“I can’t take this,” Krista whispered, her hands tepeed over her mouth. “I can’t take it.”
My heart seemed to pound harder with each passing second.
“Kevin?” Joaquin said.
I closed my eyes and dipped my head. My knees shook beneath me. Finally, our walkies let out a shrill peel and a crackle.
“It’s pointing north,” Kevin said gleefully. “The vane is pointing north!”
“This is weird. I’m sorry, it’s just too weird,” Liam said, pacing back and forth in front of me near the foot of the bridge on Saturday morning. I rubbed my eyes and tried my best to focus. I hadn’t been able to sleep in my eerily quiet house, so I’d spent half the night freezing my butt off at Pete’s bedside, waiting for him to wake up. I stifled a yawn. It was Liam’s first ushering, and he needed someone to guide him.
He glanced over his shoulder at his charge, Nick, who was gabbing with Fisher about his latest video-game obsession while Fisher did his best to keep up. Over at the bridge, Kevin waited while his latest charge walked through the mist.
The dawn had come today with still no sign of the sun, but the air was noticeably warmer. Instead of bundling into jeans and sweats, everyone was wearing shorts and long-sleeved T-shirts as we gathered again at the bridge, bent on getting as many people across to their final destinations as we could. Early that morning, Krista had ushered the kids over, and every last one of them had gone to the Light. Since then, the area at the base of the bridge had taken on an almost festival-like feel, with a dozen cars parked in a ragged circle, and groups of people chatting around coolers and bags of snacks. Someone’s radio played fifties tunes through a car window, and a wind sock had been tied to the antenna of Bea’s Jeep, its colorful stripes whipping in the breeze.
“I know. The first time is hard,” I said, touching Liam’s arm. He was wearing a bright red T-shirt with a white cross on the front and the word LIFEGAURD emblazoned above it. “But you’re sending him to a good place. He led a good life. He’s supposed to be there.”
Liam nodded, but I wasn’t entirely sure he was hearing me. His eyes were unfocused as he looked at the damp ground beneath our feet. I could only imagine what he was thinking. He’d been here just a few days, and he’d had so much thrown at him, most of it negative, terrifying, uncertain. Deep inside he was probably still wondering if we were crazy. If this was some kind of massive joke. My heart went out to him. It wasn’t that long ago that I felt the exact same way.
“But what about Lalani? Won’t she realize he’s gone? Won’t she be worried about him?” he asked.
I shook my head. “She won’t remember him. It’s part of the Juniper Landing magic. Until she gets to the Light, too, she won’t even remember having had a brother.”
Liam snorted a laugh. “This is insane. It’s just insane.”
“Liam, listen,” I said, reaching for his hand. He stared down at my fingers as if he’d never seen fingers before. “What we do here, it’s important. It’s a calling. A mission. When we send these souls on to their final destinations, we’re helping maintain the balance of the universe.”
I could hear Tristan’s voice in my head, telling me the same thing just a couple of weeks ago, trying to convince me.
“I know things have been out of whack since you’ve been here,” I said, then leaned in closer. “They’ve actually been out of whack since I’ve been here, so I understand you might not exactly trust this place. But I’ve seen the system when it’s working, and I know it’s been working for a long time. It’s up to us to get it back on track.”
Liam sucked in a breath at the same moment the loud, sucking noise split the air and the mist around the bridge swirled. He laughed at the coincidence. Our walkies zipped to life. It was Joaquin’s voice this time on the other end.
“It’s pointing north. Over.”
I smiled slightly. Every time I heard those words it was like a tiny piece of my shattered heart was working its way back into place. Frustratingly, Pete was still unconscious, but it was looking more and more like he’d been working alone. With him locked up safely in jail, the problem was solved. At least this particular problem, anyway. But hopefully Dorn was right. Now that we knew the ushering process was back to normal, everyone could focus on getting my dad, Darcy, and the others out of the Shadowlands.
“New guy! You’re up!” Fisher shouted, clapping his massive hands together.
“You can do this,” I told Liam. “You’re a good person. I know you can do it.”
Liam nodded. “Thanks, Rory. I’m…I’m gonna try.”
He pushed his hands into the pocket of his plaid shorts as he walked over to join Nick. His charge turned to him with a trusting smile, his perfect white teeth practically beaming against the gray sky around us and the fog ceiling overhead. He tipped his head toward Liam as he followed him to the bridge. Whatever Liam was saying to him, it wasn’t causing him any sort of alarm. And after Liam handed him the coin, Nick reached out to shake his hand.
I felt a hitch in the back of my throat as Nick crossed the threshold of the bridge and Liam waved good-bye, thinking of the night I’d said good-bye to Aaron, how happy I’d been, how Tristan and I had shared our first real kiss.
And then everything had fallen to crap.
Gravel crunched on the road, and I turned to see Tristan’s SUV bouncing its way up the hill. My heart started to pound at the sight of it, and I automatically reached up to smooth my hair behind my ears. The sucking sound filled the air again, and Joaquin’s voice rang out.
“It’s pointing north! Yeeha!” There was a pause and then a crackle. “Sorry. Over.”
Everyone laughed. Liam loped over to me just as Tristan stopped the car and slammed the door behind him. He’d showered, finally, and his blond hair hung like a shiny, healthy curtain over his blue eyes. He smiled tentatively at me as he stopped to talk to Fisher. I tore my eyes away from him long enough to hug Liam.
“Good job. See? I knew you’d be fine.”
“Thanks,” Liam said, blushing. “As long as he went the right way, I’m cool.”