Weavers (The Frost Chronicles) (12 page)

“Yes. Thank you.” I looked around the room again. It was spare besides the shelves, table, and chair, giving me few clues about its purpose or the life of the person who used it. Was it Juniper’s or someone else’s?

I had so many questions. They began to flood over me, spilling from my tongue. “So the fugitives come in through a gate, and you find them and bring them here?”

He crossed his arms and paced to the window. Peering out it, he said, “Most times, yes. I clean the Jump Floor and the Deck, so I’m usually around the gate. I keep an eye out. And we have others who watch for anyone who shows up. So far, we’ve managed to escape detection, although we’ve had some close calls.” He gave me a toothy grin. “You came during lunchtime. You’re lucky.”

Half of what he said made no sense at all to me, but I pushed on. “And the other fugitives...they’re all still here?”

“Most,” he said. “We’ve gotten them jobs around the Compound. Service duties, that sort of thing. Where else are they gonna go?”

“The Compound?” I asked. I wanted answers for all these unfamiliar terms I kept hearing.

“This,” he said, waving his arms to mean the space. “Here. This whole place. This is where they keep the gate. They study the portals here.”

“Scientists?” I guessed.

“Yes.”

Adam had been right, I realized. But thoughts of Adam made my chest ache, so I pushed them away.

“It isn’t cold here,” I said. “In my time, it’s cold most of the time.”

“Yes,” he said. “There’ve been a lot of changes between now and then.” His expression turned curious. “Say, you’re a lot more talkative than most. Most of the travelers who make the jump can barely string two sentences together.”

“I was a little more prepared for this,” I said simply, not wanting to talk about my mission.

That explanation seemed to satisfy him, and he nodded.

“You’ll talk to Jake later,” he said. “He’s in charge of the fugitives who come here. Sort of the unofficial leader. He made the jump himself about three years ago—he was one of the very first ones to do it, and he did it all on his own. He’s a smart one.”

Jake
. Could this man be the Jacob I was supposed to contact, the one I would give the list of names to? My heart beat faster, and sweat broke across my palms. “When can I see this man called Jake?”

“Tonight,” Juniper said. “There’s a meeting every week just to make sure everyone’s doing all right, and it’s tonight. You came at the perfect time.”

He patted his hands on his vest and glanced around. “Well, I should probably see about getting you something else to wear. Come along, then.”

We exited the door he’d gone through when he was fetching me the orange liquid. We stepped into a narrow hall, and I smelled must and rusty metal. The air was colder here.

“This is a food storage building,” he explained. “So they keep it quite cold.”

We descended a metal staircase into a cramped, shadowy room. Rows of narrow metal doors were mounted along one wall, and Juniper opened one and produced a wrinkled, dark olive piece of clothing all sewn together in one piece.

“Here,” he said. “I think this will fit you. You can dress in there.” He nodded at another doorway, and I saw a room of shiny white stone beyond. I took the clothing hesitantly. Boy’s clothing, by the looks of it. I eyed the trouser-like legs and fumbled with the button-up front.

“Am I pretending to be a boy?”

“What?” He looked at me as if seeing my dress for the first time. “Oh, no. Most of the workers wear those here. Men and women.”

Strange. I took the garment and went into the room he’d indicated. Shutting the door, I slid out of my dress. The olive clothing-piece felt tight and strange on my body, and I plucked at it nervously. I fingered my long blond braid and brushed at nonexistent dirt on my sleeve.

Suddenly, I was very afraid.

“We’ll get you some food after this,” Juniper called from the other room, making me jump. I shoved my dress into the bag I’d brought and hurried out again to join him.

~

The food he fed me was colorless but savory. I ate eagerly, ravenous despite the traumatic events of the day. My stomach hadn’t been full in so long that I’d forgotten what it felt like. When I’d finished everything on the metal plate he’d offered me, I leaned back in the chair and sighed.

“We’ll meet the others in an hour,” Juniper said. He was working on something at the desk, although I couldn’t see what it was. Musical sounds drifted from the desk and the tablet-like thing he held in his hands. “They’ll be eager to hear your story.”

