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We wind our way through a series of rooms and corridors, then climb a set of stairs to a floor four levels up. It’s a dark, dusty room near the top of the palace. No furniture or ornaments, just several oval boreholes set into the walls or hanging on strands from the ceiling.
Inez heads for a silver borehole near the back of the room and says to me as we approach, “This links to a city in the Born. I used it before, on a job for King Lloyd.”
“Is that our destination?” I ask.
“No,” she says, “but I know of another crossing point there that will lead us to where I was headed when you first saw me on the bridge.” She stops before the borehole and gestures to the king. “After you.”
“Please,” he winces, “let’s not stand on ceremony. Nora, you first.”
“As it should be,” Nora says cheekily, then steps through and disappears. King Lloyd goes next, whistling happily, and is swiftly followed by Cal.
“Then there were two,” Inez says.
“Are you sure this borehole is safe?” I ask.
She nods. “One hundred percent.”
“Then why do I feel anxious?” I whisper.
“Because we’re about to cross back into the Born,” she says. “No matter how many times we do that, it never feels natural, not for the likes of us.”
“But I’m not one of –” I start to say.
Inez steps through the borehole.
“– you,” I finish hollowly.
I stare at the borehole glumly, but since the alternative is staying here by myself, to wait for the realm to fall, I’ve no real choice. With a sigh, I square my shoulders, flex my fingers, then step through the borehole... and into the heart of Times Square.
I’ve never been to New York but I recognise it instantly, having seen it in so many films and TV shows, and I come to a stunned halt. It’s so loud and busy after the Merge, horns honking, crowds flooding the streets like swarms of bees, everyone talking, shouting, laughing.
A policeman on a horse trots by. There’s a guy in a cowboy hat and boots, wearing boxer shorts but no other clothes, playing a guitar and singing. Lots of billboards advertising shows and musicals. Famous stores and restaurants. Scores of yellow taxis. Smoke rising from street vents. A series of red glass steps in the middle of the Square (which isn’t square at all) for people to sit and stand on.
“This is fun, isn’t it?” King Lloyd exclaims. He’s trembling even more than usual, but with delight. “It’s changed so much since I was last here. I can’t wait to explore.”
“Are there always this many people?” Nora asks disapprovingly.
“Yes,” Inez says.
“How does anyone sleep with all that noise?”
“You’ll get used to it,” Inez says. “You coped when you were Born.”
“I never lived in a city,” Nora says.
“You can buy ear plugs,” I tell her.
Cal says nothing. He looks uneasy. Maybe he’s never seen a modern city either.
I smile at the ginger behemoth. “It sounds scarier than it is.”
“And we won’t be here long,” Inez assures him.
“I’m fine,” Cal says unconvincingly.
“What are those people waiting for?” King Lloyd asks, pointing at a group of people queuing nearby.
“It’s a ticket booth,” I tell him, spotting the signs. “They sell tickets to shows.”
“A show,” the king gasps, his eyes lighting up. “That would be the perfect way to kick-start my stay. Can you recommend anything, Archibald?”
“I don’t know much about Broadway,” I reply.
“Never mind,” he says. “I’ll join the line and listen to what folk are talking about. Nora, would you care to accompany me?”
“No,” she sniffs. “I’ve no time for entertainment. I’ll go talk to our people here, sort out money and lodgings for us. Are you happy to wait for me?”
“Yes,” the king says. “If I get to the front before you return, I’ll circle back and line up again.”
He sets off and stops at a traffic light when he sees other pedestrians waiting. I don’t think he knows about traffic lights, but he keeps an eye on the people around him and crosses when they cross, taking his place in the ticket line, slotting in like one of the locals.
“Why did he call you Archibald?” Cal asks me.
I shrug. “That’s the name he prefers. He called me Archie before I helped him with the gargoyle –”
“Nora told me about that,” Cal interjects approvingly.
“– but it’s been Archibald Lox since then,” I finish.
“Archibald Lox,” Cal rumbles. “I like it.”
“I prefer Archie.”
Cal shakes his head. “You can’t go against a king, Archibald,” he says, and I know he’s going to call me that from now on.
“Aren’t you worried that King Lloyd might lose focus and wander off?” I ask Nora, who’s still gazing at the elderly royal.
