“What’s all this?” Max asked, plunking his comics onto a tray of bracelets.
“Be careful,” I hissed. Couldn’t he be a little considerate, just once? While I rearranged the display, Max, bored with all this girly stuff, turned around and scanned the area.
“Sis.” I looked up, then followed Max’s stare. Peacekeepers, a whole company of them, were making their way down the aisle. And they were coming right toward us.
What’s worse, they were led by Peacekeeper Jerome.
I’d had the misfortune of meeting Peacekeeper Jerome the morning after I had completed Micah’s copper cuff. I’d meant for the cuff to be a quality token, to replace the pennies I’d given him in the spur of the moment. Once it was done, I’d left it on my windowsill and fell asleep; when I woke, the cuff was gone, and Micah wasn’t there. Fearing the worst, I’d sped toward my then-employer, Real Estate Evaluation Services, intending to jump through the portal in the parking lot and find Micah. I’d been waylaid by Peacekeeper Jerome, who had proceeded to check my identification, hit on me, and order someone’s death, all in the space of five minutes.
And if his big grin and hearty wave were any indicators, he totally recognized me.
“You know what, I have to get to work,” I said in a rush. The shopkeeper peeked over her shoulder and smiled wanly. Since it wasn’t her fault she was losing a sale, I grabbed a nearby pendant, glared at Max, and watched as he threw some money on the counter. “I’ll just take this for now. Have a good day!”
“But your change,” she protested.
“Put it toward my next purchase!” I called over my shoulder. Then Max and I were off, calmly wending our way around the booths and tents. The Peacekeepers gave no sign that they were pursuing us, or even that any of them, other than Jerome, had seen us. Still, after the recent run-ins we’d had with the iron warriors, I wasn’t taking any chances. Surprisingly, neither was Max.
“This way,” he murmured, grabbing me by the elbow and steering me toward the food vendors. It was the busiest aisle in the Promenade, by far the easiest place to lose a pursuer. Which explained why we rounded the first corner and practically walked right into Jerome.
“Sara!” His grin got even wider and became a bit smirky. I bet he thought I was looking for him. Jerk. “Remember me, from that morning at Real Estate Row?”
“Y-Yeah,” I stammered. “I’m surprised you remember me.”
“I never forget a pretty lady. Though your hair was brown then.” Before I could think of anything not too damning to say, Max started in.
“Who’s this?” he asked. “Old flame?”
“Max!” I hissed, but Jerome was nonplussed.
“I wish,” he said. “In fact, I think you stood me up. You weren’t at work when I swung by, after my shift. You weren’t at The Room, either.” Jerome looked at Max’s hand on my arm and came to a conclusion even more outrageous than me dating him. “This your boyfriend?”
“No!” I snapped, yanking my arm away from Max. “This is my brother.”
Jerome’s eyes lit up. “Really.”
A voice came crackling over a Peacekeeper’s comlink, and Jerome turned around to hear the orders. “Excuse me,” Jerome muttered, turning away from me as he grabbed his own comlink with a flourish. From that little move, I surmised that they didn’t contact him often. “Headquarters has orders for me.”
I leaned toward them, wondering if the orders had anything to do with us, when Max grabbed my elbow again. While the Peacekeepers were distracted, we moved toward the fence that marked the perimeter of the market.
“Here,” Max said, holding aside the chain link where it had previously been cut, probably by thieves. Or escaping Elementals, who knew? Anyway, we slipped through the fence and into the scrubby field beyond, seemingly undetected.
“I can’t believe they didn’t know who we are,” I murmured.
“I don’t believe it,” Max said. “Your old boyfriend can’t be that thick.”
“He was never my boyfriend,” I insisted, but Max wasn’t listening. He was on his hands and knees, pawing through the dry, dusty soil. “Ah.” He triumphantly lifted up…something.
“What’s that?” It was a shiny, clear disc, somewhere between a shard of ice and a dull mirror.
“Portal.” Max tossed it into the air, then he grabbed my arm and pulled me through the shimmering door along with him. A heartbeat later, we were behind the tavern in the Whispering Dell.
“It’s an old trick of Dad’s,” Max continued, as if we hadn’t just evaded the enemy and leapt across dimensions. “He would stash portals around the places he frequented, just in case he needed to make a fast getaway.”