Witch's Pyre (Worldwalker #3)(51)

Lily nodded. “When I first met Lillian, and I’m talking about that first second I laid eyes on her, I hated her. Probably because I saw in her all the things that I disliked in myself. I’ve never hated anyone that much.”

Tristan looked at her sharply. “You’ve never talked with me about meeting her.”

“I’ve never talked with anyone about it,” Lily said. “It’s almost embarrassing to see yourself so clearly. To know—not just think—but to know that you aren’t as great as you thought or maybe just hoped you were.”

“That’s it,” Tristan said, nodding. “I always hoped I’d be a better person than I am, but after meeting the other Tristan, and sharing his memories . . . well. I know how flawed I am. More flawed than anyone knows. Even you.”

Tristan took a breath as if he was about to tell Lily something, but a sharp sound from around the corner of the wraparound deck made Tristan jump. As he stared into the dark, trying to find the source of the sound, the sliding door behind them opened.

“Did you talk to her?” Una asked. Caleb was right behind her, and they stepped outside to join Lily and Tristan.

“Yeah,” Lily said, her mind back on Juliet. “Money’s on its way. Someone’s waiting for us back there, though.” Lily sent them all an image of Simms.

“We can’t fly, then,” Una said. “She’ll be all over us as soon as we try to board a plane.”

“We can take a bus. Or rent a car under a fake name,” Lily suggested.

“I like the rental car idea better. It’s more private,” Una replied.

“See what Breakfast can get out of Miller. Maybe say one of us needs a fake ID to buy alcohol or something,” Lily said.

“That’s shouldn’t be too hard,” Una said, a wry smile dimpling her cheek. “He’s practically got Miller asking him to marry him.” Her eyes unfocused as she passed Lily’s request to Breakfast in mindspeak.

“I think Miller’s more interested in Lily,” Caleb said.

Lily nodded pensively, recognizing too much of Scot in Miller. “We should leave as soon as we can.”

“How long will it take us to get back to the East Coast?” Caleb asked.

“If we drive in shifts? I’ve heard of people doing it in three days,” Lily replied.

“Unbelievable,” Tristan said under his breath. “How long did it take us just to get across the mountains, Caleb?”

“Weeks,” Caleb replied, not in the mood to reminisce. He frowned deeply. “Three days to get back. Worldjump. Then we still have to find Alaric . . .”

“Who said we’re going to Alaric?” Lily asked.

Caleb looked shocked. “You don’t mean to join Lillian, do you?” he asked.

She met his eyes. When she claimed him, she promised him that she was going to fight Lillian—not the Woven, not some unknown witch three thousand miles away, not evil incarnate. Lillian. His eyes wouldn’t give her an inch. She should have known he would hold her to it someday.

Lily sighed and looked out at the night. Little lights sparkled here and there up the coast. She could stand up right now and walk all the way to those lights and not one bad thing would happen to her. No monsters would loom up and tear her apart. No sadistic witches would kill her loved ones if she left them behind. She could climb down to the ocean, throw off her clothes, and swim in the cold, briny water until dawn if she chose. But she couldn’t choose that. The time when she could have stayed in her own world had passed. Lillian had won, and whether she went back and joined Lillian’s army or not didn’t matter. Ultimately, they were fighting for the same thing.

“I don’t know what I’m going to do,” she said. “I have no reason to trust either Alaric or Lillian, but we’re going to need both of them or we don’t stand a chance against the Hive.”

Even that might not be enough, Rowan said to Lily in mindspeak. He came around the deck from the other side.

“Getting Alaric and Lillian to work together might not be possible,” Rowan said quietly. “It’s not just them. The people who follow them hate one another.”

Lily set her jaw. “Then what’s the point of going back? Why even try to save them if they’re too stupid to save themselves?” She looked out at the moon-clad water. “Alaric calls Lillian the enemy. Lillian calls Alaric the enemy—but we’ve seen the real enemy of that world. Now we have to make them see it, too. If we can’t do that, what the hell good are we?”

Rowan nodded once. “Okay. Who should we go after first? Alaric or Lillian?”

“You’re not serious?” Caleb said, scowling at Rowan. “You actually want to go and try and talk to Lillian?”

“That’s what our witch is asking of us, Caleb,” Rowan replied reproachfully. “And is it any more than asking Lily to go to Alaric after what he did to her?”

“Alaric isn’t half as bad as Lillian,” Caleb argued.

“Are we talking about the same guy?” Una snapped. “Alaric. He’s the nut with the nukes, remember? That guy is about to bomb the whole eastern seaboard and you think he’s more trustworthy?”

Caleb looked down. A silence followed while they all tried to picture how a confrontation with either Lillian or Alaric would play out.