“I’ll find him if he does,” she says confidently.
“We can track friends in the Born,” Inez tells me.
“How?”
“It’s complicated. I’ll tell you another time.”
“Right,” Nora says, “I need to chat with some lawyers. We have a firm here who look after King Lloyd’s interests in the Born. It’s been a while since we touched base with them. Hopefully they haven’t gone bust.”
“Are they Born?” I ask.
“Of course,” Nora says.
“Do they know who the king really is? About the Merge?”
“No,” Nora snorts. “We don’t tell them and they never ask. We set up a trust fund long ago to pay their recurring bills, and as long as they’re paid, they’re happy.”
“Do you know where they are?” Inez asks.
Nora nods. “King Lloyd used to handle Born matters himself, but when it became too much for him, he assigned those tasks to others. I got the information from them before they fled the realm. So as long as the firm’s still active, it will all be easy. If they’re not... well, I’ll cross that bridge if I come to it.”
A few taxis pull up, waiting for the lights to change. Without bidding us goodbye, Nora walks over to one, opens the door and sits in. The driver looks round with a frown, then faces the lights again. Nora says something. He doesn’t reply, but takes a left turn once the traffic starts moving.
“How will she pay for the ride?” I ask Inez.
“She won’t need to,” Inez says, “because he doesn’t know he has a fare.”
“What do you mean?”
“You’ve forgotten that people can’t see us in the Born. Nora’s like a ghost in that taxi. As far as the driver’s concerned, the back seat is empty.”
“Then how’s she going to get to where she wants?” I ask.
“Although the Born don’t realise we’re here, on some level they clock our presence.” Inez starts walking, and Cal and I keep pace beside her. “They see and hear us — they just don’t know that they do. When Nora sat in, she told the driver where to go, and subconsciously he heard. He’ll take her there and drop her off, even though he’ll have no idea that he’s doing it.”
“Cool,” I grin. “What else can you do?”
Inez shrugs. “I could walk into a bank and take all the money I could carry.”
“No way,” I hoot.
“Nobody would notice me unless I engaged with one of them.”
I mull that over, trying to get a firm handle on how it works. “Wouldn’t you show up on the security cameras?”
“Yes,” she says, “but that wouldn’t do the guards much good.”
“Why not?”
“They can’t see us on the screens. I mean, they can, but their brains tell them we’re not there.”
I start to smile. “That’s insane. You could take all the money from the bank.”
“We could,” Inez agrees, “but we don’t.”
“How come?”
“It would land people in trouble. If I stole from a bank, and there was nobody else to pin it on, police would blame the staff.”
“Oh,” I say, smile fading.
“We take little liberties,” Inez goes on. “If I was here for a few days, I’d need to steal food and drink. I might sneak into a spare hotel room to sleep.”
I glance back at the ticket booth. “Can King Lloyd do all that too?”
“Yes,” she says. “Family members can do almost anything that a Born can.”
“Do you really think he’ll be OK?” I ask, searching for the confused old king but unable to spot him in the crowd.
“He’ll be fine,” Inez says. “The Born is what he needs right now.”
“It’s not what Diamond needs,” I note.
Inez shrugs. “He held the realm intact far longer than anyone expected, and it’s exacted a heavy toll. Nobody will blame him for seeking some personal time at the end of his days. And if they do...” She snorts. “To hell with them.”
We stroll along, the concerns we had in Diamond no longer an issue. It’s a nice day, overcast but warm. I keep thinking about all the things I could do if I had Inez’s abilities, the concerts and matches I could attend for free. I could walk into my headmaster’s office ahead of exams, flick through the questions, go and memorise the answers, get straight A’s. I could patrol the streets, watch for criminals, follow them back to their dens, phone in a tip-off to the police.
I look at people, marvelling at how none of them can see us, then frown and turn to Inez. “I understand why they can’t see you and Cal, but they aren’t able to see me either.”
I wave a hand in a man’s face, and although he ducks to avoid it, he doesn’t glare at me or give any indication that he’s aware of my existence.
Inez looks at me oddly. “Are you sure they can’t see you?”
“Pretty sure,” I say, then roar, “My name is Godzilla and I’ve come to destroy New York!”
