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Back Dark Stars Save as PDF
Chapters (51)
  1. Cover
  2. Dedication
  3. Part One
  4. 1
  5. 2
  6. 3
  7. 4
  8. 5
  9. 6
  10. 7
  11. 8
  12. 9
  13. 10
  14. 11
  15. 12
  16. Part Two
  17. 13
  18. 14
  19. 15
  20. 16
  21. 17
  22. 18
  23. 19
  24. Part Three
  25. 20
  26. 21
  27. 22
  28. 23
  29. 24
  30. 25
  31. 26
  32. 27
  33. 28
  34. 29
  35. 30
  36. Part Four
  37. 31
  38. 32
  39. 33
  40. 34
  41. 35
  42. 36
  43. 37
  44. 38
  45. Part Five
  46. 39
  47. Acknowledgments
  48. About the Author
  49. Books by Danielle Rollins
  50. Back Ad
  51. About the Publisher

Dorothy eased her eyes open just as her mother slid back her mask.

“You did well,” Loretta said. Then, glancing at Ash, she added, “Both of you. If I hadn’t known any better, I would have believed you were dead myself.”

38

Ash

They’d taken Loretta back first, to September 2077. There, they’d given her a costume, some money, and instructions on who to make contact with.

Loretta had curled her lip at it all. “This world may be new,” she’d said, “but the game is older than I am.”

“Even so, I’m not leaving you here to starve,” Dorothy had told her mother, shoving the money into her hand. “Take it.”

Loretta looked unconvinced, but her hand curled around the crumpled bills, and she’d shoved them deep into her pocket.

“Eliza introduces you to Mac in a little over two months,” Dorothy told her. “By then, you have a reputation around the city for being cruel. That’s what gets Mac’s interest. You need to make sure that reputation holds. Can you do that?”

Loretta blinked slowly at her daughter. “I admit, I’m new to all this,” she said carefully. “But I believe that, if you saw it happen, I must be successful. Correct?”

Dorothy had to admit, her mother had grasped some of the more complicated aspects of time travel rather easily. “All you have to do is gain his trust,” she continued. “And then, on November 13, when Ash, the Professor, and I return, you’ll need to replace the bullets in his gun with blanks.” Here, her throat seemed to close, just a bit. “If you fail . . . all of us will die.”

Loretta met her daughter’s eyes and said, her voice firm, “Then I will not fail.”

Now, Ash, Dorothy, and Loretta quickly gathered their things and crept silently through the Fairmont, through dark and moldy hallways, down narrow staircases until, finally, they reached the entrance that dumped out onto the back docks.

No one had seen them. They’d been like ghosts.

Dorothy got the door and swung it wide, eyes peeled for movement as she ushered her mother and Ash through. She pulled the door closed behind her, shivering as she stepped onto the docks.

A boat was already waiting. Zora sat in the front, one hand propped on the motor.

“Let’s go,” she said, starting the engine.