“Run, Fleur!” Jack hauls me to my feet. He runs, dragging me behind him, breathing apologies, begging me to move faster. I trip, but he doesn’t slow. I anchor my thoughts into the ground, feeling out ahead of me with my mind, anticipating the shallow dips and hills. Every blink stings, bringing thick, hot tears to my eyes. The landscape is a painful blur in front of me.

“I know it hurts. But if you’re hurting, he’s hurting, too. Keep him out of your head!” Jack rasps, pulling me faster. “Don’t open your eyes. Don’t let him see through you.”

I feel Doug recovering. Feel him rising to his feet. I feel his magic lashing outward, tracing our connection, listening to the ground, searching for me.

My shoe catches in a rut and my ankle turns. Jack slows when I suck in a sharp breath. “Keep running!” I say, forcing myself to keep up.

I don’t know how far we’ve gone. Or where we are. My shoe slaps down on a hard surface—a sidewalk or a street. Jack picks up speed. Eyes shut, I let my magic guide me, determined to keep pace with him.

Finally, he drags me to a stop. Breathing hard, he takes my face in his hands, brushing away dirt and rain. “Can you see?”

Blinking my eyes brings on a fresh wave of pain. I catch a flash of my surroundings before I’m forced to close them again. The white face of the Shepherd Gate Clock ticks behind Jack’s head.

“Do you know where we are?” he asks.

I nod. “What are we doing here?” I say, frantic when I feel my connection to Doug getting stronger. “He’s coming, Jack. We should keep going. You should run, please!”

Jack turns my face back to his. “Listen to me carefully. You have to get to the Meridian. You know where it is.”

“But the fence.” There’s a brick wall behind him. A high iron gate. The Meridian is on the other side of it. I feel its faint tick pulsing through the bricks.

“There’s a tree above us, just over the fence. Find it.”

“I feel it.”

“Can you feel the ley line?”

I nod.

“Get over the fence,” he says quickly, tightening the coil of metals around my wrist. “Stand as close as you can to the Meridian. Call out to me the second you’re there. Chill and Poppy will take care of you.”

I grip his hand before he can let go. “But what about you?”

“Don’t worry about me. I have a plan.”

“Jack, no—”

“Go, Fleur! Now.”