Not a single person blinks or glances at me.
I leap about, waving my arms over my head, yelling nonsense. Nobody reacts, except to instinctively swerve around me.
“See?” I pant, coming to a halt by the edge of the pavement.
“That’s strange,” Inez says, scratching an ear and studying me as if I was a frog in a laboratory. “There’s something different about you, Archie, but I can’t put a finger on it. You’re a locksmith. You can be invisible to the Born. You crossed into the Merge, something nobody except a Family member should be able to do.”
“Maybe that’s it,” I say, getting excited. “Maybe I’m a prince.”
“You’re no prince,” Inez snorts. “Royals have an aura that’s as clear to us as the colour of their skin. Whatever else you are, you’re definitely not Family.”
“So how do you explain it?” I ask.
She can only shrug.
“Hey,” I gasp, “if I’m invisible now, I can do all the things in the Born that you can, like take money from a bank.”
“The Merged don’t abuse their powers,” she reminds me.
“But I’m not Merged,” I laugh, and do an excited dance.
Then something stops me.
“Inez,” I say slowly, “I thought you said nobody could see us here.”
“They can’t.”
“So why is that boy staring at me?”
I point at a young boy up the street. He can’t be more than six or seven years old. He has fair hair and is dressed in a crocodile costume, so I’m guessing he’s on his way to or from a party. He’s come to a standstill and is gawping at me.
When Inez and Cal turn to look, the boy stares at them too. He can clearly see all three of us.
“Is he Merged?” I ask as Inez and Cal’s eyes widen.
“No,” Inez says. “He’s Family.”
She takes a step towards the boy, her right hand stretching out to greet him. Then she hisses and draws to a startled halt.
At first I don’t know what’s spooked her, but then I see a woman standing just behind the boy. She’s glaring at us and has drawn a long, jagged-edged knife, and I understand instantly that the woman isn’t Merged — she’s SubMerged.
Cal growls and takes a step towards the woman with the knife.
“No,” Inez says, and he stops.
The boy is still staring at us. The woman hasn’t moved.
“There’s no need to panic,” Inez says. “The boy must be part of the SubMerged Family, one of the royals who support the realm of Ruby. Royal children have to spend time in the Born or they won’t grow up. Their people watch over them, the same way ours watch over Merged royals.”
“Will she attack us?” I ask.
“Not if we steer clear of the child,” Inez says. Her right hand is still stretched out in front of her. Now, instead of making the greet, she closes her fingers into a fist, then opens them again, holds them out flat a moment, then lets her hand slowly fall away.
“That’s the sign that we mean no harm,” Inez whispers. “She’ll make the same sign now and everything will be fine. Then we can...”
The woman doesn’t lower her knife or make any signs. Instead, two men step forward. One has a sword, the other a mace.
Inez takes a couple of steps back and the men take two steps forward.
“Get ready for battle,” Cal says, rubbing his hands together, a gleam in his eyes that I don’t like.
“No,” Inez says. “They have proper weapons. I only have a couple of knives.”
“They won’t have them for long,” Cal grunts. “I’ll rip their toys away from them.”
“And if you can’t?” Inez says quietly.
“It’s three against three,” Cal says, itching for a fight. “I fancy our chances.”
Inez shakes her head. “I can’t risk falling into their hands. I need to get out of here.” Cal starts to argue but she cuts him short. “You’re here as my guard. That means you have to do what I say.”
I wouldn’t dare speak that way to the massive man but Cal nods obediently. “Very well,” he says with disappointment, “but if they attack...”
“We’ll run,” Inez says, then calls to the SubMerged. “We’re just passing through. We’ll leave you alone and go our own way, if that’s alright.”
“It’s not,” the woman says, then sheathes her knife and says something to the boy. He hops into her arms and cuddles into her. The woman rocks the boy, smiling warmly at him, then looks at Inez again, her smile hardening. The men take another step forward.
“Why are you doing this?” Inez cries.
The woman says coldly, “Because we know who you are... camel.”
“Oh hell,” Inez sighs.
“What?” I ask in a low voice.
Inez throws me an exasperated look, then shakes her head, spins on her heel, and shouts at Cal and me, “Run!”