Chapter 28 - What Hurts the Most
July
There is no other way to cross through the Grace Wards except by wearing special gear. During the journey, our bodies shrink, flex, and plump back to their original form on the other side, and regular clothes cannot survive the journey.
It's not the best feeling, and honestly, it’s a bit gross to watch, but you get used to it after a while.
Also, only two Harvesters can cross in the same pod, as their chemical balance would not survive the process, and produce horrible results upon arrival. Nobody wants two heads or having to pee from an extra mouth on their forehead.
The Grace Wards dividing our Worlds are subtle and thin, but strong enough to bounce you back if you don’t follow the protocol.
At least, this is what I believed in—until today.
I approach Tabitha hesitantly. “I appreciate your help, but we can’t cross all together. We’re one Harvester too many. Unless—” I consider the pod floating on the water behind her, pressing my lips together and arching my brows at the very old, overused, and surely not licensed... thing.
Tabitha raises a thick eyebrow, mirroring me. “Oh, hell no! I’m not planning to stay behind and let you kids make the crossing alone.”
“That’s not what I was— ”
“Do you have an alternative? By all means, run back to Daddy Roden and ask if we can borrow his very own bloody pod.” She waves a hand, showing me the way back to the nightmare we’ve just left behind.
My heart sinks at the thought of returning there, and I lower my head, burdened by thoughts of the desperation of the past few hours.
As if reading my need for someone to take the reins from me and tell me everything will be fine, Tabitha moves towards me and lays a hand on my shoulder.
“Look, I came back to save you, not to give Roden and his pompous acolytes the privilege of carrying my dead body around the island like a trophy. I’m not a brainless martyr.
” She glances behind me and adds with a smirk, “Even if I believe not much of the Chapter will remain after this glorious debacle—maybe just the ashes of their posh arses.”
The need to believe her pierces my chest with sharp claws.
“Why are you helping him?” I ask, unsure if I really want an answer while helping her slide open the pod's metal door—an egg-shaped cocoon that can command the Grace Wards to open and close.
Tabitha lowers Galen like a mother tucks her child into bed for the night, and says softly, “Sometimes, you have to do what hurts the most to keep the people you love safe. Galen is a strong young man. He will make it through, or I will spank his little, back peach.”
A hint of a smile crosses Galen’s face, but I’m probably just imagining it.
“Okay then,” Tabitha smacks her thighs, wrapped in worn, black leather trousers, “You can have a moment to curse what’s left of the island with your best repertoire of insults, and then off we fuck. I swear, every time I set foot on this island, my skin blisters.”
Every time?
I shake my head and step inside the pod, “I think I’m good,” I mutter.
Tabitha is a chatterbox, but one who’s not afraid to speak up.
“Have you done this before?” Tabitha is so tall, I feel like a puppy when I look at her. “I mean, crossing with an extra passenger?”
Tabitha smiles, her face so open and honest, then says, “I know you’re terrified, who wouldn’t be? But I was called here because I’m the only one who can help you now.”
I nod, and my attention moves to Galen, who looks peacefully asleep now, the pain gone from his face. “Do you think Roden knows you’re here?”
She looks around, distractedly chewing on a silver chain hidden beneath her black top, then exclaims, “Fuck, no! But if we spend another minute on this island, he probably will. He’s got eyes everywhere, love—Roden will hunt whoever he thinks is a traitor.
And I’m top of his list.” Tabitha’s hands curl into large fists.
“But the Herionos attacked us…”
Her eyes darken, and she quickly glances at Galen.
“Yeah, well, if you want to survive out there, I’d suggest you review your labels and forget whatever fairy tale Roden filled your little mind with.” She bites her thumbnail, concerned.
“What about the others?” I look over my shoulder at the island, at the large column of smoke rising to the sky.
“There is more to this island than you think,” Tabitha says, echoing my fears. If I hadn’t spent a night in a secret place covered in screens, I’d think she only wanted me to forget about the others and stop delaying our escape.
But, as easy as it would be for me to remain detached from this person, nothing about her screams danger. “Fine. Give me something to do.” A plea as I pin my hair up and off my face, trying to ignore the stickiness and the rough texture of dirt and soot coating it.
“Make sure Galen keeps breathing. I can’t watch over him and drive this old lady simultaneously.” She pats the pod’s wall. “She’s enjoyed too many rides.”
