Strange and Ever After (Something Strange and Deadly #3)(88)

“No.” I shook my head, a desperate swinging that made the dock spin. Made tears scorch down my cheeks. “He was right there.” I pointed ahead.

“I’m sorry, El.” Elijah’s eyebrows lifted, a pitying look that I wanted to scratch away. It was not time for pity. Not yet.

“He has passed on,” Elijah added. “Daniel crossed from the no-man’s-land, and now he’s out there.” He gestured to the black waters around us.

My breath hiccuped. Left, right—I searched every wave and ripple for some sign of him. . . .

“So I must use the boat then.” I pivoted back to the hole.

But I instantly stopped. My nose hit an evening suit, and I rolled back my head to stare into Clarence Wilcox’s face.

“You,” I breathed. He looked so much like Allison.

I grabbed his jacket. “Why didn’t you tell me about her?” I screamed. “You should have warned me!”

“You do not understand,” he shouted back.

“I do! She made this happen. I wouldn’t be here if not for her. Why didn’t you tell me?”

“Enough.” Elijah yanked me back. “Clarence has been so focused on protecting you, so intent on helping me keep watch of this spirit dock, that he lost sight of his sister.” He wrenched me around, and his fingers dug into my elbow. “I promise you he feels enough agony.”

“He may feel shame,” I snarled, “but that does not mean I forgive him. Or forgive Allison. Let go.” I snapped my arm free. “I will take the boat, and I will find Daniel.”

I kicked into a stalk, shoving past Clarence.

But the boat was gone. The hole was gone.

I rounded back on Clarence, whose brows were drawn tight with sympathy.

“Where is the boat?” I demanded.

He lifted one shoulder. “That is the way of the no-man’s-land. You may find it again. Or you may not.”

“And even if you could find the boat,” Elijah said, moving to Clarence’s side, “and even if you could find Daniel’s body, it would do you no good. Daniel’s body and his spirit are cleaved. You cannot hew them back together.”

“Don’t lie to me.” I stared into his blue eyes—so familiar. So foreign. “You tried it. With a spell from Le Dragon Noir, you tried to return Father’s soul to his body—to his skeleton. I will do the same. At least Daniel’s body is still fresh and whole.” Spinning on my heel, I resumed my stride.

“It will not matter,” Elijah called after me.

I ignored him and pushed my legs into a march. The golden curtain was as absent as the boat, so I could only guess I had come very far into this no-man’s-land.

But not too far. There was never too far for Daniel.

I moved faster. And faster. Soon I was sprinting, and each step thwacked hollowly on the wood.

“Miss Fitt.” Clarence’s voice whispered behind me. “I implore you: stop walking.”

I twisted my head slightly. Somehow he was keeping pace with me. Silent. Ghostly.

I only ran faster, until each breath was agony and each step thunder.

“You do not want this.” Elijah’s voice snaked into my ears, but when I glanced back, neither he nor Clarence was there.

I returned my gaze forward.

And I slammed into a body. Clarence’s face leaned into mine. I bolted back around—but Elijah blocked me.

“Let me go!” I shrieked, lurching back at Clarence. “Let me go—”

“NO.” Elijah’s voice boomed out, shaking through the stillness of the air and scratching over my skin. “Look at what became of me!” He slammed his palm against his chest. “Look at what I have done.” He flung his arm at Clarence. “You will become this if you do not stop.”

“And,” I growled, “I. Do not. Care. I have come for Daniel’s soul, and I will take it.”

“But he will not be the same,” Clarence murmured. “Your Daniel is no more.”

“What do you mean? Your soul is here, and it is the same—”

“And our souls have not passed judgment,” Elijah interrupted. “We are still on the dock, but Daniel is out there now.” He jabbed a finger at the endless water. “When Clarence and I are eventually judged, our souls will be stripped bare. Soon . . .” He glanced at Clarence and swallowed.

“Soon,” Clarence agreed. “Soon we will have to face the scales ourselves. We have clung to this dock to keep you safe. We have used our resolve and our desire to stay here, where we could protect you from the Hell Hounds and guide you on the dock . . . but once we enter the spirit realm, our souls will be ripped apart and judged piece by piece.”

I stared at Clarence, not understanding. “But how could Daniel already be judged? Yet you are not?”

“We were not ready to die,” Elijah whispered. “Daniel was.”

“He died willingly,” Clarence said. “When a person enters death by their own choice, they cross the dock in moments. Fragments of a moment.”

“His . . . own choice.” My breaths came in, faster and faster. Daniel had jumped in front of a spear meant for Joseph.

Just as he had jumped from the airship.

My life’s nothin’ compared to yours. That was what he’d said a few days ago.