Everland(10)

When he looks back at me, his gaze locks with mine. “You are going to be our guests.”

“Guests?” Mikey asks, excitement brightening his expression.

Pete smiles, the first rays of morning lighting the left side of his face in a golden radiance. “We’re taking you to the Lost City.” He stands in the window frame and extends his hand out to me.

Bella, blowing a puff of air, ruffles the fringe hanging in her face. “We? More like you. I didn’t invite them,” she says, climbing into the window frame.

“The Lost City?” I ask in wonder. The thought of a city run by children seems unimaginable, like a fairy tale.

“It’s where all of the orphans go,” Pete says. “It’s where Bella and I call home. The Lost City is all that’s left for us, or at least what the Marauders haven’t claimed as their own. Luckily, they have no idea that it exists. It’s a place for the survivors of the war and the Horologia virus, the children who have no parents. They can, they will, help get your sister back.”

Doubtful, I eye him warily. “You’re kidding. How can a bunch of children help get Joanna back?”

He beams. “I guess you’re just going to have to trust me.”

“Trust you? You must be mad. How do I know you’re being truthful about the Lost City? For all I know this is a trick and you’re aligned with the Marauders. You could take us straight to Hook. And even if you’re not one of those horrid pirates, two less people in the city to fight over supplies would only benefit you, isn’t that right?” I say, brushing Mikey behind me.

Pete crosses his arms. “If I were in with Hook or wanted less competition, I would’ve made sure Hook’s men found you in that abandoned home, and Mikey would be fending for himself.”

Mikey peeks around me, frowns, and grips my hand tighter.

Bella sighs. “While I would like to see you left behind, I don’t want to wait around here any longer.” She reaches into her leather satchel and holds out a clenched fist. Her tiny gloved fingers open slowly. Gold powder shimmers in morning rays of sunlight like fairy dust. Speechless, I look at Bella and back at Pete.

“It looks like gold,” Mikey says, running a finger through the sparkling powder. “Did you find a pirate’s treasure chest?”

“Sort of. You’ve heard of the Bank of England, right?” Bella asks.

Mikey nods.

“Well, this is only a bit of the thousands of gold bars beneath the building. Cogs says the gold is too soft to make anything practical. He ground the gold bars into powder for me so when I scavenge, I dust the path ahead of me to decide how far I have to jump. All I need is a bit of moon or lamplight to reflect off it.” Bella pulls the lever on the straps of the rocket pack and her wings eject, sputtering to life. From far away, I didn’t realize how truly remarkable they were, but up close I’m awestruck by their beauty. Her wings are made of copper piping intricately designed with sweeping loops, brightly polished cogs, and a stunning mechanical clock. A thin film covers the mechanisms in each wing, and as the early morning light hits it, the coating shimmers in a show of bright colors.

“Who’s Cogs?” Mikey asks.

“He’s a Tinker, a boffin of sorts. Our chief engineer, to be exact,” Pete says. “Cogs is a smart chap who fiddled in robotics and electronics before the war. He’s in charge of operations in the Lost City.”

Shouts erupt in the distance. The familiar squeal of gears grinding against one another from the Marauder’s Steam Crawlers echoes through the labyrinth of buildings. Pete stands taller in the window, searching the streets. His forehead wrinkles. “It’s time to go,” he says, adjusting the straps of his pack over his shoulders.

“I don’t know,” I reply, hesitant as I turn toward Mikey. He stares at me with an anxious expression and pulls his teddy into his chest, fiddling with the single button eye. “How can I trust you?” I ask Pete.

“What more is left here for you but faith?” Pete says, extending a hand to me from the open window. The sunlight halos him an amber glow.

“And a little bit of pixie dust,” Bella adds, pouring the rest of the gold into my hand.

The shouts from the street grow louder. I swallow the lump of fear in my throat, torn between taking my brother and running for safety on our own or joining Pete and Bella. Mikey tugs at my hand and waves a finger at me, gesturing for me to come closer. I bend toward him.

“Can’t we go with them, Gwen?” he whispers. “They have all of our food anyway.”

He has a point. If I reject their offer, they’ll leave with our supplies and we will have nothing but what is in my pack. If we go with them and the Lost City is real, Mikey will have a safe place to stay while I rescue our sister.

I turn back to Pete and Bella, who both stand in the window, silhouetted in the sun’s early glow. Bella’s glittering wings flutter. “Pete, they’re getting close!”

“So, are you coming?” Pete says, leaning toward me.

I peek through the window. Shadows creep between the warehouses. The metal clang of military vehicles crawling along the broken streets echoes through the maze of buildings. Steam rises between the buildings and the vehicles let out an ominous hiss.

Bella’s eyes flash with worry. “Pete? We have to go!” she urges, waving my brother toward the window. I lift Mikey, and Bella helps him through the opening. As I reach for Pete’s outstretched hand, I hesitate.