Page 63 of The Girl Out of Time
She tried more poses and phrases—twisting, turning, jumping, yelling—in every direction.
“Please. I don’t have all day.” She could sneak out on a walk, but the duchess would imprison her again, sooner or later. “Will you at least show me the way to Maria, then?” Technically, she didn’tneedLady Scarlet if she could find Maria on her own—although resolving that mystery would’ve been fun.
A blast of warm wind hit the left side of her face. She touched her cheek. Her fingers came back black, as if smudged with charcoal.
And then, out of the corner of her eyes, she saw it—right beside her, shimmering, but silent. A dark hole, floating vertically above the grass, its edges shifting, as if the present and the past were two different liquids, mixing together.
It was the castle’s hallway, and it was burning.
She didn’t get Maria, but the portal did as she asked—it showed her a way to her. Through Lady Scarlet.
Emmeline jumped in victory and only then realized Theo wasn’t here.
And she sprinted back toward the house.
“These passages of yours don’t stay open for long though, do they?” Theo said as they jogged back up the hill where Emmeline had her successful attempt.
“No, I think they’re instant.” When she showed up on the beach, the passage was gone; as it was when she’d brought them out of the masquerade ball.
“Do you think you can do it again?”
“We’ll see.” She put her hands on her hips to catch her breath as they reached the summit. “The problem is, I don’t know which method prompted it. The last thing I tried was asking politely.” She walked around, following Theo’s steps as he examined the area. “Maybe that was the solution all along. Say something—”
Like a burst of flame, the passage opened before her; she barely stopped in time before falling through without Theo.
“Did you—” he started.
“I didn’t do anything. I think it was still here. It’s in the same spot as before. Maybe it was dormant?”
“It didn’t show up when I walked past.”
“Well, either way, here we go!” She made a sweeping gesture to the passage. “If you would,monsieur?”
Theo offered his arm. “Together?”
She smiled, took it, and they walked through.
The heat was much more obvious on this side, trapped in the narrow hallway. A red glow threatened from behind the corner at the further end, bringing with it billowing smoke and ash.
“You weren’t losing any time, were you,” Theo said with that straight voice that always made it funnier.
“This way.” She started in the opposite direction of the looming flames. They went up a spiral staircase, into the tower. On each floor, Emmeline peeked through the open archway, trying to spot anything helpful.
“Wait.” She grabbed Theo’s arm when they came to the third floor. “There!”
Two figures stood at the end of the hallway, not quite hugging, but touching foreheads: a man and a woman, clear from their dark silhouettes.
“Lady Scarlet.” Emmeline broke into a run, Theo right behind her. But as she approached, the two figures jumped apart and went running in opposite directions.
Emmeline and Theo reached the split end of the hallway. To the left, a staircase went up, and to the right, down.
“I’ll go after her, you go after him.” Emmeline started off, but Theo caught her sleeve.
“We shouldn’t separate. The castle isn’t safe,” he said. “What if you run into de Villiers?”
“What ifyoudo?”
He raised an eyebrow. “I think the point still stands.”
