Misplaced (145 page)

“I can’t hold him! Go!”

Khar
a
ra
n
fo
r
th
e
totem
.
A
t
tache
d
t
o
th
e
righ
t
sid
e
w
a
s
a
celestial
w
eb
with
edges
the
color
of
the
night
sky
and
dotted
with
a
million
stars.
It
looked
like
the
Milky
W
ay,
except
that
it
possessed
all
the
colors
of
the
rainbow.
The
center
of
the
w
eb
opene
d
i
n
a
slit
,
lik
e
a
cat’
s
e
y
e
.
Sh
e
hear
d
th
e
lou
d
crackin
g
she
ha
d
hear
d
onc
e
before
,
th
e
metalli
c
chimin
g
o
f
strang
e
bells.
Just short of the e
y
e, she stopped.

“Lea
v
e him!” she screamed.

V
ictori
a
dashe
d
t
o
her
.
Miele
y
rose
,
confused
,
th
e
k
nife
stuck in his shoulder, and follo
w
ed her.

Onl
y
a
fe
w
fee
t
remained
.
V
ictori
a
w
a
s
goin
g
t
o
mak
e
it!
Khar
a
too
k
a
las
t
breat
h
o
f
pine
y
ai
r
an
d
steppe
d
insid
e
th
e
e
y
e.
When
she
breathed
again,
the
air
w
as
dry
and
smelled
of
w
arm
sand
.
Sh
e
stretche
d
ou
t
he
r
hand
.
“Hurry!
”
Bu
t
th
e
pulsin
g
kaleidoscop
e
o
f
color
s
forme
d
a
n
invisibl
e
obstacl
e
V
ictoria
coul
d
no
t
breach
.
The
y
stoo
d
les
s
tha
n
a
n
arm’
s
distanc
e
apart,
the
galaxy
of
colors
bet
w
een
them.
P
lacing
her
hand
on
th
e
barrier
,
V
ictori
a
looke
d
wistful
.
“
I
thought—
w
el
l
I
would
ha
v
e
come.
So
long,
girlfriend,
I
’
ll
be
on
the lookout for you in those in-bet
w
een places.”

“No,
no,
w
ait!”
Khara
screamed.
Mieley,
pale
and
bleeding,
caugh
t
up
.
H
e
stoo
d
limpl
y
a
t
V
ictoria’
s
side
,
lookin
g
half-dead.
Th
e
eart
h
shoo
k
an
d
th
e
sk
y
opened
,
an
d
Khar
a
trie
d
t
o
find
V
ictoria’s e
y
es.

I will miss you e
v
ery day.

Khara
’
s
fi
s
t
cros
s
e
d
he
r
hear
t
an
d
s
h
e
bo
w
e
d
.
Sh
e
fel
t
her
s
elf
lifted up and then, gratefully, nothing more.

Chapte
r
Fifty-two
Miel
e
y

A
hollow tinkling sound he could only liken to the sound of
the
antique
Baoding
ball
he
kept
on
his
desk,
but
a
thousand times
louder,
filled the
air.
Too
amazed
to
mo
v
e,
Arlan
Mieley
w
atched his prize step into a slice of light.

“Wha
t
th
e
hell?
”
Th
e
word
s
lef
t
hi
s
mout
h
w
eakl
y
a
s
he
realize
d
th
e
breadt
h
o
f
hi
s
mistake
;
sh
e
ha
d
escaped
,
taking
th
e
las
t
bracele
t
wit
h
her
.
No
,
i
t
w
a
s
fa
r
wors
e
tha
n
that
.
A
sickenin
g
sensatio
n
sprea
d
throug
h
him
.
No
w
i
t
al
l
mad
e
sense.
Al
l
th
e
runnin
g
an
d
hidin
g
ha
d
nothin
g
t
o
d
o
wit
h
hidin
g
a
cach
e
o
f
treasure
;
i
t
ha
d
bee
n
t
o
hid
e
th
e
girl
.
Wh
o
w
a
s
she?
Though
he
did
not
think
he
could
bear
the
ans
w
er,
he
glanced
furti
v
ely at
V
ictoria.

No
wonder
she
had
been
willing
to
gi
v
e
up
her
reputation
and
her
lousy
center.
He
w
atched
her
look
at
the
ground
and
wip
e
he
r
e
y
e
.
He
r
shoulder
s
sank
,
an
d
sh
e
seeme
d
no
t
t
o
notice
he
w
as
there.
He
seized
her
by
the
shoulders,
pushing
his
face
close to hers.

“Where did she go?
T
ell me!” he screamed.

Sh
e
woul
d
ha
v
e
falle
n
excep
t
fo
r
hi
s
gri
p
o
n
her
.
V
ictoria
shrugged
and
said
v
ery
quietly,
“To
the
y
ear
2181.
BC,
that
is.”

“What?
”
Y
o
u
di
d
jus
t
hi
t
he
r
i
n
th
e
head
,
h
e
thought
.
P
lease,
please, let her be out of her mind.

Sh
e
looke
d
a
t
him
,
he
r
e
y
e
s
tired
.
“S
o
bus
y
chasin
g
those
bracelets,
”
sh
e
muttere
d
feebly
.
“Didn’
t
yo
u
e
v
e
r
wonder
ho
w
sh
e
cam
e
t
o
ha
v
e
them
?
The
y
w
er
e
hers,
”
sh
e
tol
d
him
.
“Princess
Khara,
daughter
of
P
epy
the
Second
and
Co-Regent
of the House of Pharaoh.”

“Y
ou
’
re lying.”

“Y
ou saw her disappear. Where do you think she
w
ent?”

Mieley had no ans
w
er.

“Still, you ha
v
e the other two,” she reminded him.

“They
’
re useless to me without the third.”

“Pity.”

Miele
y
w
atche
d
he
r
closely
,
ho
w
he
r
lip
s
curle
d
i
n
an
infuriatin
g
smile
.
W
ithou
t
meanin
g
to
,
h
e
pu
t
hi
s
hand
s
around
her
neck
and
pushed
her
to
the
ground,
squeezing
harder
and
harde
r
a
s
he
r
fac
e
turne
d
blu
e
an
d
sh
e
slappe
d
a
t
him
.
He
w
atche
d
wit
h
satisfactio
n
a
s
he
r
e
y
e
s
rolle
d
back
w
ard
,
intent
o
n
w
aitin
g
fo
r
th
e
las
t
tendri
l
o
f
mortalit
y
t
o
lea
v
e
he
r
when
somethin
g
knocke
d
hi
m
of
f
o
f
her
.
Fo
r
a
n
instant
,
hi
s
heart
leapt.
She’s
come
back
,
he
thought,
to
try
to
sa
v
e
her
friend.
Now
I
’
ll
kill
them
both.
But
as
his
e
y
es
focused,
they
grew
wide
with
panic.
It
w
as
not
the
small,
bra
v
e
girl,
but
a
man
with
fire
for
e
y
es
and
teeth
curled
back
in
a
snarl,
an
oozing
line
of
stitched
f
les
h
o
v
e
r
hi
s
brow
.
Suddenl
y
Miele
y
kne
w
h
e
woul
d
ne
v
er
lea
v
e
th
e
t
o
p
o
f
thi
s
mo
untai
n
ali
v
e
.
H
e
all
o
w
e
d
hi
mse
l
f
a
vision—the
re
v
ersal
of
his
disgraced
life.
She
would
ha
v
e
been
the find
of the millennia…

Elia
s
Barró
n
pause
d
t
o
inspec
t
th
e
blood
y
en
d
o
f
th
e
tree
limb, lifting it like a baseball bat.