His lips twisted. "You lying bitch. You'd say anything to save him, wouldn't you?"
He started to turn the gun on me. Then the air around us crackled and popped, and he swung the gun back toward Lucas.
"I told you, any magic and-"
Behind Lucas, the air darkened, then the backdrop shattered, like a mirror breaking. Light streamed through. A woman's figure appeared in the light. Edward looked up. He blinked.
"Nat-? Natasha?"
She reached for him. Edward took a slow, cautious step forward. Then suddenly, Natasha's body jerked ramrod straight. The hole shimmered around her. Her eyes went wide and her mouth opened in a silent scream, and she tumbled back into the yawning hole, arms still stretching toward Edward.
"No!" Edward shouted.
The gun jerked, then fell from his hand as he raced for the portal. I saw the gun fall. I swear that is the first thing I saw, and in that moment I knew Lucas was safe. Then Lucas toppled backward, a dark hole in his breast pocket. Then, only then, I heard the shot echoing through the alley.
I twisted around. Lucas was still falling into the hole. The light swallowed his head, then his chest, and finally his feet.
I dove in after him.
Through the Back Door
I was jumping on a bed, leaping as high as I could, shrieking each time my feet struck down. Someone was singing. My mother? No, a younger voice, struggling to sing without laughing.
"Again!" I screamed. "Again!"
"Again?" the voice laughed. "If you break your mother's bed, she'll have both our hides."
I threw my chubby fists in the air as I jumped, then lost my footing and collapsed face first into the pillows. Hands reached down to pick me up, but I pushed them back, got up and whirled around, bouncing.
"Again! Again!"
A dramatic sigh. "One more time, Paige. I mean it. This is the last time."
I giggled, knowing this would be far from the last time.
Five little monkeys…
I groaned and the dream faded, but I could still hear the song, that same person singing it. The voice tickled a memory, but it evaporated before I could seize it.
I opened my eyes, but could see nothing. A cold, damp darkness enveloped me and I shivered. I blinked and tried to clear my fogged brain. I was lying on my side. I reached out and touched something cold but smooth and solid. As I ran my hand across it, I felt bumps and sharp edges. Rock. I was lying on rock.
Four little monkeys jumping on the bed…
I squeezed my eyes shut, but the tune kept playing in my head. What was that song? Now that I heard it, I could say every word by heart, as they bubbled up from my subconscious. An image came to mind. Me, no more than two years old, jumping on my mother's bed as someone sang.
"No more monkeys jumping on the bed!"
Three little monkeys-
"Oh, God, stop!" I said, cradling my booming head.
The song stopped.
A voice sighed, that same dramatic sigh I'd heard in my dream. "Well, it was either that or scream until you woke up. Be glad I took the musical approach."
I scrambled up and looked around. My eyes had adjusted enough that I could make out dim shapes around me, but none looked remotely human. I blinked hard and focused. Scattered around me were huge boulders, rising up from the stone bed on which I lay.
"Rock," I said. "It's all rock."
"Weird, huh? We have some very strange places here. Looks like you landed in one of them. Let's just hope nothing nasty pops out."
My head whipped around, searching for the source of the voice, but I saw only rocks.
Two little monkeys…
"Stop that," I said.
"Hey, I'm trying to jar your memory. You used to love that song. Savannah did, too. Both of you, crazy for it, though I think you just liked the excuse to jump on the bed."
Savannah? How did she know-? I swallowed, making the only association I could.
"Eve?" I said.
"Who else? Don't tell me you've forgotten."
When I didn't answer, she said. "Oh, come on. You must remember your favorite babysitter. I looked after you every Wednesday night for nearly two years. If I couldn't make it, you wouldn't let your mom get anyone else. You'd cry so hard she had to cancel the Elders meeting and stay home."
Eve paused. When I still said nothing, she sighed. "You really don't remember, do you? Damn. I usually leave more of an impression."
"Where are you?" I said.
"Hold on. I'm working on that part. Just give me a-" A shimmer of movement to my left. The shape winked, then started coming into focus. "Almost there. This ain't easy, let me tell you."
An audible pop. And there stood a grown-up version of Savannah, a tall, exotically beautiful woman with a wide mouth, strong nose and chin, and long, straight black hair. Only the eyes were different, dark instead of the bright blue Savannah had inherited from Kristof Nast.
She hunkered down before me, then touched the ground and shivered.
"Damn cold. You sure picked a helluva place to pop through. If I'd known, I'd have dressed warmer." She caught my eye, her wide grin a mirror of Savannah's. "Ghost humor." She looked down at her clothes: jeans, sneakers, and a dark green embroidered blouse. "You know, I used to really like this blouse, but after wearing it for a year straight… Time to figure out how to change clothes." She sized up my ensemble. "Not bad. Could have been worse."
"I'm not-I'm not a ghost. I didn't-"
"Die? Jury's still out on that one. All I know is you're here, and if you're here, you should be dead." Eve shook her head. "Never expected you to go all Romeo and Juliet on me, Paige. I know, once you commit yourself to someone, you go all the way, like you did with Savannah, but, really-" She waved at our surroundings. "This is too far."
"Lucas," I said, scrambling up.
"Easy, girl. He's right over-" Eve stood. "Now where…? Oh, there."
I hurried past her. As I skirted an outcropping of rock, I saw Lucas's shoes. I raced around a large boulder to find him lying on his back, eyes closed. I dropped down beside him, fingers going to his throat, feeling for a pulse.
"Uh, you won't find that, Paige," Eve said behind me. "Not on yourself, either. Part of the passing-over package deal. You can jog all you want and never run out of breath. First time in a week your stomach hasn't hurt, I'll bet."
I touched Lucas's cheek. His skin was warm. I leaned down, bringing my face to his, and gently shook his shoulder as I called his name.
"You could try kissing him," Eve said. "But I don't think that works in real life… or real afterlife."
I glared at her. She held up her hands.
"Sorry, not the time for quips." She walked around Lucas and knelt on his other side. "He's okay, baby. This is normal. It's death shock. Takes a day or two to recover. Normally, you'd come through into one of the waiting areas, where there are people to look after you, but you guys took the back door."
"D-death shock?"
I looked down at Lucas's chest. His shirt was whole. I slid my hand under it, but found no bullet hole.
"No, he's okay," I said. "He didn't get shot. He just fell through the rift, like I did." Eve said nothing.
I turned to face her. "He didn't get shot. Look, no hole."
She nodded, eyes not meeting mine. I swallowed hard, then pulled up my blouse. On my stomach, where Weber had stabbed me, the skin was now smooth and unblemished.
Eve bent over Lucas and adjusted his glasses, which had slipped in the fall. "No need for these here, but they still pass through. Weird, huh?" She leaned back for a better look, then straightened the glasses again and brushed strands of hair off Lucas's forehead. "Poor kid. All these years, being Ben's son was the only thing that protected him, and now it's what killed him." She shook her head. "Did Lucas ever tell you we met?"