Reckless (Free Preview) Read Online Free PDF Page A

above her — and of you, Jacob .   She seemed
surprised he actually existed.   Will’s
older brother, as unreal as the place she found herself in.
    She took Will’s blemished hand.   “What is that?” she asked in a halting voice
as she stroked the stone.   “I have never
seen a skin condition like this.”
    Of course.   A medical student — Look at her, Jacob!   She’s just as lovesick as your brother.   So lovesick that she even followed him into a
whole other world.
    From the rafters above came a scraping sound, and a scrawny
face peered down at them.   The Stilt who
had bitten Jacob on his first trip behind the mirror could not be driven from
the tower, but its ugly face quickly disappeared behind the cobwebs as Jacob
drew his pistol.   For a while Jacob had
borrowed guns from his father’s collection, but at some point he’d had a
gunsmith in
New York
put the workings of a modern pistol inside one of the old-fashioned shells.
    Clara stared, dumbfounded, at the glinting muzzle.
    “Send her back, Will.”   Jacob tucked the pistol back into his belt.   “I won’t tell you again.”
    Will had by now encountered things that were more frightening
than a big brother, but finally he did turn around.   He brushed the fair hair from Clara’s
forehead.
    “He’s right,” Jacob heard Will whisper.   “I’ll come after you soon.   It will heal.   You’ll see; my brother will find a way.”
    Jacob had never understood where all that trust came from.   Nothing had ever been able to shake it, not
even all the years during which Will had barely seen him.
    “Let’s go.”   Jacob
turned around and went toward the hatch.
    “Go back, Clara . Please,” he heard
Will say.
    But Jacob had already reached the bottom of the rope ladder
by the time his brother finally caught up with him.   Will climbed so slowly, it seemed he never
wanted to reach the bottom.   Then he
stood there, looking at the elven dust on his hands.   Deep sleep, enchanting dreams — not the worst gift, but Will wiped
the dust from his fingers as Jacob had shown him.   Then he touched his neck.   The first traces of pale green were already
showing there, too.
    “You don’t need anybody, right, Jake?”   His voice nearly sounded envious.   “You were always like that.”
    Jacob pushed aside the ivy.
    “If you need her so much, you should leave her where she’s
safe.”
    “I just wanted to give her a call.   She hadn’t heard from me in weeks.   I didn’t think she’d follow me.”
    “Really?   And what
were you waiting for then up there?”
    Will had no answer for that.
     
    *           *           *           *           *
     
    Fox was waiting by the horses, and she didn’t like it at all
that Jacob had brought Will back.   Nobody can help him.   Her gaze still said it.
    We’ll see, Fox.
    The horses were agitated.   Will soothingly patted their nostrils.   His
gentle brother.   Will would always
bring home every stray dog and cry bitter tears over the poisoned rats in the
park.   But what was growing in his flesh
was anything but gentle.
    “Where are we riding to?”
    He looked up at the tower.
    Jacob gave him one of the rifles from the panniers of the
packhorse.
    “To the
Hungry
Forest
.”
    Fox lifted her head.
    Yes, Fox, I know.   Not
a very pleasant place.
    His mare shoved her head into his back.   Jacob had paid Chanute a whole year’s earnings
for her, and she was worth every farthing.   He tightened the strap on her saddle as Fox
uttered a warning growl.
    Steps.   Hesitant.   Then they
stopped.
    Jacob turned around.
    “No matter what kind of place this is ” — Clara was standing between the blackened columns — “ I will not go back.   Will needs me.   And I want to know what happened.”
    Fox eyed her incredulously, like a strange animal.   The women in her world wore long dresses and
kept their hair pinned up or plaited, like peasant girls.