But Dorothy thought she detected some hesitation in her words. Did Zora know Ash had already done it? He must’ve told her.

“I . . . wouldn’t know,” Dorothy admitted, lowering her eyes. “I broke into the Fairmont so I could steal the exotic matter from the Black Crow and attempt it myself, but I . . . well, I chickened out. And then Mac found me and, as I had the journal entries on me . . .” Dorothy let her sentence trail off, hoping Zora and Chandra would fill in the rest.

“Mac has the journal pages?” Chandra said, frowning. “That’s . . . that can’t be good.”

Zora added, gently, “There’s not much he can do without any EM.”

“It was stupid of me not to hide them when I had the chance,” Dorothy said. “It’s enough that he even knows it’s possible to travel through time without a vessel. You and I both know that he won’t rest until we’ve shown him how to do it. Even if it means—”

A light appeared in the darkness, and Dorothy closed her mouth, biting back the last of her words. Chandra had gone silent, too, and Zora crouched at the back of the boat, one hand resting on the gun in her waistband.

The light glimmered in and out of focus, passing behind distant trees. Dorothy heard voices, shouting and talking, and then a series of sharp cracks broke through the night. As the boat drew nearer, she could make out black-clad figures inside. A boy holding a lantern, another holding a short, shiny pistol.

The boat zoomed past them and then vanished into the white trees just as quickly as it had appeared. Dorothy watched the light grow smaller and smaller, hardly daring to believe that it was gone.

Zora and Chandra relaxed, but Dorothy still didn’t move. Cold fear gripped her chest, and her knees had gone watery.

They wouldn’t stop looking for them, she knew. There was nowhere in New Seattle where they would be safe.

“I need to leave,” she said, turning back to Zora. “Tonight. Right now, actually.” She thought of Regan’s terrible threat. I’m told you have friends. People you care about. A lump formed in her throat and she added, in a low voice, “None of you are safe while I’m here.”

Chandra snorted a laugh, possibly amused by the idea that they had ever been safe.

“He cares about Ash, not the rest of you,” Dorothy pointed out.

“Flattering,” Chandra sniffed.

Zora shook her head and said, to Dorothy, “Where are you planning on going? You just said that the city isn’t safe. And the borders—”

“I don’t want to cross the borders. I want to go back in time.”

Zora stared at her for a beat and then said, her voice low, “That’s not possible.”