45 - TYSE

CHAPTER FORTY-FIVE

A ll Clara has to do is feed me along the way.

It's not a stupid plan. It's not even as sinister as it sounds because the guys down on Eight pack up spark into jumps all day, every day. It's a thing.

I'm thinking this in my head, but in the same moment Clara is saying it out loud. "We can actually pull this off."

"Clara." I shoot her a look. But we haven't known each long enough for her to catch my subtle side-eye that, to me, is screaming shut the fuck up .

Because she doesn't shut the fuck up, she keeps talkin'. "Yeah. I mean"—she shrugs, looking me straight in the eye—"those guys downstairs package up jumps, right?"

I look at Anneeta and she's beaming. I point at her. "You, go. Now. I need to talk to Clara."

Anneeta narrows her eyes at me. And even though I don't even have any lights on in here, the shadows flicker dark. Like I'm pissin' this baby god off.

" Don't ." I'm still pointin' at her when I say this. "Don't you fuckin' dare threaten me. Because I'm gonna tell you something right now, I'm not afraid of you. If you're so damn powerful, why can't ya leave?"

She cowers a little. But I can't tell if it's genuine or if she's just a really good little faker. If I was placing bets, I'd say faker.

"Tyse." Clara walks over to me and takes my hands in hers, lookin' me in the eyes. "We can't leave her behind. We're… kind of a team. Right? I mean, we can see other worlds. Well, we can't, but you can. And she's part of that. We don't know what it means yet."

"That's exactly my point. Just because we can do it doesn't mean we should. And maybe she's tied to this tower for a reason, ya know?" I look at Anneeta now, narrowing my eyes. "Maybe baby gods are too dangerous to be let loose on the world."

Anneeta cocks a hip and sneers at me. "How do you figure I'd be ‘loose?' Because the way I see it, I need Clara to do anything."

"Right. And that's a very short-term solution. I don't think there's another fuckin' tower in the whole damn world that sells jumps, Anneeta."

"Right! Yes. That means it's fate!"

"Fuck off. Fate, my ass! It's luck, kid. Luck . And those jumps are heavy. How many can we realistically carry? Even by high-speed, non-stop train, Delta is fourteen hours away. Do you know how long one jump will last ya?"

She huffs. "No."

"Exactly. You don't know shit. You know less than Clara and she's not even from here."

"OK." Clara steps between us, facing me. "Should I remind you of your little speech the other day? What happened to ‘If I were putting together a go team, and I had pick of all the people in that tower?—'"

I put up a hand to stop her. "That was before , Clara. She's a fuckin' god. And she's a little liar too. I don't like liars. I can't trust liars."

"I didn't lie about anything!" Anneeta is reverting back to her childish ways, which I'm OK with, because it proves my point.

"Nah? Well, leaving things out on purpose, important things like, ‘Hey, Tyse, I'm a baby god and I eat Spark Maidens for breakfast,' is just as bad as lying."

Oh, I get a look for this one. She is mad. Her arms come up, crossing in front of her, and her eyes are narrowed into slits. "Fine. But you left things out too. You killed all your team members. How do Clara and I know you won't just kill us one day? Maybe you're the one we can't trust?"

I'm about to walk over there and choke her out, but Clara is in my way. "Tyse. Calm down."

"She's baitin' me. And I don't like it."

"You're baiting her."

I scoff, looking down at Clara. "You're joking, right? We have every reason not to trust her. She ate your friends!"

"I didn't know they were her friends! I didn't even know it was wrong! I need the spark and my mother gave me spark. What was I supposed to do? Ask her if eating is wrong? If your mother gave you grapes and then one day you find out grapes are people, then you'd know how I feel right now."

Clara turns to face Anneeta. "Wait. Do you mean that Imogen told you to eat the Spark Maidens?"

"Well, of course!" Anneeta even stomps a foot when she says this. "I was a baby. How would I know what I'm supposed to eat?"

Clara turns to look at me again, but now she's the one giving me ‘the look'. "She didn't know. Now she does."

"You're not even the least bit concerned that she will drain you dry and leave you on the floor, a withered-up corpse?"

"No." And she's serious too. I can see it in her eyes. "And ultimately, it's my decision, right? If I want to help her leave, then it's my decision. And I want to help her leave. Think of it this way, Tyse. If we leave her behind, what happens then?"

"You're trying to make me feel sorry for her because she's gonna starve?"

"No." Clara shakes her head. "Think about it. She's not going to die. I think it's way past that point. She might be hungry, she might not grow and mature, but she's going to live. And what kind of god will she become if we leave her behind and let the city raise her?"

"Yeah," Anneeta huffs. "Think about that, Tyse."

Clara turns to her. "You shut up. You're making things worse."

Anneeta pouts, but she doesn't back-talk Clara.

I have to admit, though, if the little god Anneeta must exist, it's better to have her as an ally than an enemy. And that's what Clara is really saying.

So I throw up my hands. "Fine. It's your decision. I'm outnumbered, I guess. So fine. We'll pack up as many jumps as we can and then we'll get on the first train to Delta."

As soon as these words are out of my mouth, someone is pounding on my door.

I point a finger at Anneeta and make a zipping motion over my lips. "Who is it?"

"Runner! I've got a delivery for Tyse Saarinen."

I walk to the door, open it a crack, and then trade the runner a coin for the little package. He tips an imaginary hat at me, then takes off down the hallway.

I close the door, turn back to the girls, open the bag, and look inside. It's a phone. And when I take it out, I find a text message from Stayn.

Call me when you get this. The meeting can't wait. I need you to come in now.