I’d sat through dinner, picking at my chicken wings, sure Brooks knew that something was wrong. After dinner, she’d asked me point-blank why I was being so quiet. I’d just blamed it on the death magic, but I could tell she didn’t totally believe me.
Look, what choice did I have? I knew she and Hondo and even Rosie would never let me leave without them. The bottom line was, I couldn’t risk curses on their heads. But I couldn’t leave without saying good-bye, either. I snagged a piece of paper and pencil nub out of the nightstand.
Hey guys,
When you read this, I’ll be long gone, and you’ll be hating me pretty hard. I’m sorry. I can’t take you with me. If I did, you’d be cursed, and I can’t let that happen. I didn’t make the rules. Please don’t worry. This is a genius, for-sure plan. I’ll meet you back on the isla.
I didn’t know what else to say, and I suddenly felt hollow and alone. I stalked down the hall and stood outside Brooks’s door. Carefully, I slipped into her room. My eyes cut through the dark until I found what I was looking for: the backpack slumped at the foot of her bed. Silently, I stalked over, squatted, and holding my breath, unzipped the pack tooth by tooth. I only hoped she hadn’t given the gateway map to Quinn yet. Relief flooded my chest when I found it.
Brooks rolled over with a loud exhale.
I froze. My heart thudded in my ears. If she caught me in here, checking out the gateway map so I could sneak off without her, I wouldn’t have to worry about the death magic becoming permanent. She’d kill me herself.
The map flashed to life with blinking squares so bright I was sure they’d wake Brooks. Good thing she slept like a vampire. There was a gateway opening at a bus station about a mile away. From experience (which wasn’t much), I figured the gateway would likely be closing in about forty-five minutes. I could get there in fifteen. That would give me a window of error. I put the map back so they’d have a way to get home.
I stood and went to the door, stopping only to leave the note on the dresser. I didn’t risk a glance at Brooks. I knew without looking that her face was hidden behind a heap of tangles and her arms were thrown up over her head, because that’s how she always slept. Like someone ready to spring and pounce.
Outside, mist crept over the silent earth like ghost breath. I had no idea where Rosie had decided to curl up last night and all I kept thinking was Please don’t be at the gate.
I swept past the hanging masks, careful not to disturb them, because who knew what kinds of powers they had. I mean, if the Red Queen’s mask could make me dead, what could the battle masks and ceremonial masks do?
My eyes darted around the dark, waiting for Rosie to leap out and pin me to the ground while she howled for everyone to wake up. Luckily, she was nowhere to be seen, which was weird, since she had the sharpest senses in the universe. My dog could sniff out a cockroach ten miles away. As I opened the door to the street, I thought, This was too easy, and something about that made me muy nervioso.
A shifting shadow drew my attention. I stopped in midstep just as an orange cat slinked from behind a flowerpot and hissed at me. The air sparked and shimmered around the cat until it was…
“Quinn?”
“Going somewhere?”
For a split second, I wondered if I could lie to her and get away with it. Probably not. “Uh…since when are you a cat?”
“I take all sorts of forms, but the smaller the form, the less energy I have to use. And like I told you, I’m not exactly myself these days.”
I remembered Brooks explaining that a lot of shape-shifters can take a bunch of different forms and she was bummed because she could only shift into a hawk.
“You can’t stop me,” I said.
“You said you’d keep Brooks safe, Obispo.”
“This is me keeping her safe. You have to trust me.” I wanted to tell her Don’t worry—I can change the future. Okay, technically the Fire Keeper could, but the Red Queen had said I was connected to him in powerful ways. And the best part of my plan was that no one had to storm a castle and get killed.
I thought Quinn would stick me in a headlock and drag me back into El Grito. “I do trust you,” she said. “The Red Queen must have told you something big enough that you’re willing to leave your team behind.”
I nodded as a terrible bitterness clenched my insides. “She did. It’s foolproof.”
Quinn smirked. “My dad used to tell me anyone who believes something is foolproof is likely to be proven a fool.”
“If you’re here to try and stop me, don’t.”
“I’m not. I’m here to tell you something.” Quinn shifted uneasily. “I shouldn’t, but it’s rotten not to, and if it were me, I’d want to know.”
Why did I have the feeling that whatever she said next was going to change the course of everything forever? “Know what?”
“Your dad…he’s not going to be transferred.”
“They’re leaving him where he is?”
She shook her head slowly. “He’s going to be executed.”