Frazier composed himself and continued his report. “We know the destruction was widespread throughout all the Realities. But it seems to have stopped, everywhere. Maybe we’ve avoided the complete meltdown you feared.”

“‘Meltdown’?” Jane repeated. “That seems too sweet a word. What worried me was that we’d set off a chain reaction that would wipe us all from existence. I still sense something wrong in the air, in the Chi’karda, like a bubble that’s about to burst. Don’t be too confident that we’re in the clear just yet.”

“At least it’s calmed down for now. That first hour or so, I was ready to accept my fate and make my peace. I don’t know—I feel like we’re good now. I think we’re going to be okay.”

Jane scoffed at him. “You trust your instincts over mine? Not a smart way to go about things, Frazier. What you’re feeling is just the natural relief after a close call. We are not safe yet—trust me on that. If you’re going to be my right-hand man, I need you to stay pragmatic and sharp and not fall for whimsical feelings of comfort and safety.” How she hated being mean to this man, but she could never restrain herself.

“I understand, Mistress. And I promise we haven’t let down our guard in the least. Our people are winking back and forth, constantly giving updates. If anything bad starts up again, we’ll know right away.”

“Good. What else? I have a feeling that smile you couldn’t keep off your face walking in here wasn’t for this alone.”

Frazier grinned enough to show his teeth. “Observant as usual. You always know—”

“Get on with it.”

“Yeah, sorry. Um, well, I think I have some news for you that none of us could’ve expected this soon.”

Frazier paused, staring into the eyeholes of her mask like a lover. His confidence and courage shocked Jane. Surprisingly, it didn’t anger her, only made her more eager to hear what he had to say.

“Word has come from the Sleeks guarding the forest at the Factory. They’ve captured three Realitants. They’re not quite to the Factory yet, but one of the Sleeks rushed to get the news to us. The prisoners will be locked up and ready for you to interrogate by the time you arrive, I’m sure.”

Jane felt a pleasant tingle wash across the severely damaged skin of her entire body—something she hadn’t experienced since the Dark Infinity incident. She didn’t know she still had the capability for such things—for pleasure.

Almost forgetting herself, she leaned forward like an eager schoolgirl wanting to hear about a boy she liked. “I know what you’re going to say next. I know who they’ve captured, or you wouldn’t be so excited. Tell me I’m right, Frazier.”

He laughed, surprising her again. “You are. Higgin-bottom and two of his friends. We got ’em.”

Jane leaned back in her chair, then realized her mask had transformed into a giant smile. She quickly erased it, but that’s how she felt. When Atticus had disappeared back at the Blade tree, she’d had a thousand troubling thoughts flash through her mind. The worst one was that the Haunce had gotten involved, and if that had been the case, very bad things could have happened. But there had to be another explanation if the Sleeks had captured the boy again so soon, so easily.

So . . . easily.

Her brief elation vanished. “Frazier, why in the world would those people come to the Factory? Why come to the Thirteenth Reality at all? Something’s wrong here.”

Frazier’s face so quickly melted into distraught panic that Jane felt sorry for him. “I . . . don’t know, Mistress. I . . . but . . . if we have them, does it matter? We caught them. Whatever they were trying to do, we stopped them!”

Jane stood up. “It’s too easy, too simple. Tell the Sleeks to guard them with every creature they can spare. I want every weapon on the grounds gathered—send more if necessary. Search the entire area. Something is wrong!” She pulled up the hem of her robe and started marching toward the door.

“What . . . where are you going?” Frazier called from behind her.

She swiveled sharply to look at him, her mask full of rage. “No more chances, no more mistakes. The boy must die—he’s too dangerous! We’ll have to be careful so as not to accidentally ignite the powers inside him. But I’m going to kill him till he’s dead, dead, dead!”

She felt a trickle of insanity—and relished it.

Chapter 41

An Interesting Gate

Tick’s display of power must’ve made an impression on the tall, wispy Sleeks. They didn’t make a sound as they moved through the forest, and they had even let go of their prisoners’ necks, letting them walk freely as long as they stayed on course. And they came nowhere near Tick himself.

Dawn had finally hit the world, making everything in the forest look dull purple. While the extra light made the journey easier, it also reminded Tick of how long it had been since he’d last slept, and exhaustion weighed on him like soggy clothing. He knew they must be close to the Factory. He couldn’t help but hope that once they got there, they’d throw them in a prison cell where he could get at least a little rest before Jane showed up and they had to do their magic tricks to save the universe.

He’d tried twice to speak to Paul or Sofia, but neither of them would respond, flickering their eyes at the Sleeks as if scared of the consequences. Tick guessed he could understand their hesitation, but he felt no fear of the creatures anymore. It was odd—their creepy look alone should’ve made him shudder with chills every time he looked at them, but his episode earlier with the surge of Chi’karda had pumped him full of confidence.

Those things weren’t going to mess with him again. Right that second, he thought nothing in the world would ever mess with him again. His rational side tried to tell him that he was being stupid, but he pushed it away, wanting to enjoy this feeling of invincibility for a little while longer.

The air around them brightened suddenly, a combination of the trees thinning out and the sun rising higher by the second. Tick looked up and saw the sky for the first time in awhile. A flat layer of bumpy clouds panned across most of it, the eastern edge outlined in fiery orange. Something smelled really awful, growing more pungent as he thought about it. He was pretty sure he’d never been around a rotting animal before, but for some reason that’s exactly what the odor made him think of.