Page 67 of The Nowhere Witch
I definitely didn’t have them on my list. That was three people I could add to my reference list.
Hawk had stopped walking, and I pulled the little notebook out of my pocket, jotting their names down. If I could get them, that would put me at twenty-six.
“Keeping a count of all the people you know for some reason?” Hawk asked, glancing over my shoulder.
“It helps me remember names,” I said, smiling even when we both knew I was lying.
He hadn’t said a word to me about immigration, but there was no way hedidn’tknow. He had too many spies in Xest. For all I knew, the monkeys might’ve told him. They were about as loyal as a pet snake, and that might be giving the snake a bad name.
I tucked my notepad back in my pocket.
He grabbed my hand. I stared at the connection, knowing it wasn’t romantic. Gregor was a hand holder. Hawk was more likely to grab you by the back of the head.
“I’ll have to help you in,” he said. “We have to wait here for a few minutes, though.”
I looked about the square. “You said we couldn’t find the place on a map. Where exactly is this appointment?”
“The entrance will be here soon. He’s expecting us.”
I wish I’d stopped for a cocoa for this walk, especially if there was going to be a lot of standing around and holding hands. It would give me something else to pretend to be distracted by.
A cloud floated in front of the sun, casting us in a harsh shadow.
“Come on,” Hawk said, tugging at me. He didn’t let go as he walked right beside me down the street.
The sun seemed to dim more, and the blue skies turned dark grey. The people who were walking the streets began to look fuzzy, and then they disappeared completely.
Other ones appeared, except these people I’d never seen before, and it was getting so that I recognized most of the faces in Xest. There was something weird about these people, too. They walked as if they had no destination, their pace oh so slow but steady. No one nodded or sneered as they glanced our way.
“What’s going on? Where are we?”
All I got was a tip of his head and a shrug of his shoulder. “You can’t figure it out?”
I looked around at the place that still resembled Xest but wasn’t quite Xest.
“Are we in hell?” I whispered. “Did you take me to hell and not tell me? And you wonder why I think you’re a horrible person.”
“It’s not hell. Next level up,” he said, smiling, because only Hawk would be amused in purgatory.
“I’ll never look at these streets the same.”
“It’s not just Xest. This place is everywhere, even Salem. It’s simply a different dimension.” He looked at me as if he was surprised I hadn’t figured that out.
Growing up, there were certain things I thought I’d want to know if given the chance, like heaven and hell, UFOs and aliens. This was something I could’ve done without knowing.
“What if they try to keep one of us? I mean, I’m not pointing fingers or anything, but is this safe?”
The lunatic laughed. “There’s a pact in place for these types of events. Can’t keep up unless we die naturally. And not sure they’d want me anyway, but thank you for the concern.”
“What if this pact doesn’t pertain to me because I’m not from Xest?”
“Just don’t let go of my hand,” he said.
Seriously? I was a handhold away from possibly getting stuck here? I clenched his hand tight enough that I might’ve broken a finger or two.
“You think maybe you could’ve added some of these details when I asked where the appointment was?”
“Would you have come?” he asked.