My story
. What would I tell them? My real mission was secret. I couldn’t tell everyone. Only those whom it concerned. Atticus had strictly ordered as much. “I need to speak to the man named Jacob,” I said. “I...I know someone who knows him.” I stopped short of saying I had a message for him. It might arouse suspicion. Everyone else who came through the gate was running from something. If I showed up with a purpose, people might ask questions.

Juniper didn’t notice my hesitation. “You’ll meet him,” he assured me, and returned to his work.

I shut my eyes and tried to sleep as the hours passed, because exhaustion plucked at my muscles and weighed down my bones. But my thoughts kept pinging between here and home. I thought of Jonn and Ivy. Were they frightened, overwhelmed? Would they be all right? I thought of Adam, of Ann. My eyes burned and I moved restlessly. I thought of Gabe, and a wave of nervous apprehension swept over me.

We hadn’t seen each other in months. What would I say? What would he do? Did he still feel the way he’d felt before? These churning thoughts occupied me until Juniper shoved back his chair and stood.

“It’s time,” he said, and handed me a flat, metallic brooch inscribed with the words
Lila White
.

“What’s this?”

“Your new identity,” he said. “This means you’re approved to be here. They’ll get you a job in the kitchens or maybe on the swabber crew with me. Don’t worry. You’re going to be fine.”

I took the piece numbly, and he helped me fix it to the front of my garment. When it was in place, he helped me up and led me back out into the gathering darkness.

The sun had almost set, and a blue-purple dusk had settled over the buildings and streets. The air was still warm, but no longer so hot it threatened to suffocate me. I breathed in deeply and smelled hints of snow blossoms and pine. Juniper motioned for me to follow, and we crossed the street and headed toward the outskirts of the town, which was near the tree line. I eyed the edge of the wilderness warily, conscious of the gathering darkness. “Are the Watchers very active lately?”

“What?” he asked. “Watchers?”

“The monsters,” I said. “Whatever you call them here.”

His forehead wrinkled, and then he nodded vigorously as if remembering what I meant. “Oh. Yes. I remember that word. Watchers. We don’t have them here.”

His words stunned me so much that I stopped walking. The legends said that the Watchers were ancient, as old as the Frost itself. Was it possible that they didn’t exist in this younger, warmer land? A Frost without Watchers? I couldn’t fathom it.

I didn’t have time to ponder this new paradigm. Juniper was still walking, and I hurried to catch up. We reached the second building, and he motioned me inside first. “Straight down those stairs and to the right,” he directed. He locked the door behind us, and I descended another metal staircase splattered with paint and grime. Faintly, I heard the murmur of voices. My stomach tied itself in a knot, and my hands turned clammy.

Would Gabe be here?

I stepped into a long, dimly lit room strung with pipes. A circle of individuals sat along the far wall, and the swell of their whispers reached me in a wave. They all glanced at me without really looking when I entered, and their mouths continued to move, but their eyes stayed fixed on me.

I scanned the faces. I didn’t see Gabe.

A tall, thin man with dark hair and mismatched brown eyes stood and approached me. Juniper stepped to my side just as the man reached us. “This is Lila,” he grunted. “Formerly Lia.” To me, he said, “This is Jake. He’s in charge of the fugitives.”

“Pleased to meet you,” Jake said. “I hope you’ve recovered from your jump.”

Juniper patted me awkwardly on the arm and ambled off in the direction of the group. I supposed his work was done, and I wondered if I’d see him again. I felt a pang of nervousness. I’d felt safe with this gruff, short-spoken man. Who would be in charge of showing me around this strange place now?

The leader waited for my response. His expression was not unfriendly, but he was impossible to read. It reminded me a little of Adam, and sharp pang laced me. “Yes,” I said, trying to decide what to say to him. Should I mention Atticus now, or wait until I could be sure we wouldn’t be overheard?

“Where do you hail from originally?” he asked. “Aeralis? The Southern countries?”

“The Frost,” I said.

His eyebrows shot up, and his gaze sharpened almost imperceptibly. “Oh.”

He looked like he might say more, but someone in the circle banged a cup against a pipe and called for everyone’s attention. “Let’s introduce you to the group,” Jake said to me under his breath, and turned toward them.

Another man was speaking as we approached the circle. He stopped as we reached him, his gaze sliding to my face and then Jake’s. He stepped back and shoved his arms across his chest. Clearly, the latter man was in charge.

