IT WAS TIME. JINN STILL WASN’T awake, but they couldn’t afford to wait any longer.
After seven days had passed, the group met again. Torn clothes and worn faces. Wounded bodies. For Lucille, a face Max had never seen before: an elongated chin and shocking catlike eyes that reminded him of a sculpture of an Egyptian king—or at least a parody of one. The long, twisted black beard was an extra ridiculous touch.
“Pardon me, I wasn’t trying to look like an Egyptian king,” Lucille answered when Max questioned her. “I was trying to look like I was from the Bible. Not that I’ve ever read it myself.” She scrunched up her nose and shuddered. “But the Berber people seem to believe they’re descended from Canaan and Noah and all those Old Testament folks. Pretending to be a mythological figure giving orders from on high isn’t easy.”
“Did they even believe you?” Henry muttered, slouched over and grabbing his arms, bare because the sleeves were torn off.
Berta glared at Lucille as she laughed. The shape-shifter was no longer using some old woman’s voice, nor was she speaking in some gibberish language. Jacob must have relented there. Saving the world made for strange bedfellows. Berta rubbed her chin, listening to her voice, even though the face was all wrong. Wondering.
Beyond Lucille, who seemed extra chatty with her newly regained ability to speak English, none were in the mood to regale him with stories. All that mattered was that the deed was done. Together, Hawkins, Jacob, Henry, Mary, and Lucille had managed it. The valley had been evacuated to the best of their abilities. That was what Hawkins had said, and that was what Max chose to believe. Uma believed it too. And so, in the early morning, Uma gave them a demonstration.
She bit her thumb and pressed the bleeding flesh against the swirling pattern at the top half of the double-sided control device. Ah yes, blood. Berta said it’d taken blood to gain the tablet in the first place. Sacrifice. One had to pay to use such a terrible device.
Uma’s blood filled the crevices of the engravings until the tablet absorbed it. Seconds later, a projection of blue light appeared, hovering just above the device.
Good lord, Max thought as Lulu and Berta gasped. A compass! Except as Uma twisted her hand above the light, the arrow moved along with it. When she twisted her hand to the left, the arrow followed. To the right. Ninety degrees. It followed its puppet master.
“This controls the direction of the projectile. And I believe the other buttons activate each Titan: The sun symbol.” She pointed to one side of the tablet. “The moon symbol.” The other side. “They seem to have the exact same capabilities. But take heed. I still don’t know everything about this device—only what I can glean from research. But research isn’t everything. There’s no telling what will happen on the ground.” She waved her hand across the blue compass light. It disappeared. “But if you’re ready for that…”
“We will be,” Max told her, just as the door to the apartment opened, and in walked Rin.
The room fell silent. Max’s chest tightened, but soon a little gasp escaped his lips when he took in the sight of her. He was used to Rin, the hardened one-eyed warrior, more ferocious than her sixteen years would suggest. He wasn’t used to Rin like this.
He stared at her plain, beautiful dress, the hem of which brushed her battle-strengthened calves. A shocking moss-green color, with a white bow for a collar. Her braids had been newly weaved too. The fresh white bandage wrapped around her missing right eye was the one reminder Max even had that she wasn’t some dainty young lady.
But the dress style, the color of it… it all reminded him of those days during the Tournament of Freaks. The days he’d fought alongside Iris, who had refused to wear anything else but the clothes her Granny Marlow had sewn for her, as if for luck. The way Iris would sometimes grip it like a security blanket. It was all too familiar.
“Where did you get those clothes?” Max asked, wild suspicions starting to bubble up in his mind. “Where have you been?”
“It doesn’t matter. I’m here now,” Rin said, without so much as a tremor in her voice. “And I’m ready for the mission.”
Berta was staring at her, hollowed out, as if she couldn’t look away. Nobody seemed completely convinced, but the plan was already in motion. Whatever Rin felt or wanted to do was irrelevant.
It’s okay, Rin, Max wanted to say, but there were too many people around. I’ve got this.
“Well, then,” Uma said. “If you’re all ready…”
She gave the Titan Control Device to Jacob. Covering the tablet with his large hands, he closed his eyes, lowered his head, and began whispering in some language Max didn’t understand. Who was he praying to? Or was he even praying at all? Neither of them were religious, despite the attempts of some London missionaries who had specialized in bringing orphans to God. Perhaps he was asking Cherice for strength. Or maybe it was an apology to Iris for what they were about to do.
“Hawkins will transport Lucille, Mary, Henry, and Jacob to the southern border of the Atlas Mountains,” said Uma. No map was needed. The group had seen enough of the lands with their own eyes.
“What about us?” Berta asked.
“I want you and Lulu to stay with me to help with Jinn’s recovery,” Uma said. “Don’t worry. The others have it covered. After Hawkins transports the others, he’ll take Max and our downstairs Sleeping Beauty to Ourika Valley. There they will wait for Iris.”
