Imperfect (Disappeared #1)

Chapter Eighteen

Theodosia halted, amazed. Before her, partly enshrouded in mist, was a huge twisting track of metal that spun into the air, looped over, and then came down to make another spiral. It looked like a train track, but one that had been molded to soar into the sky on an incredible journey.

It was the most amazing and impossible thing she had ever seen.

"What is it?" she breathed.

He looked at the thing uneasily. "Who knows? There's a cart that I think is supposed to go through these spirals, though I don't see why you would ever want to do that. Anyway, I think it needs something else to make it work, something we don't have here."

She tried to take in his words but they weren't registering. She stared back at the thing, trying to make sense of it. Then, as if materializing out of the mist, the shaggy white wolves she had seen before stepped forward. 

They padded toward them silently, their eyes fixed on Ahuil. Theodosia crowded closer to him. 

"It's all right," he said in a low voice. "They won't hurt us. Usually they avoid humans, but sometimes they appear in these strange places. They're trying to protect us, I think."

True to his word, the wolves passed by, though they watched both of them very carefully. Ahuil looked back just as intently.

"I think they're telling me to be careful." He shook his head and smiled at her. "Right, I really have been spending too much time by myself. Let's have a quick look and then go find Xochitl."

They walked under the track, gazing upward. Theodosia had never seen anything of this magnitude before except for some of the buildings in London. It wasn't really the size that amazed her, though. It was the strangeness of what it might do. There were people out there who lived in ways she couldn't even imagine. 

She picked up her skirts and picked her way carefully through the grass, which was wet with dew. Ahuil followed closely behind, and she keenly sensed his every movement. She felt his gaze upon her back. What did he see? He had said she was beautiful. And maybe, in this world, she could be.

The feeling of being looked at was becoming too embarrassing to bear. "And this wasn't built by your people?" Theodosia said, to break the quiet. "Like the stone buildings and walls?"

 "Not that I know of." Ahuil drew up beside her and took her hand in his, squeezing it reassuringly. She avoided his eyes, fairly certain that how he made her feel was written on every inch of her face. Apparently, being buried in books and woodland her entire life had ill-equipped her for dealing with men who didn't disgust her.

Ahuil seemed to sense her embarrassment, because he cleared his throat and continued. "I haven't heard anything in our oral stories. Anyway, we don't know how to build this kind of thing. And I feel in my bones that this isn't ours. It belongs to the half-beings."

Theodosia shivered. 

"Are you cold?" he asked.

"Not really. It just feels eerie being here. It's quite unsettling."

He smiled tightly. "I know exactly what you mean. I'm sorry, maybe I shouldn't have brought you here. Come on, let's go back to the stream."

She shook her head. "No, it's all right. I want to understand everything about this place. I know it's not paradise." She paused. "Paradise doesn't exist. Nothing is perfect. But I'm beginning to think I like this kind of imperfection better."

They walked back through the forest. The mist cleared and dappled sunlight peeked back through. "I was afraid of that," he said eventually.

"Why? Are you tired of my company already?" She elbowed him gently.

"Not at all. Theo, I love having you here." He put his arm around her waist and she felt her heart constrict so quickly she thought it would stop beating. The warmth of him, so close to her, nearly took her breath away. 

"It's just that if you love being here, you love being somewhere dangerous. Your world presents no physical threats, only unhappiness. I feel like such a selfish person. I should be forcing you back through the baobab and forgetting you ever lived."

This caught Theodosia off guard. As they skirted the river again and the unsettled feeling left her body, she forgot the danger and remembered only the beauty of the Nextic world and how Ahuil made her feel.

"I'm afraid you will have a hard time getting rid of me," she mumbled. "I am too fond of coming here now. And I am too heavy to be pushed back easily."

He laughed, throwing his head back. "Oh Theo. See? How could I send you back when you make me laugh so much? I think I'm becoming addicted to the feeling." He shook his head. "Maybe that's the most dangerous thing of all."

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