Chapter 27
Twenty-Seven
JUMP
“For old time’s sake, I would love for you to be here to witness the grand, inaugural activation of our wondrous machine.”
“You’ve endangered trillions of lives, killed billions—all for the sake of science.”
“We will have sole command of all the worlds in existence.”
“Are you seeing this, Dr. Carter? This is the culmination of your life’s work!”
I woke up with a soft gasp.
Squeezing my eyes shut, I clutched my head at the sudden onslaught of images—all my forgotten memories crashing back in a relentless torrent, each one striking with painful clarity as my mind pulsed, my head throbbed, and my heart hammered wildly against my ribs.
With my own heart finally restored, everything was coming to a fine point as the true horror of what I had done came rushing back.
This was all my fault.
Shall I tell you the tale of Dr. Eleanor Carter?
Eleanor Carter was head of the most prestigious scientific laboratory on Earth. The world’s topmost expert in string theory and quantum universes.
It was a particularly fine day when she was having a messy bagel that she had an epiphany.
Her latest theory could so very easily be proven—if only she could tap into the mind of one random human being, regardless of their consent, use their life essence as a marker in plotting the shape of another dimension, the key to unlocking all the secrets of the multiverse.
And it worked. Of course it worked.
And if Eleanor could exploit one human life to support her discoveries, why not more? If she could solve one theory after another by simply pushing those boundaries, what would it matter? It would all add up to the big picture.
All she ever wanted to do was sate her curiosity about the world. About all the worlds.
I took a deep breath, my chest heavy with remorse and horror.
The General was right. None of my groundbreaking research would have been successful if I hadn’t been arrogant enough to sacrifice human lives. Starting with that one person, and then eventually, entire worlds lost to my theories and trials.
All for the sake of my scientific curiosity.
I was still curled up against Rabb’s warmth. His arm was around me, keeping me close against his hard body. His usually conflicted expression softened by sleep, his chest moving in even breaths. Lifting my hand, I brushed his dark hair off his forehead.
In all my lives, I had never felt this close to anyone.
Eleanor had never been in love—until now.
A momentary rush of warmth shot through me, only to be stopped short by cold reality.
He loved me.
Well, no.
Rabb loved Allie—brave, clever Allie.
Not cold, calculating Eleanor.
Ugh.
I had to clear my head.
Careful not to wake up Rabb, I slipped out of bed.
Hastily putting on dry clothes, I bent down to the pile of my still-wet clothes at the foot of the bed to fetch something from the pocket of my lab coat.
I stared at the F-capacitor in my hands.
A mechanical link with two delicate metal branches.
Inert. Innocent. Harmless—for now.
It was the last component I needed to complete my invention.
Gripping it tighter in my hand, I whirled to head downstairs as quietly as I could.
My mind spun as I vividly recalled the event that had led me to this world.
As the General said, during one of our experimentation trials, at the very last minute, I’d had a change of heart.
I had decided to sacrifice myself to save others, intending to take the General with me, but instead, we ended up getting caught in my own maelstrom machine’s wake that had opened a path, and eventually got pulled into this mystical other world.
Was it too late for retribution?
I steeled myself not to let the crushing guilt overwhelm me as I prepared to safely disable my new invention.
I had been so close. I focused on the future possibilities of more fantastic inventions, the anticipation of that usual feeling of pride and triumph upon completing my work that usually washed over me. Next time, it would be better.
One floor beneath my laboratory, in this dimly lit space, my nearly-completed machine stood in ominous silence.
Significantly smaller than the fantastic machine that the General had created with the Hatter in the forest, it contained the same glass, mirrors, and steel.
A platform that only fit one person, rather than an entire invasion army.
“Fresh tides.”
I turned to see Rabb at the bottom of the spiral staircase. He was dressed in some of his clothes that he had left behind. His blue eyes were wide with marvel.
“Rabb.” I straightened up.
Walking over, he shook his head in disbelief.
“You built a…” He stopped short to amend, “Well, I should have known. In fact, did I not call it myself? You are a brilliant woman.” He moved to brace his arms around me, tugging me back against his chest. He bent his head close to my ear.
