Page 94 of Claim the Twilight
I look down at the earth to find sand beneath my boots, and when I glance up, the forest is gone and I’m on a moonlit beach.
The sea stretches out, smooth and flat, and a light bobs on it. Brighter. Closer.
What is that? I jog toward the lapping waves, straining to make out what’s coming toward me. A dark mass appears below the light, moving smoothly across the water.
A boat! Could this be a way out? A way back to Padma.
I can only hope.
I raise a hand and wave, jumping up and down in the hope of catching the sailor’s attention. The light grows, then shrinks to form a lantern hanging off the mast.
A figure stands at the helm.
He raises a hand and calls out, “Come on over. It isn’t too deep.”
The wind picks up, bringing with it the sound of hooves.
There is no way back. Only forward. I tuck the book into my sweater and wade into the water.
The man handsme a hot cup of cocoa. “That’ll warm you up.”
My legs feel like blocks of ice, I doubt a hot drink will fix that, but I smile and sip, and the cocoa is surprisingly good. “Who are you?”
“Could ask you the same question.”
“My name’s Edwin.”
“I’m Skip, this ’ere’s Franny.” He pats the side of the boat. “Been together for going on…forty years now, ain’t we, girl?” He smiles fondly at the wood beneath his fingers.
“So um…you live here?”
“Do indeed.”
Is he a lost one? He doesn’t look like a lost one. The few I’ve come across all have the glint of insanity in their eyes. The rest…Well, the rest are nothing but bone, picked clean by goodness knows what.
This place is one large cemetery, and everyone trapped here is simply waiting to die.
But not me. I need to get back to Padma.
“What did you take?” Skip asks.
“What makes you think I took anything?”
He snorts. “No one ends up here if they don’t take something.”
“What do you mean?”
“It’s simple, really. You can look. You can learn. But you cannot take the knowledge with you. Not up here.” He taps his temple. “And not wrapped in leather.” He glances at my chest, smiling thinly. “But I’m assuming you realized that, which is why you stole the book.”
I swallow the lump in my throat. “The woman I love is dying. The key to saving her is inside this book. I’ve got to get it back to her. I—” My voice cracks. “Please, can you help me? There must be a way out.”
He bows his head, his hand straying back to caress the lip of the boat. “You been honest with me, so I’ll be honest with you. I brought you on board to kill you.”
My heart stutters. “What?”
He shrugs. “It’s me job. Catch the strays, end ‘em, and bring back what they stole. I do me part, and they leave me and Franny be. We get to be…together.”
My thighs tense as I prepare to launch myself off this vessel.