Max squeezed his eyes and slapped his cheeks a few times for good measure. It was do-or-die time. There was no telling what Iris would do when she saw him and Jinn. Would she hug Jinn and kill him? Kill them both? But this was the role he’d chosen for himself. He had his own plan, and he was going to see it through.
“Remember, Max,” continued Uma. “Once you leave this apartment, you leave its protection. I don’t know how long it’ll take for Iris to find Jinn, but once she does…” She shook her head. “There’s nothing I can do from here.”
“That’s why I’ll be patrolling,” said Hawkins. “Going back and forth. Watching Max and the others. When Iris shows up, I’ll tell Jacob immediately. Just before the Titans shoot, I’ll grab Max and Jinn out of there. I’ve been working on my teleportation speed. It’ll work.”
Rin sneered at the sound of their plan. “And you think Jinn is just going to go willingly?”
“He won’t be in any shape to refuse,” Hawkins retorted.
As Hawkins spoke, it felt to Max like such a hackneyed plan, such a Hail Mary scheme. What if Iris burned both of them alive before they even had a chance to signal Jacob? How long would it even take for the Titans to become operational? Iris could destroy lives in seconds. This plan hinged on Max and Jinn’s ability to keep Iris occupied for as long as they needed.
“I’ll go with you,” Rin offered casually. And yet that casual offer drew everyone’s surprised stares.
“What?” Berta narrowed her eyes.
“I’ll go with Max. I’ll stay with him. With Jinn.”
“To do what?” Berta began moving toward the door, but Max lifted a hand to stop her.
“No, that’s perfect,” he said. And he truly meant it. His plan for Iris needed someone like Rin. Someone else she was connected to. Rin coming along was perfect.
“Max!” Hawkins prodded, but Max didn’t repeat himself. He didn’t need to. There was a look in Rin’s eyes that he quite liked. A tender sense of determination that matched his own.
Hawkins huffed. “I can’t guarantee I’ll be able to rescue all of you.”
“Whatever happens, happens,” said Rin. “We’re all putting our lives on the line. Maybe none of us will survive.”
If the room weren’t silent before, then what surrounded Max now was the loneliness of a graveyard. It was the kind of silence that seemed unscalable. Berta turned away, her hands squeezed into fists. Jacob bit his lip while Henry, Lucille, and Mary shifted on their feet. Hawkins went stiff but didn’t relent. Only Uma seemed to have enough courage to respond.
“I certainly hope you, at least, survive,” Uma told her. “You are a phenomenal woman, Olarinde. One of the strongest I’ve met.”
Rin bowed her head ever so slightly. Max looked over to Berta and could tell she wanted to say something. For a time she kept her gaze low. But then, with a loud whimper, she ran to the Dahomey warrior and gripped both of her hands. It was an action that took them both by surprise.
“You are, Rin,” Berta said, squeezing Rin’s hands so tightly, Max could see her knuckles redden. “You are strong. Stronger than me. I—” She paused. “I’m so sorry. About everything.”
She waited, but Rin’s gaze stayed on the floor. Her hands were trembling. Or was it Berta who was shaking? Max couldn’t tell. Just what had happened between those two while he was gone? Both girls looked so hurt and betrayed. As if they both had so much to confess to the other. Two girls who’d lived broken lives filled with violence.
“We’ll begin the preparations,” Uma said. “You may be in the valley for some time. Make sure you get what you need beforehand.”
Following Uma’s orders, the group dispersed, and for one hour they gathered what they needed—all, that is, except Max, who felt he already had what he needed. His body, still miraculously healthy. His mind, thinking more clearly than ever before.
When the apartment was empty but for Uma and her assistant, Max hesitantly descended the steps into the lab. He took in the tools and instruments that Aminadab was cleaning with a washcloth and a bucket, the world map on the wall, and the furnace in the corner. But it was the violet drapes in the center of the room that drew his attention.
And who was inside.
Sitting on the stool at the far table, Uma watched him approach the drapes. He clasped it with his fingers, but his hand wouldn’t budge beyond that. That same shame that Berta must have felt earlier: It colonized him. It took him over from the inside out, until he was shivering.
“Can…?” he started, and then stopped. It took him a few more silent beats to steady himself. “Can I see him?”
Uma nodded. His heart was thumping in his ears, his veins pulsating painfully. And finally, after sucking in a breath, he whipped open the curtains.
It really was like a casket. And Jinn looked beautiful in it, Max had to admit. He looked as if he’d been preserved so perfectly. Not a curled black hair on his head had fallen. Not a long eyelash out of place. Max was sure that if Jinn’s eyes were open, he’d see those fierce, dark eyes glaring at him—brooding, as per usual, because he wouldn’t be Jinn if he weren’t brooding.
Iris’s white crystal surrounded him: so much of them. Those crystals were responsible for masking his presence from Iris. Berta had once told him that there were flowers there with him, therapeutic herbs. Yew and wolfsbane. Now there was nothing but irises. A fitting touch.
