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Ash shoots me a cheeky grin. “You just walk through it.”
I stare at him. “That’s it? Walk? No magic words? No ‘brace yourself for spatial disintegration’ warning?”
Ash smirks. “You want a warning? Fine. Don’t trip. Gravity’s a bitch.”
“Helpful,” I deadpan.
“Also, no running. It’s embarrassing when people faceplant into another dimension. Trust me, it’s hard to look cool after that.” He winks.
Oberon turns toward the vortex. “Let’s go.” His tone leaves no room for argument.
Ash follows without hesitation, tossing me a wink over his shoulder. I, however, stand frozen, my feet rooted to the ground. Every instinct screams do not walk into the swirling abyss.
Oberon pauses, glancing back. His sigh is deep, almost impatient. “Space and time are like a fabric. It’s stretchy and flexible. Gravity bends it. Planets, stars, they curve the fabric, and that curve is what you feel as gravity.”
I stare at him. “Is this really the time for a physics lesson?”
He continues, ignoring my skepticism, “A wormhole is a shortcut. A tunnel through that fabric. Instead of traveling around the curve—” he gestures with a hand, tracing an arc in the air “—you cut straight through. Two distant points in space and time, connected by a single passage.”
Ash leans in with a wink. “Takes an extreme gravitational influence to pull it off. Lucky for you . . .” He flashes his most charming grin. “I’m extremely impressive.”
I cross my arms. “Impressive? Debatable. Terrifying? Absolutely.”
“Flattered,” Ash shoots back, dramatically throwing his hands behind his head and propping his feet on an invisible surface, lounging in thin air. “Now, come on, sunshine. Time waits for no one.”
“No,” I say flatly, crossing my arms. “I’m not walking into that thing. You two can go. I’ll find my own way.”
Ash pauses mid-stride, glancing back with a grin. “Aw, come on, Lyra. Where’s your sense of adventure?”
“Dead. I’m currently working on my sense of self-preservation,” I shoot back.
Oberon sighs, deeply annoyed. Shadows stir at his feet. “You’re wasting time.”
“I’m not going,” I argue, pushing back.
Without another word, Oberon closes the distance between us. His arms wrap around my waist with alarming ease.
My protest barely leaves my lips before he hoists me over his shoulder like I weigh nothing at all.
“What the—Put me down,” I shout, pounding a fist against his back. “Drop me now, or I swear—”
“Careful,” Ash teases. “Threaten him too much, and he might accidentally toss you into another timeline.”
Oberon doesn’t stop. “You’ll thank me later.”
“LIKE HELL I WILL!”
Ash doubles over with laughter. “Oh, this is so much better than watching you walk.”
And just like that, Oberon steps through the swirling vortex, taking me with him, whether I like it or not.
I can still see Ash strolling after us, hands behind his head, whistling a jaunty tune. “Next stop: anywhere but here.”
Chapter sixteen
Questionable Company
In the matter of a heartbeat, we resurface from the dark swirling vortex, the sky splitting open above us. The air here is colder. The disorienting pull of the wormhole’s gravity spins my senses, making my world tilt.
