“Ditto.” Undone, she buried her face against his chest. “How did you get here? He didnt bring you. He wasnt expecting you.”
“Hes not the only god in the Valley these days.” Lifting her head, he pressed his lips to her cheek, her temple. “Weve got to find our way back, Dana. I dont mind being sucked into a story, but this is a little much.”
“Im open to suggestions.” Hold on, she ordered herself. Hold on until its finished. “This is just about the end of the story. Heroine grapples with bad guy, and with a little help from the ghost— who was no help at all, by the way—fights him off, sends him over the wall just as the hero bursts out to save her. Kiss, kiss, frantic explanations and declarations of love. Then they
watch the. phantom of the watch fade away, freed by her final act of humanity.”
“You remembered that pretty well for somebody who read it six years ago.” He helped her to her feet, then looked toward the end of the parapet. The cloaked figure stood, looking out at the forest.
“Shes not fading.”
“Maybe she needs a little more time.” When she put weight on her knee, the pain brought tears to her eyes. “Ouch! Damn. Maybe you could write in an ice pack for this knee.”
“Wait.” Fascinated, he stepped forward. “Rowena.”
“Her name wasnt Rowena. It was… I cant quite remember, but it wasnt—” She broke off, her eyes widening as the cloaked woman turned and smiled at her. “Except it is Rowena.”
“I couldnt send you alone. We wouldnt let him take your lives here. Will you finish your quest?” she asked Dana.
“I havent come this far to toss it in now. I was about to—” She cut herself off again. “Its not in the book, not anymore. Not on the white page with the black words. Its here now. In the story, like we are.”
“Ive already done more than Im permitted to do. I can only ask you: Will you finish your quest?”
“Yes, Ill finish it.”
She vanished, not with smoke and light as Kane had, but as if shed never been.
“What the hell do we do now?” Jordan asked. “Go back-somehow—to the beginning of the book and start looking? The lines you remembered were from the prologue.”
“No, we dont have to go back, I need a minute first.” She stepped to the wall, breathed deep. “Autumn smoke in the air,” she chanted. “The way the moon, a perfect ball, is carved into the sky. Everything—the trees, the valley… look, you can just see the river, the way the moonlight glints off the water at the bend of it. Its all here, every detail.”
“Yeah, nice view. Lets finish up and go look at it in our world.”
“I like your book, Jordan. I dont want to live here, but its a fascinating place to visit. Its exactly the way I pictured it. You write a hell of a story.”
“Dana, I cant do this. I cant stand thinking about the way youre lying there back home. Youre so pale, so cold. You look like—”
“Niniane, from Brads portrait. One walks.” She gestured to where Rowena had been. “One waits. That would beNiniane , or in reflection, I guess its me.” She turned, held out a hand. “I need the key, Jordan.”
He stared at her. “Honey, if I had the key,Idve given it to you long before this.”
“You always had it. You just didnt know it. Im the key, and youre mine. Write it for me, Jordan. Put it in my hand, and lets go home.”
“All right.” He tried to wrap his mind around it. Then he touched her face and let himself see. “She stood bathed in moonlight. Goddess and lover, with eyes deep and dark with truths. He might have been born loving her, he wasnt sure. But he knew, without question, that he would die loving her.”
“She smiled” he continued as Danas lips curved, “and held out her hand to him. It glittered in her palm, a small, simple thing. The key shed searched for, fought for. It was old, but bright with promise. A slim bar of gold topped with a swirl of connecting circles in a symbol as old as time.”
She felt the weight of it, and the shape against her palm. Closing her fist around it, she reached for him with her free hand. “Itll take us back,” she said, “for the epilogue.”
SHE opened her eyes, blinked at the sea of faces, then blinked at her brother. “AuntieEm .”
“Oh, Christ. Dana.” He grabbed her, hauled her up against him, and rocked them both.
“Ouch.” But she was laughing as he hugged her tight enough to crack ribs. “Take it easy. Ive already got more than enough bumps and bruises.”
“Youre hurt? Where are you hurt?”
“If you can bear to let her go a moment, Ill tend her.” Rowena touched Flynns shoulder. “I have the key.”