ’ere may ruddy well win a medal from the old man for this.”
The crowd of Realitants broke into applause as Sally bellowed a long-winded cheer that echoed across the park but made absolutely no sense. Paul thought he caught the words “rabbit” and “coon dog.” Sofia showed no reaction to anything, staring at a blank spot in front of her.
Mothball reached across Tick and grabbed him around the torso, lifting him up with a heavy grunt. His body flopped over her shoulder with no sign of life, his arms and legs dangling.
“Come on,” she said. “Chi’karda spot’s only a ’undred yards up yonder.” She nodded her head in the direction away from the destruction.
As the others started following Mothball, Paul reached down and offered Sofia a hand. “Let’s go, Miss Italy. Tick’s gonna be fine, thanks to you. You can beg me for forgiveness later.”
Sofia took his hand and pulled herself to her feet. “Forgiveness for what? Killing more spiders than you did?”
“No. For not telling me you had a super-secret mission to put Tick in a coma.”
“Oh. Yeah. Sorry that Master George thinks I’m better than you.”
Paul sighed. “You’re forgiven.”
A shout from behind turned both their heads. A dark-haired man, his clothes ripped to shreds, his body battered and bloody, was limping along as fast as he could, yelling something unintelligible. Sofia recognized him before Paul did.
“It’s Chu!” she yelled. “Mothball! That’s Reginald Chu!”
Mothball turned and ran back toward them, Tick still slung over her shoulder. “Right, you are. Reginald Chu! Sally! Grab the monster!”
Sally had barely taken a step before an even louder shout came from a cluster of trees to their right. Another dark-haired man bolted from the shadows, his fist raised in the air, screaming obscenities that made Paul wince. Then, in disbelief, he saw who it was. Paul looked back at the other man.
Two Reginald Chus were running straight for them.
“Whoa,” he whispered.
“Oh, no,” Mothball said, standing right next to Paul. “Oh, no!” she said louder. Then she screamed at the top of her lungs. “Run! Everyone run!”
Without waiting for a response, the tall lady sprinted for their Chi’karda launching point, Tick bouncing up and down on her shoulder, the other Realitants right behind her.