“No cage will hold you. Not this entire world. Not even the prison of my heart.”
Closing my eyes, I savored the moment—his warmth on my back, his jaw pressed against my cheek, the tingling I got everywhere, every second he was anywhere near me.
“Rabb, I…got my memories back.”
He stilled behind me, but he didn’t let me go. He swallowed hard. “Are you okay? Does anything hurt?”
I turned to meet the concern in his soft blue eyes.
The emotions in them were a storm of conflict, making me ache.
“I’m fine.” I dropped my gaze. “It was true. Everything the General said I did. I know it now. For sure.” I lifted one shoulder in a shrug.
“It’s just I wanted everything to be…fascinating. ”
He tilted my chin up again. “We both know even monsters can change.”
I took his face in my hands. “Whoever I am, I do love you.”
A shadow crossed his eyes. “What are you saying? Are you trying to say goodbye to me right now?” He dropped his hands, taking a step back.
“Is that what this means? You’re going to use this machine to go back to your own world?
” His eyes darted across the floor. “It’s a mistake, Allie.
You must stay. You’ve fit in so well here.
You’ve made a home. I-I need you.” He rubbed his face with his hand.
“I’ve been stuck, too focused on the past. You are my only future. ”
Shaking my head, I rushed toward him once again to stop his panicked rant. “Rabb, I’m not going anywhere,” I assured, sliding my arms about his neck.
Enormous relief crashed onto his face. “Oh, my god.” He bent down to take my lips in his, fervent, fiery, making shivers and warmth rocket throughout me. Breaking off for a moment, he turned toward the machine. “Then what are you going to do with that?”
“Well, I wanted to make sure the destruction of the Hatter’s machine restored the ghosts back to their normal selves before I took it apart completely. It’s likely all fine, but just to double-check.” I shrugged to consider, “Then I suppose I’ll probably use the parts to create something new—”
“But it’s such a waste of your brilliance, Doctor.”
Gasping, I whirled around. I already recognized the voice before the figure emerged from the shadows.
Somehow, the General had made it out of the collapsing forest. Somehow, he had found my clock tower and climbed all those steps to find my laboratory.
Even though the wild-eyed man standing before us looked far from the self-important, buttoned-up General we had encountered in the forest. His tailored uniform was disheveled, torn and bloody, his pants ratty, singed at the edges.
Somehow, he bore surprisingly more wrinkles on his dirt-streaked face.
Rabb immediately stepped in front of me.
But the glint in the General’s eyes carried no remorse, no hesitation. Only iron-willed motivation. His gaze darted straight toward the machine.
“No—!” Before I could stop him, the General leapt toward the control panels to flick the switch on.
It must have been similar enough to the Hatter’s machine that he was at least familiar with how to activate it.
The machine burst a hiss of steam, a mechanical hum, with the same ethereal green lights shining up from underneath as it warmed up. But since the machine was incomplete, the same high-pitched abrasive screech began blaring out.
“Aah—” With a grunt, Rabb braced one hand against the wall at the otherworldly energies given off by the machine.
Gritting my own teeth from the sting, I caught his arm. “Rabb!”
The General smirked. “That should take care of your weak king.”
I shot the General a bewildered glare. “Are you crazy? Why would you activate a delicate machine like this on your own? It’s not fully operational. You have no idea the consequences—”
His wild eyes glowed. “Well, I guess we’ll all find out together. There’s no time like the present.”
Dear lord… It seemed he had finally gone mad too.
I scoffed in derision. “What are you even doing here, General? Run out of committee members to kiss-ass to get to your position? If you’re wondering if I ever regretted working with you, I’m here to tell you I definitely do.”
His eyebrows shot up. “Oh, so you finally have your memories back, do you?” He clicked his tongue. “It doesn’t matter. After you destroyed all my hard work, do you think you can talk to me like that?” Sneering, he withdrew something from his belt.
It was a pistol.
My breath caught in my throat. Wünder didn’t have weapons like this. The General must have brought it with him from our world when we crossed over. Even after all this time, there was no way to tell how dangerous it was. For all we knew, it could still have been fully functional, absolutely deadly.