Everwild (Skinjacker 2)

"D'ya think we could break it?" asked Charlie. "Those fists of yours can do it, right?"

And although Johnnie-O tried, he knew it was no use. This was an Everlost door, and an Everlost padlock. Once something crossed into Everlost, it didn't break. Ever.

The airship rose into the clouds, slowly spinning like a weather vane as it blew eastward.

"This was a bad idea," said Charlie.

"Shut up," said Johnnie-O. "Just shut up."

So now Johnnie-O sat facing Charlie in the Starboard Promenade of the Hindenburg, a bucket of coins between them.

"You go first," said Johnnie-O.

"No, you go first," echoed Charlie.

"No, you go first!"

"No, you!"

But neither one was willing to take a coin. Instead they both stared at each other as the Hindenburg drifted across the sky, each wondering who would be the first to blink.

Chapter 38 Last Train Out of Memphis

Milos raced as fast as he could with Allie, staying away from the living, just in case Allie found strength enough to skinjack and escape. He had no idea whether Mary's force had captured the train. If they hadn't, Allie would be a bargaining chip. If they had, Allie would be a valuable prisoner.

"I saw her thoughts, Milos," Allie said weakly, as he pulled her along. "You can't go through with this! Mary hasn't told you everything! You don't know what she plans to do!"

But he was already overwhelmed with things to think about, and didn't need this. He was confused, and more than a little bit scared about what would happen now--and that just made him angry. "Quiet," he told her, "or I might just have to push you into the ground myself to silence you."

"Do it," said Allie. "I'd rather be there than have any part of Mary's plan."

"It's not her plan anymore," he told her. "It's mine."

They came through into a clearing, where the train rested on dead rails. Milos spotted Speedo right away, shouting frantic orders. The airship's ground team had just arrived, which meant the Hindenburg had been cast off. They had captured the train, and Mary's plan had proceeded without her.

The entirety of the Ogre's army had been squeezed into the last train car. It had been Mary's idea--something she learned from Pugsy. "Afterlights can fit wherever you put them," she had said, and she was right--there were hundreds of them in that car: faces, hands, feet, and elbows pressed against the windows. It was a kind of purgatory until they came around to Mary's way of thinking.

When Speedo saw Milos, he looked worried. "Why aren't you with Jill at the bridge?" Then, when he saw Allie, his afterglow began to falter. "Something went wrong, didn't it? What went wrong?"

"Lock this one up somewhere special," Milos told Speedo, "but be careful--she's clever," and regaining some of his suave composure, he winked at Allie. "A little too clever for her own good--but maybe she can be, as Mary says, 'rehabilitated.'"

"Mary's not back yet," Speedo said. "We can't go till she gets here."

Milos hesitated for a moment. There was no easy way to tell Speedo the truth. "Mary will not be coming back," Milos said. "I am sorry."

"You mean ... the Ogre defeated her?"

"The Ogre is gone," said Milos. "They are both gone."

Speedo was shell-shocked. He wanted to know everything, but there was no time, and Milos wasn't quite ready to share. "All we can do now," said Milos, "is to finish what she started."

"But how are we supposed to go on without her?" "Oh, I think Mary will always be with us," Milos told him. "We can be certain of that."

Speedo had Allie strapped to the very front of the train, facing forward, and Milos allowed it.

"I was thinking something a little more comfortable," Milos said. "But this will do just fine."

"I am not a figurehead on a ship!" insisted Allie.