“This is Lila,” Jake said, waving a hand to indicate me. “She arrived today. Be sure to make her feel welcome.”

As all eyes turned to me for the second time, I scanned the faces, looking for familiar ones. Where was Gabe? I didn’t see him among the fugitives. Suddenly, my legs felt shaky and my stomach sick. Hands pulled me toward a seat, and I let them. The room spun. Was I getting travelsick again?

The man who’d been speaking stepped forward and resumed after I sank into the nearest empty chair. But his words ran over my head like water, and the whole room began to swirl and drip color as I struggled against the dizziness. Dimly, I heard the door open and shut as someone else entered the room. My vision darkened.

A hand grabbed my shoulder, anchoring me. A warm breath tickled my ear.

“Are you all right?”

I turned my head. My throat closed, and a pang sunk straight to my heart.

Gabe
.

GABE’S EYES WIDENED and his face whitened as he saw me. “Lia.” My name sounded strangled and strange coming from his lips, as if it were a language he’d almost forgotten how to speak.

I rose to my feet. We faced each other. We were inches and miles apart, our hands almost brushing, our breaths connected by an invisible thread stronger than steel. Were the others looking? I was aware of nothing but him.

“Let’s get out of here,” he managed, and then his fingers found mine, the heat of them branding me as he tugged me away from the others, and then we were passing through a door and into a dark hallway lit by a sputtering light that cast Gabe’s eyes into shadow. He released my arm and stepped back. He lifted his hands to his face and then dropped them at his sides. “How...?” He made a noise in his throat. “I don’t care,” he said, and pulled me into his arms.

The hug startled me, and I stiffened. It had been so long since anyone had embraced me like this. But gradually, I relaxed against the warmth of him. His shape had grown unfamiliar in the past months, and I memorized the feel of him again.

“You’re real,” he muttered into my hair. “I can’t believe it.”

I blinked at the stupid tears that flooded my eyes as I tightened my arms around him, reassuring myself of the same thing.

He released me and stepped back. His eyes searched mine, looking for secrets. “Lia, how? Why?”

“I’m here on a mission for the Thorns.”

“A mission? You—you work with the Thorns now? Those secret agents who helped me escape Aeralis? The group your parents belonged to?”

So much had happened since he’d left. It was too much to explain now. “Yes,” I said, and choked on a laugh. “In a way, you inspired me to do it.”

“But...now you’re here,” he said. “Your family. You—you left them?”

The secret of the PLD and my mission struggled on my tongue, rustling to life and demanding to be told. I sucked in a deep breath. I had to tell him, Atticus’s orders be damned. “I didn’t leave them,” I said. “Not forever.”

His eyebrows pinched together in confusion. His lips parted.

“There’s a way to go back,” I said. The words left me in a rush. I was empty after speaking them.

“What?”

“But it’s a secret. Don’t tell anyone. Not yet.”

He nodded. His hands found my arms. “Tell me.”

“I can’t.” The words burned the air between us. His gaze darkened, but I couldn’t tell him. “Not yet—trust me, Gabe.”

He nodded again. “Of course. I—I just can’t believe it. When did you get here?”

“Today. Only hours ago. A man named Juniper found me.”

“He finds most of us,” Gabe said. “He’s a little strange at times, but a good man. Trustworthy.” He paused. “Have you gotten an ID card yet?”

I fumbled for the square with my new name and held it out. He studied it. “Lila,” he read aloud, and then looked at me again.

Silence crept between us, broken only by the faint humming above our heads of some kind of machinery. My pulse still pounded in my ears. Nervous excitement still skittered across my skin. “So what happens now?” I asked.

“They’ll find you a job,” Gabe said. “Something to do. You’ll learn to blend in, pretend you are from this time.”

“How is it possible?” I asked. “How can we be here, in the Frost, in another time?”

“It’s true,” he promised.

The door opened behind us and a head peeked out. A red-haired girl, thin and freckled, looked at me curiously and then at Gabe. “Garrett,” she said to him. “You coming back in? It’s discussion time—didn’t you have things you wanted to say?”

“No,” he said. “Just tell them I went back to the rooms.”

Her lips pinched, but she only nodded. She looked at me again, as if taking note of how closely we were standing to each other.