Chapter Thirteen

Sera

Finding Rabbit was harder than we’d anticipated. It made me wonder how Cade and Noah did this for so long without going crazy. They’d been searching for not one person but technically five.

We checked the phone directory and when the library opened the next morning, we hopped online. There was no trace of Phil MaKaden or Infinity in this version of Wells. There was—unfortunately—a listing for Cora Anderson.

“Have I mentioned that I don’t love this idea?” We were standing on the sidewalk in front of the address we’d found for this world’s Cora Anderson. The place was a dump. A shack covered in spray-painted graffiti and a roof that looked ready to cave at any second. The lawn was overgrown, the tree branches all but lying across the front porch, and in several places, even growing through it.

“I vote we bail.” G glared at the house like it might eat him. “There’s no way that any Cora Anderson living in this shit hole knows anything about multiverse travel.”

I sighed. While I mostly agreed with him, we were already here. It would be stupid not to at least check. We had time to kill, anyway. We still had a little time left on the cooldown, and we’d spent the entire night at the table in the diner. Any longer and I was worried we might arouse suspicion. We didn’t know anything about this place, and the last thing we needed right now was to break some weird law and get tossed into jail again.

Without another word, I forced my feet to move me forward and climb the rickety porch steps. Three knocks on the wooden door—there was no doorbell—and after a pause, the thing creaked open with a horrible wail. “Yeah?”

“I—uh, hi.” It was Kori…only not. This version had onyx-colored hair and dark makeup. I couldn’t make out the specifics, but there was a tattoo on her right hand.

She looked past me to G and smiled. “What can I do for you?” Her gaze raked over him, with her mouth open slightly and chest puffed out. She licked her lips, purposefully slow, and leaned a little closer as I fought the urge to knock her back.

“Cora,” I snapped, irrationally irritated by the way she was leering at G. “We’re looking for Cora.”

Kori shrugged and pushed open the door. “She’s coming off a three-day bender but, eh. You can try talking to her. Wouldn’t get too close, though, if I were you. Don’t think she’s seen the inside of a bathroom in a couple of days.” She led us down the hall to the living room, where this world’s Cora Anderson was splayed out on the couch, surrounded by empty liquor bottles. Standing unnecessarily close to G, Kori said, “I’ll be upstairs if you need anything.”

G grabbed one of the bottles closest to us and lifted it to his nose. Cringing, he tossed the thing across the room. Next, he slammed his foot into the bottom of the couch. The whole thing shuddered, and Cora groaned. “Wake the hell up.”

“This is just…weird,” I said.

She wore a red polka-dot robe and, from the way it was hanging open in the front, nothing underneath. Her hair was matted down, and her face was streaked with old makeup. I couldn’t imagine the other Cora looking like this. With her pristine hair and expensive clothing, the most disheveled I’d ever seen her was when she’d once slapped me and a hair had slipped free from one of her bobby pins.

G kicked the couch again, and this time her eyes flickered open. “Wha’s rong?”

We both covered our noses as a blast of fetid breath wafted our way. “Jesus,” G snapped. “This is a waste of time.”

I hated to give up, but he was right. This Cora couldn’t have found her way through an empty room, much less designed any kind of complicated tech. I scanned the small space, finding a clock above the door on the far wall. “Timer should be up by now.”

G nodded and hitched a thumb back the way we came. “Let’s head outside. Skipping in a building makes me antsy.”

I felt the same way. Dylan used to do it, and more times than not, we ended up inside another building. It was hard to explain to the inhabitants, not to mention dangerous. You could end up in someone’s living room or, say, in the jail cell of a murderer. There was a chance no matter where you were. Every version of Wells was different. Just because there wasn’t a building in the exact spot you were standing in on one Earth didn’t mean it wasn’t there on another. But why tempt fate? Chances were just better outside.

We closed the door behind us and walked to the middle of the front lawn. G lifted his arm, but hesitated. “Is this really what we’re gonna do? Bounce from place to place on the off chance we can hunt down this goddamned tech?”

“What other choice do we have?”

“We find Anderson and make him give us the flash drive.”

“You said so yourself—the chances of Cora holding up her end of the deal are slim. What happens when we hand over the flash drive and she doesn’t keep her word?” Of course, the same could easily be said about Karl. Neither one of them was what I’d consider trustworthy. We needed some kind of insurance policy.

“This whole thing—” G gasped and clutched his chest. “Fuck.”

He dropped to the ground, and I went with him, grabbing his face in my hands and forcing his head up so that we were eye to eye. “Breathe,” I said, trying to keep the terror out of my voice. “Please just breathe. In. Out. In. Out.”

He covered his mouth as a series of coughs racked his body. When he moved it away, his palm was covered in blood. “Probably not a good sign,” he said with a wheeze. He swiped the back of his hand across his lips, then ran it down the side of his jeans

“Cade will find Dylan.” If he didn’t, I’d go after the bastard myself. “He’ll get the antidote.”

With my help, he got back on his feet and woke the chip. But instead of pulling up the PATH menu, he looked at me. For what felt like an eternity, he just stared, gaze unflinching and attention intense. He was standing absolutely still.

“G?”

The movement of his chest as he breathed seemed to slow, then stop, and a flash of panic rolled through me. Just when I was sure he’d stopped breathing, he jerked forward, grabbing the back of my head and dragging me to him.

His lips were like fire. They moved with fury and intent and sent a wave of warmth crashing through me. It only vaguely registered that we were still standing on Cora Anderson’s front lawn and that we should be moving, skipping off to our next destination to get Karl what he’d asked for. But I couldn’t bear to move away. This kiss was different than the first. It was desperation and passion, but also tasted of acceptance.

Of goodbye.

He didn’t believe he’d make it out of this alive.

G was the one who broke away first, moving back just far enough so that I could see the golden flecks in his chocolate-colored eyes. He said nothing as he lifted his arm, eyes still locked on mine, and woke the chip.

A moment later, we were someplace else.