He strode to the door, confident that he had been victorious over me, the naïve little girl from another world.
THIRTY-FOUR
I picked up the vial and turned it over in my hand. It was the only thing other than the tandem standing between me and Earth—home. And it was so small. Just a flick of the wrist and it would be done. Nobody would ever suspect that I had anything to do with what happened to Callum, and even if they did, by then I would be an entire universe away where no one could ever touch me.
What was my other option? Disobey the General and condemn myself to a lifetime of imprisonment in Aurora? Either way, Callum’s fate was sealed. I couldn’t save him, but I could save myself.
I struggled to get out of my dress, ripping it as I pulled it off. The beautiful rose tiara clattered to the floor. I collapsed beside it in tears, panting. After a while, I got up and threw on a pair of pants and a T-shirt, not caring one iota for how I looked.
“Juli?” Callum stood in the door, his voice full of concern. “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing,” I said, turning from him and wiping at my face. My fist closed over the vial. Somehow, I found the strength to smile. It felt unnatural, as though the muscles I needed to do it had atrophied. “I’m fine. Just overwhelmed.”
“I’ll say.” He came in and sat down on the sofa the General had just vacated. “You disappeared hours ago. I was really worried. I thought something had happened.”
I shook my head. “No, I just hate crowds. They make me nervous.”
He ran his fingers through his hair. “Okay. Well, I’m glad you’re all right.”
“I am, I promise.” An attendant entered the room, pushing a tea cart I hadn’t ordered. I nodded my thanks and he left as quickly as he had come. “Do you want some tea?”
“Uh, sure.” Callum was bewildered by my strange behavior and I couldn’t blame him. I was acting like a crazy person. I felt crazy, too. Was I really going to do this? Poison Callum? Turn him over to the General in exchange for my own happiness? Could I ever be happy back at home, knowing what I’d done, the destruction I’d left in my wake?
“You Columbians and your tea.” Callum smiled. “Sorry, I meant that as a joke.”
“It was funny.” With my back to Callum, I poured us each a cup of tea. Then I uncapped the vial and dumped its contents into Callum’s cup. There. It was done. I was the worst person in the world—all the worlds. But I was going home. I hoped desperately that it was worth it.
“Here you go,” I said, handing him his tea.
“Thanks.”
I took a sip from my cup, but Callum just held his, staring at me with worry in his eyes. “Are you sure you’re okay?”
“Yes,” I insisted. “I’m fine.”
“If you say so.” Callum brought the cup to his lips. This was it. The vilest thing I’d ever done was happening right before my eyes. But did it really matter? It was inevitable anyway.
Or was it?
“Stop!” I cried.
He paused, not drinking a drop. “What’s going on, Juli? Seriously, you’re scaring me.”
I put my cup down; it clattered in its delicate saucer. “You can’t drink that. I dosed it.”
“You what?”
“With some sort of poison,” I told him. “The General threatened me. He told me that if I didn’t do it …” I trailed off, hoping that Callum would fill in the blanks with his own terrifying conclusions. I couldn’t tell him the full story without explaining who I was or where I’d come from. If I did that, he might never trust a single thing I told him ever again, and I needed him to trust me if I was going to keep him alive.
“You were going to kill me?” Callum recoiled, as if I was a snake. And I was. I knew I was. “Why?”
“Not kill you,” I said. “I don’t know what it does, but the General said it was going to make you so sick that nobody from Farnham could come get you.”
“That’s not better!”
“I know, I know. Please listen to me. I couldn’t do it. Doesn’t that count for something? I don’t care what happens to me, I won’t hurt you. I panicked for a second and thought I could, but I can’t. Never.”
Callum was gripping his teacup so hard I thought he might break it. “So what do I do now? I can’t stay here.”
“No, you can’t,” I said. “I just don’t know how you’re going to get out.”
“We,” Callum said firmly.
“What do you mean, ‘we’?”
“You’re coming with me,” Callum said.
“No, I can’t.” If I left with Callum, I could kiss any chance of going home goodbye, not to mention any chance of ever seeing Thomas again. On the other hand, it didn’t look like staying would increase the chances of either of those things happening, either. What was the right thing to do? Thomas would’ve known. Think like Thomas, I told myself. What would he do?
“Yes,” Callum insisted. “There’s no way I’m leaving you behind to be punished by that monster. Wherever I go, you’re coming, too. We’ll get out of here together.”
“How can you even say that, after what I did?”
“What you almost did,” Callum corrected me. “You couldn’t do it. I believe that. I might be nuts, but I still trust you, Juliana. I’m not leaving you, is that clear?”
I nodded. I wished he would stop calling me “Juli” and “Juliana.” It was a constant reminder of how many lies I’d allowed him to believe. “It doesn’t matter. There’s no way out.”
“Yes, there is.” Callum slipped off his signet ring, the one he’d told me had once belonged to his father, and slammed it, with the stone facing down, onto the little table next to the sofa. Then he did something that filled me with such horror that to my dying day I will never, ever forget it.
Callum picked up his tea and drank it down.
I screamed at him to stop, but by the time the words came out of my mouth he was already setting the empty cup down on the table. He put his ring back on.
“Why did you do that?” I cried.
“Have a little faith,” he said. “Just promise to stick with me, whatever you do.”
It didn’t take long for the poison to take effect. Within a minute, Callum had gone limp and collapsed onto the sofa. I slapped his cheeks, nearly insane with panic.
“Callum! Callum, wake up!” But he didn’t stir.
Kline rushed in, roused from his post by the sound of my shouting. “What’s going on?” he demanded.
“The prince is sick! Get help, now!” I commanded. He turned on his heel, muttering something into his lapel as he left. The rowan pin. Gloria had told me to use it if I ever needed Thomas. Frantic, I cast my eyes around the room for my dress; the pin was still fixed to the bodice. When I found it, I pressed the pin so hard that the needle dug into my thumb, drawing blood.
“Thomas,” I breathed, holding it close to my lips. “I need your help.”
THOMAS IN THE TOWER / 5
Thomas stared at the ceiling, twisting his KES ring around and around on his finger in agitation. He was lying on his bed feeling utterly useless. It had been over twenty-four hours since the General had banished him to his quarters, and no one had come to collect him. He still had his KES earpiece in, listening in vain for a summons, but when it came it was from the most unlikely source.
“Thomas, I need your help.” Thomas started at the sound of Sasha’s voice. She was distraught; he could tell just from the way she spoke those five words. Fear flooded through him. Something was wrong. She was in danger, or in pain. He had to get to her.