Since I refuse to answer her question, I change the subject. "Where else might Sefton go in this city?"
"Not a clue."
"That's bollocks. You know him. He left you a note, which must mean he expects you to find him. Sefton needs your help. You are the catalyst, after all."
"I'm the what? If you're implying I conspired with him to start the apocalypse, you're even more wacko than I thought."
She thinks I'm insane, but it's Sefton who deserves that label.
What time of day is it? Hard to tell while the sky still roils with dark energies that all but blot out the heavens. A false twilight had overtaken the city earlier, but sooner or later the real thing will descend on us. True night may prove much deadlier. The city has no electricity which means no lights—except for the battery-powered lantern I nicked from that store. I have no idea how long its batteries will last.
Allison snaps her fingers in front of my face. "Hello? Are you awake?"
I swat her hand away. "I was not asleep."
"Good. Then you can tell me what the hell you meant when you said I'm the catalyst."
Telling her seems like a bad idea. Then again, she might be more cooperative if she understands what precisely is going on since she claims to have no knowledge of what's happened.
"Do you honestly know nothing about the Echo?" I ask.
She groans and rolls her eyes at me. "For the umpteenth time, I do not know anything about any of this. "
I pull out another water bottle and swig half its contents, only in part to delay answering her question. "I told you before that the Echo is the driving force behind the apocalypse and that it will transform both worlds. The Echo is a magical construct. It requires dark energies of such power and scale that no one can comprehend its vastness."
"Ditch the hyperbole and explain."
"It's not hyperbole. Magics of that scale require both a catalyst and an anchor. Otherwise, the construct would crumble."
She swivels toward me and smacks her water bottle down on the pavement. "I am not a catalyst. Whatever Sefton might've done, it's not my fault."
"In his warped mind, he believes he loves you. The magnitude of his obsession fuels the Echo, but he needed you to set the machine in motion."
Her eyes narrow, and her lips flatten. "I had nothing to do with any of that. If Sefton is obsessed with me, that's his problem. I never agreed to become his catalyst."
I believe her, though I can't imagine why. Might Sefton have used Allison as his catalyst without her knowledge? I'm hardly an expert on magical constructs or dark energies, though I learned enough during my time in the Echo to comprehend what my brother has done. But Sefton is a scientist who has spent years learning about and experimenting with things most people think are utter rubbish.
"Perhaps you didn't willingly or knowingly help Sefton," I say. "But he used you to trigger the process. You are the catalyst, and I am the anchor."
"Does that mean you're holding the Echo together?"
"I'm not sure. That's why I need Sefton. Only he understands the intricacies of what he's done."
"Can he stop the worlds from transforming and merging?"
"That's a question for the man who created the Echo."
Allison glances up at the sky, at the dark, seething maelstrom that marks the opening into the Echo. "If you stop threatening to dismember me, I'll go with you."
"You're going with me either way."
"Try saying 'thank you.' It wouldn't actually kill you to be a little bit nice."
I can't help growling softly. "We are not friends. You are still my prisoner, and I still do not trust you."
"Ditto." She offers me her hand. "No dismemberment, and I won't run away without just cause. Do we have a deal?"
She gave herself a way out by including "without just cause" in her statement. But she will regret it if she tries to escape. The situation is too dire for me to be even "a little bit nice" to her.