“What happens if he stops breathing halfway through our journey?” My chest rises as fear fills my ribcage.
Tabitha doesn’t reply; she doesn’t need to. She gestures for me to move further inside and reaches a hand out of the pod to pull down its heavy door, but not before scanning the sky one last time.
She lowers her eyes to the land and the hills, hesitating as if allowing herself some time to say goodbye.
“Are you waiting for someone else to join?” I ask as her gaze shoots right and left.
Her head drops, bobbing hopelessly, her silver braids wrapping her shoulders like a cloak. Her movements are fluid and light when she turns, eventually closing the door.
I sit down next to Galen’s unconscious body to quiet the nervous spasms in my abdomen. The protocol requires us to fast for at least twelve hours before a crossing, but the little chocolate I shared with him over an hour ago is the least of my problems.
Someone outside the pod must constantly monitor velocity and trajectory. We travel through the Wards and in-between spaces, and the slightest miscalculation may take us to the wrong place, where nobody expects us—even worse, we can end up completely alone and missing bits of our body and mind.
Tabitha breaks the ominous silence, confirming my fears. “They’re close. We don’t have time to get undressed and test our equilibrium… We need to cross—now.”
When water starts streaming inside the pod, I force my mind to stop spinning back to the recent events.
He knew about it, and he let it happen to me.
I can’t take my eyes off of Galen, crumpled on the floor, unconscious, still finding it hard to believe that he is part of the Chapter as much as Evelyn Popplewish. My mind gallops to her. On which side does she stand? Was she on the tower?
Tabitha’s voice is a noise in the background, a presence my senses haven’t fully recorded yet. The more I try to focus, the more the cramped space around me blurs. So do my thoughts.
“You knew…” I mouth.
I had no time to pick my side in the chaos of heat, raging flames and crumbling stones. To weigh Galen’s version of the story.
Crossings are silent. They’re timed by a sequence of regular breaths and the whoosh of water. While our two worlds stretch and shrink, we roll and float as the pod pushes through the Grace Wards.
But today, my breath is sticky and doesn’t travel far from my mouth, warming my face with sickly purple puffs.
“July…”
Galen’s face fuels fears that were only temporarily forgotten but never extinguished.
“Hello?”
What if this is what Galen wanted? To lead me far away before I could even get close to that Rogue.
“Crimson, for fuck’s sake.” Tabitha’s slap on my cheek is a cry for help, and it hurts like hell. “Whatever is brewing in your little head, make it stop.” Her voice is a mixture of authority, wisdom and maternal apprehension.
My face stings where Tabitha struck, and it is growing warmer than my toes. My shoes are barely visible under the icy cold water that has already risen to my ankles and turned Galen’s trousers into a deeper shade of black.
At last, I look away from him to acknowledge Tabitha. “We’re taking on water,” I mumble.
“Thanks for stating the obvious.” Tabitha flicks me on my forehead before grabbing me by the shoulders. Her eyes are a deep, warm shade of brown, veined with thin red lines, like molten lava, and circled by lilac rims.
She sighs. “I didn’t come back to the island and risk my life only to die between Worlds. So, you keep our charming sleeping beauty alive, and I get us out of this uncomfortable situation. Understood?”
My head, hands, and whole body nod in agreement. This stranger appears to be the only one who can save us now. She seems to dislike the Chapter as much as I do and, like me, has a strong bond with Galen.
“He’s got more to lose than his life…” she adds before turning to the emergency control panel, which we never use because crossings are legal and thoroughly planned. “Now, where is that little bastard... Ah-ha! Found you.”
I fight the urge to check what Tabitha is doing when I hear the click of a switch.
Instead, I kneel next to Galen. The water has almost reached his hips.
My slippery hands and his drenched body, doubled in weight, don’t make it easy for me, but I lift him up against the wall to place my ear over his heart.
“He’s still alive.” I let out a relieved sigh.
“Good, now keep him that way.” Standing tall, legs spread like strong trees, half-submerged in water but sturdy like her desire to put as much distance between the pod and Roden, Tabitha reminds me of a captain leading her ship against a bunch of pirates.
Only we are the ones facing the wrath of the so-called authorities.
Galen mumbles something unintelligible under the light touch of my fingers as I try to keep him from sliding dangerously close to the water level.