Traveler by L.E. DeLano (book suggestions .txt) 📕

“You mean that?” he asks.

Do I? I think I do.

“I’ve got a full-sized bed—you can fit.” I realize just how this must sound, so I add, “You just stay on top of the covers with the blanket, okay?”

“I’m okay with it if you are,” he says carefully.

I slide into bed, straightening the blankets, and he takes his jacket and shoes off and climbs on top, spreading the other blanket over himself.

“Mmm.” He makes an appreciative sound. “Much better than a spider-infested dirt mattress.”

“I would imagine so.”

He stacks his hands behind his head. “Hope I didn’t bring any with me.”

“Finn!”

“I’m teasing. I think.”

We lie in silence for several long minutes, and I wonder if he might be asleep until he proves me wrong.

“So, where did you go? Anywhere I know?”

I consider that. It’s not an outright lie if I say no. He’s never been there, after all. He’s too clever, though. He picks up on my hesitation.

“Anywhere I’ve heard of?” he clarifies.

I sigh. “Yes.”

“You went back to see the pirate!” he says accusingly.

“Shhhh! Don’t wake my dad up!” I whisper.

“Did you?”

“I saw him for all of ten minutes, Finn. Mostly I was at a party with my fiancé.”

“You have a fiancé!”

“Shhhh!”

“Sorry. Just wasn’t expecting that.”

“It’s not a love match or anything,” I reassure him. “More of an arranged marriage. I’m an heiress over there. Anyway, the ball was hot, my shoes hurt my feet, my corset was worse than a medieval torture device, and I’m glad to be home.”

“So this is better than hanging out with a pirate?”

“I wasn’t with him very long,” I say. “And mostly we just talked.” Mostly.

He mulls that over. “Interesting.”

I turn over on my side to look at him. “What do you care what I do in another reality, anyway?” I have no idea where I got the nerve to say that, but I did.

He turns to face me, too.

“I care about you, Jessa. No matter where you are.”

My hand slides down to play with the covers, my fingers tracing the design on the comforter.

“Were we good friends—back in your world?”

“Yes. Best friends,” he adds. “We went everywhere together.”

“And my family?”

He sucks in a slow breath. “You didn’t have one anymore by the time we met. You never talked about them, and I never asked. I didn’t have one either by then. I think that’s why we latched on to each other. You used to call us ‘two lost souls.’”

He smiles a little at the memory, while I let the pure awfulness of what he’s told me sink in. Both of our families? Both of us alone? And then something happened to me over there and he was even more alone. My chest feels tight and I feel tears prick my eyes. The words tumble from my lips.

“Was it an accident? The way I died?”

I can feel his body stiffen from across the bed.

“No.”

“Sorry. I know it’s probably hard to talk about.”

“It’s okay. You’re curious. I would be, too.” He’s keeping his voice neutral, but something tells me it’s really not okay.

“I’m sorry, Finn.”

I can hear him breathing in the darkness. “It’s not your fault,” he says.

“I know. But I’m still sorry it happened to you. I wish it hadn’t.” I feel a lump growing in my throat at the thought of what he’s had to live through. “I’m sorry I left you there alone.”

I feel his hand slide across the covers, and he threads his fingers through mine.

“You’re here now,” he says softly. “Get some sleep, Jessa. We need to rest.”

I wonder if I’ll be able to, after a conversation like this, but the warmth of his hand in mine is soothing, and my eyes grow heavy as I hear the sound of his breathing lulling my senses.

32

The Prophecy

Eventually, sleep claims me. Finn wasn’t far behind, because as I slide into my desk in the white classroom, Finn takes the desk next to me.

Mario is already there waiting for us, along with Rudy, who is tapping his fingers impatiently, glaring at the both of us.

“Another near miss,” he snaps. He turns to look pointedly at Finn. “Where were you?”

“Jessa was with Ben, and since he’d kept her from harm a few days ago, I assumed he’d be watching out for her,” Finn explains. “He was.”

I turn to stare at Finn, because that’s the closest thing to an endorsement he’s ever given Ben.

“And you have no idea who set you up?” Mario asks.

“No. The other me was too busy falling,” I say. “It was cold out—people were wearing hats and scarves. By the time I thought to look around, half the crowd had already left.”

“Two attempts in one week.” Mario shakes his head. “This is unlike anything we’ve ever seen before. Perhaps it’s time to pull in some reinforcements.”

“Out of the question,” Rudy says. “We’re diverting entirely too many resources to this. We need this resolved.”

His attitude is really rubbing me the wrong way. I’m the one who’s getting run over and thrown off buildings, for Pete’s sake. I guess that’s a real imposition to him. I’ve had it—with him, and with this whole situation.

“We need to go on the offensive.”

Mario’s head starts shaking even before I finish the sentence, and I push out of my desk to stand up.

“Look—I’m the one getting slammed around here. I’m the one with a target on my back.”

“We’re doing all we can, Jessa,” Finn says.

“I know. And it’s not enough. This … Traveler, whoever he or she is, is still getting through to me. And they’ll keep on doing it until they get the job done.” I clench my hand into a fist out of sheer frustration. “Whatever I did to piss this Traveler off, it must have been big.”

“Jessa, sit down,” Mario says.

“No! I’m done sitting around! We need to do something!”

“You need all the facts first,” Mario says. “We all do. So sit down, and let me tell you what I’ve learned.”

Rudy’s eyes narrow. “You’ve discovered something? Why wasn’t I informed?”

“I’m informing you now,” Mario