Uma had clothed him, making him ready for battle. “Still,” she told him. “I have no idea when he’ll wake up. Or if he ever will. Iris will still come for him, though.”
Of course she would. She loved him. It was love that Max had seen in her eyes, reflected in Hiva’s Tomb, when he’d stabbed them both through.
“What did I do to you, mate? God.” Max’s eyes filled with tears even as he told himself he didn’t have a right to cry. No, he didn’t. Not him. Not now, after all he’d done.
Max rubbed his fingers through his brown curls as he let a few rebellious tears drop down his cheeks. He already knew he was responsible for many crimes. He already knew he had to make up for his actions somehow. And that was what was he going to do. Now, more than ever, he knew he had to do everything in his power to bring Iris back.
For Jinn’s sake. For her sake.
For the sake of his own soul.
The crew had gathered once more with tools and food they would need for their journey. Max carried Jinn over his shoulders like a lump of potatoes.
Sorry, mate, he apologized silently. If Jinn were conscious, he’d certainly knock Max senseless over this.
Before Uma could send them off, Berta, after slapping her cheeks several times, finally dragged up the courage to speak. “Rin!”
The moment Rin looked at her, Berta’s expression became wild, and the toughness in them had given way to the kind of vulnerability Max had only seen reserved for him. She opened her mouth and closed it several times. She tried to speak but failed as Lulu ran over to Rin and gave her a tight hug.
And then so did Berta.
Rin was taken aback. Lulu and Berta squeezed Rin as if they wanted to break her in two. They were both crying.
“Come back alive,” Berta said. “No matter what screwed-up things we did to each other, I still want you to come back alive.”
“We’re family now,” Lulu said, her face buried in Rin’s stomach. “Family’s supposed to be a little screwed up.”
At that, tears began to brim in Rin’s one good eye. With shaking hands, she enveloped the other two, returning their hug. She was as stiff as one of Henry’s toy soldiers, and she kept her face composed, despite the trickle of tears that fell. But she hugged them back. And when she did, a kind of serenity washed over her.
“I’ll come back and bring your other sister,” Rin whispered to Lulu, making her laugh and nod, and cry a little.
Other sister? Max frowned. What did Rin mean by that?
Iris?
“My dear Berta, you’ve always been a bit of a softie, haven’t you?” Lucille said to Berta with a knowing smile, drawing confused glances from the others. “That’s what I’ve always liked about you.”
Berta let go of Rin and whipped around.
“Always liked about you”? What is she on about? Max opened his mouth to protest, but before he could, Berta was already shouting: “You! Moustache!”
“Moustache?” Mary leaned over. “No, she has a beard on today.”
“That voice. I do know it! You’re her!” Berta stuttered, pointing at Lucille’s ridiculous form. “Madame Moustache from Nevada! It’s you!”
She wasn’t making any sense to anyone in the room, though Lucille seemed to find it amusing. Her pharaoh face grinned like the Cheshire Cat as Berta waved her pointed finger at her and turned to Max.
“I swear it’s her, Max!” Berta said.
“Who?”
“Madame Moustache! I swear! The woman who took me to Nevada! I’d know that voice anywhere!”
Madame…? Max tilted his head. Nah, it was simply too mad, even for him. With his free hand, Max rubbed his face, and through his fingers peeked at Lucille, who grinned and shrugged.
“The past is important, dear,” Lucille said, her voice no less flamboyant than before. “Indeed, I’ve lived many past lives and enjoyed my frivolous exploits in all of them. But isn’t the future more pressing to the living?”
The pharaoh’s grin had softened a little. Become genuine, a touch. But Max didn’t have time to wrap his head around it. Rin wouldn’t give it to them.
“Enough distractions,” Rin said, once again the warrior. “Let us begin.”
Uma took in the sight of her and let herself draw a deep, steadying breath. “Yes,” Uma agreed. “Let’s begin.” And gazed over them all. “Good luck.”
In a move that surprised even him, Mary hugged Henry and kissed him quite assertively on the cheek.
“O-oi!” the boy stuttered, his face turning bright red.
And just as Hawkins drew Jacob into a kiss, Berta wrapped her arms around Max’s neck. Max kept his arm firmly around Jinn’s back, holding him in place.
“One day, I’ll explain everything about me, brother,” she whispered in his ear. “Everything you missed. What I’ve been through. What I plan to do next. Everything.”
He nodded, rubbing her hair without saying a word.
“All right,” Hawkins said. “Max… and Rin.” He added her name reluctantly. “Let’s go.”
Hawkins was right to be hesitant when he grabbed Rin and took her through the portal to Ourika Valley. For once they reached the rolling river that looked over the mountains, once their feet touched the stony path along the rocky hillside, once Hawkins had disappeared from Max’s sight to join the other party, Rin drew her white crystal sword from her chest and tried to kill Max.