“So what happens now?” she asked.
“The Intercessor will travel the Nightway until it finds an exit,” Goat-Eyes said. “It will use its power to widen the gateway until it is large enough to pass through. It will then go to your world – to Oakmont, specifically. There, it will rectify the Imbalance.”
“You said the Intercessor was awakened by Edgar’s death,” Lori said. “Why would it go to Oakmont instead of his hometown?”
“Because Edgar would not have died if you hadn’t come to the Nightway on your own,” the Driver said. “That was something we did not anticipate. Since you caused his death, however indirectly, his Imbalance has been added to yours. This now makes Oakmont the focal point of both your transgressions.”
“What will the Intercessor do?” Lori asked, but before either Goat-Eyes or the Driver could answer, she remembered the final vision Aashrita had revealed to her in the Garden of Anguish – an aerial view of Oakmont, flattened as if by a series of massive tornadoes.
“Oh god,” she whispered.
“The destruction of your town will be total,” the Driver said. “But if the Imbalance isn’t corrected, the Shadowkin will overrun your entire world, devouring everything until nothing remains. Oakmont is a small price to pay for saving your planet.”
It didn’t seem that small to Lori. Thousands of people lived in Oakmont, and if what Goat-Eyes and the Driver were telling her was true, they were all marked for death.
“There are two Imbalances in your town,” the Driver said. “And now Edgar’s can never be fixed. The Intercessor can tolerate a single Imbalance in one location. It’s like a wound that will never heal but which will not, itself, prove fatal. But the Intercessor cannot abide two Imbalances, especially when one is as serious as what you caused.”
“We know the Shadowkin are involved somehow,” Goat-Eyes said. “They’re drawn to you because you’ve become the living embodiment of Imbalance. The negative energy you emit is like food and drink to them. It’s made them grow stronger, given them the power to affect matter in your world.”
“So you know whatever I did is serious, but you don’t know what it is,” Lori said.
“Precisely,” Goat-Eyes said.
“Then what fucking use are you?” Lori sighed. “If I go back to my world and fix the Imbalance I created….”
“The Intercessor may return to its slumber,” the Driver said.
“May?”
The Driver exchanged a glance with Goat-Eyes before turning back to Lori. “It’s our best guess at this point.”
Lori was about to tell the Driver where he and Goat-Eyes could shove their best guess when a new tremor hit. This was different than the others, a single solid thoom.
The Driver and Goat-Eyes – both of whom had always seemed in total control – now looked scared shitless.
Thoom.
Lori saw a crimson glow off in the distance, and for a moment she thought the sun was rising. Except there was no sun in this place.
Thoom.
The crimson glow swayed from side to side, and Lori understood that she was seeing the tower – the Intercessor’s horn – lit up. The behemoth was using it to light its way, like a fish that lived in the darkest depths of the ocean used bioluminescence to help locate its prey.
Thoom.
Both Goat-Eyes and the Driver had been looking toward the crimson light, but now the Driver turned toward her.
“Go! We’ll do what we can to slow down the Intercessor!”
Thoom.
Lori turned toward the shimmering curtain that marked the exit and ran, pain in her knee be damned.
Chapter Thirteen
She’d forgotten it had been raining back home, but she remembered the instant she reemerged into her world and cold water pelted her naked body, the raindrops’ impact making her cuts and bruises sting. The sky was dark, but not nearly so much as on the Nightway, and she saw buildings flanking her on the right and left, saw cars moving past her, coming toward her.
The exit had let her out in the middle of a street.
Drivers honked their horns, some in warning, some in irritation, some in approval of seeing a naked woman in their midst. Lori still gripped the Gravedigger Special – which now held only five rounds – and out of reflex she pointed it at a car coming toward her. It was a black Kia Soul, just like the kind Larry drove. The vehicle stopped and the driver put on the hazard lights, while the drivers behind laid on their horns, angry at having to deal with the sudden obstacle. The driver lowered his window and stuck his head out.
“Why the hell are you naked?” Larry asked.
Grinning in relief, Lori lowered the gun and ran toward Larry’s car, bare feet slapping wet pavement. Once she was inside, Larry took off his leather jacket and handed it to her. She draped it over herself like a blanket and shivered as Larry turned on the heater and cranked it to full blast. Warm air gusted from the vents, and Lori closed her eyes and sighed. It was the first real warmth she’d felt since finding herself on the Nightway again, and it was like heaven.
Drivers continued to honk, and Larry turned off the Kia’s hazards and began moving forward again. Lori opened her eyes and looked at him.
“Thanks for picking me up,” she said. “But how the hell did you know where to find me?”
“This.”
Larry’s phone rested in the cupholder. He picked it up, swiped his thumb across the screen to unlock it, and then handed it to Lori. She took the phone and saw a text message displayed.
Lori. Franklin Street where it intersects Hawthorne. 4:37 p.m.
She saw the sender’s name: Aashrita.
“Isn’t that the name of the friend of yours who….” Larry began.
