I expected him to crumble under the weight of my sarcasm. Instead, he rested his shoulder against the outer wall of Lafitte’s, and looked all sorts of superior. And knowledgeable. “What if I am?”
His confidence carried knowledge instead of swagger. All I had was enough information to be dangerous.
“How much do you know about who you are, Hallie? Because I bet I know more.”
I shrugged and tried not to look like my next breath depended on hearing what he knew.
“Give me twenty-four hours,” he said. “I promise I can help you.”
“I can’t … I have to think about this.” I turned to head for the gate to the sidewalk.
And faced a ripple.
The man in front of me had lanky brown hair. His clothes were old-fashioned, but dusty, not dirty. Authentic. Real or part of a vision, his eyes were black and devoid of emotion.
“Things are hopping tonight.” I slid my arms out of Dune’s jacket.
Dune grabbed at me. “Wait, Hallie.”
“Just go around it.” I jerked away from Dune, still gripping the jacket, and took one fat step forward. So did the rip.
We became one. The present was lost. The Bourbon Street I knew slipped away. Cars were replaced with horse-drawn buggies, and daylight replaced dark. My body didn’t belong to me. Neither did my mind.
A memory I had no right to tickled the edge of my conscious.
“I’ve done no wrong. I didn’t mean to. It was an accident.”
My voice, but not my voice.
“It was a mistake.”
Suddenly, a man stands across from me, rage touching every one of his features. “You killed her.”
Callused hands scrape the thin skin of my neck.
My skin, but not my skin.
My coat smells of wood smoke, and the breath of the man choking me reeks, moist against my face. I squeeze the man’s wrists so hard I hear bones pop. I am surprised by my strength.
“You’re an abomination,” the attacker accuses.
A kitchen maid. A new one, with a gap between her front teeth. What I’d done wasn’t an accident. The swamp had stunk of rotting fish and algae in the late summer air. I hadn’t even pushed her skirt down before I rolled her into the water.
“I didn’t mean to,” I say inside my head, silently begging, as black dots cloud my vision.
I pushed against the memory, wanting out of the man’s mind. I focused on escape with all I had. We separated with force, and he stumbled into a veil that hung in the air, shining like sunlight on water. It was jagged around the edges, and the inside was nothing but swirling darkness.
The dark disappeared, zipping from top to bottom. It left no suggestion of the incident, with the exception of a faint hint of wood smoke.
I managed to stay upright for five seconds before the ground made a grab for my face.
Dune
The rip … absorbed Hallie.
It couldn’t have lasted for more than fifteen seconds, but it felt like an hour. I knew I was looking at Hallie, because her clothes didn’t change. At first, I wondered if it were a transmutation thing, if maybe she were trying to mess with me to make me leave her alone.
But her features rearranged themselves.