Infinityglass (Hourglass 3)

“I don’t know how. She’s broken free from it on her own before. I never made her do it.”

“Dune?” Lily’s voice broke through my thoughts. “You need to see this.”

The alley was still dark, but the sound of the party on the street echoed off the walls. The streetlights illuminated what had put so much fear in Lily’s voice.

The rips that had noticed us on Bourbon, at least thirty of them, were lined up across the entrance of the alley. Every single one stared at Hallie.

“Hallie. Come back.” Please.

As if she heard me, the transmutations slowed enough for me to distinguish some features.

A middle-aged woman with too much lipstick, most of it smeared.

A younger guy with a gash on his left cheek.

A girl Hallie’s age, her hair in ringlets and tears in her eyes.

The same faces were reflected in the rips’ lining the alley.

And then I caught a brief glimpse of Hallie, and she whispered my name. “Dune.”

“I’m here.” I grabbed her hands. “Open your eyes.”

Hallie groaned a little and her eyelids fluttered. When she gritted her teeth and squeezed my hands, I realized what she was doing.

“She’s trying to control the rip. She’s pulling it in.”

In the street where the Mardi Gras parade raged on, a bright light flashed and narrowed. The rips began to fade around the edges. A premonition pushed into my brain.

Suddenly, the rip world began folding in on itself. Inches faded at a time, and then inches became feet. The rips lining the alley disappeared all at once, and then everything was gone except for Hallie. There were a few seconds of peace, and I thought it was over.

I was wrong.

Voices roared. A gravitational pull fought against our hands, tugging at Hallie, snatching at her hair. The force of it moved her across the ground, toward the light, and Lily and Kaleb grabbed her arms.

They were fighting for her as hard as I was, but she had to fight for herself.

“Don’t leave me, Hallie.” I had to yell over the chaos.

Her eyes flew open and locked on mine.

“I’m not ready to lose you!” The whirling air around us snatched my words as they came out of my mouth. But Hallie heard me.

“I’m not ready to go.” She sat up. Her whole body tensed as a scream that sounded like a thousand voices ripped its way out of her. Power surged through the alley, and the roaring ceased.

In one short second, the darkness swallowed the light, leaving us in complete silence.

Chapter 18

Hallie

I slept for five hours.

When I woke up, Dune was in my bed with me, typing one hand. The other was on my hip. “Dune?”

“Hey.” After a couple more key clicks, he put the computer down and kissed my forehead. “What can I get for you? What do you need?”

“You.” I grabbed him and held on tightly. It took less than a second for him to hold on harder.