Skyline (31 page)

Ana
gave Monroe every detail he needed, as if she already knew his plan. He had to keep
reminding himself that Ana wasn’t Leanor yet. Because she was smart, intuitive
in the exact way that Leanor had been. He could see how this woman had invented
time travel, had invented the Cornerstones that sent the Council’s spire
through time. She wasn’t good at just understanding tech, but at focusing on
the small details.

“You
try,” Ana said. “You’ll want to imprison them yourself, I assume.” She
chuckled.

Monroe
didn’t respond, but he took over the controls. He zoomed into the grid to
target a street. He typed in the coordinates Ana had given him of that smaller
mansion. Zoomed to the location in front. The Council would be there soon. Then
he spun the knob to slow the target’s movement, tapped the coordinates of the
containment cell nearby. Hit the button, and heard the door lock. “Ready or
not, here I come,” he murmured.

“It’s
almost time,” Ana said, nodding toward the unreadable clock. “We’re only a few
minutes out.”

“Time
to hide, then.” Monroe cleared the coordinates of the grid and reset the cameras.
The city was empty, waiting with bated breath.

Pressing
another button, Monroe unlocked the containment cell, and he and Ana entered.
Crouching in the darkened room, he could just see through the one-way glass.

The
security room was empty. There was still time before the Cornerstones pulled
this building to the future. Time before Ana’s bomb sent it back. A little time
to do the work that Charlotte had wanted to do prior to their fight inside Fort
Wood.

“Why
did they stop?” Monroe asked. “You said you destroyed your device, but they
kept coming? You—your future self—were convinced that destroying your astrolabe
would end it.”

“Because
it ended before,” Ana said. “Maybe that was just a coincidence. My theory?” She
turned from the window to look Monroe dead in the eyes. “They found someone to
do their dirty work.”

Monroe
gulped. “Us?” He shook that away. “No,
you
found us. You gave Charlotte
the astrolabe. You had us stop you. Don’t you get it? Like it or not, you
will
regret this. You’ll find us. You’ll stop yourself.”

“Then
maybe that’s why the Council left me alone eventually. Because they found my
future, old self. Convinced her to stop herself. Me.”

Squinting
at her, Monroe asked, “Doesn’t that make it better? If they got to you, then it
must have been important.”

Ana’s
eyes flicked away. “You think I don’t care. That I don’t hate that I’ve forced
New Yorkers to deal with what I’ve fled? I do, but it
is
necessary. Like
it or not. My world was ruined before I invented time travel. No ice, no
storms, but billions of people in poverty, with a rare few at the top. A
Council with all the power. I thought, with time travel, I could change that. I
could give it to everyone, but …”

A
tear fell down Ana’s cheek. “Did I tell you what happened? That they stole my
technology somehow? That they stranded everyone, using an EMP to lock up this
time.
Every
time
device built in their factory stopped working.”

“But
you got away.”

“A
prototype. My Cornerstones—and presumably whatever device they used to travel
through time—were built from materials collected before they’d released time
travel. But once this building travels forward, once I send them back, their
Cornerstones will be left behind. All they’ll have is a single cobbled-together
time device.”

Through
the window, the screens flickered to static, and Monroe felt frozen. Then he
could breathe. They’d just leaped through time. “That was the Cornerstones?”

“Yup.
Now you’re out there,” Ana said, “forcing me to come back.” Was that respect he
heard in her voice?

Again,
Monroe felt frozen, watching the bank of static screens. Now they were leaping
back millions of years. Monroe’s past self was going to have his mind blown.
Then the screens flickered to life, seamlessly connected back to the city’s
system, showing Ana’s ruined age.

“And
now they’re stuck,” she said.

They
weren’t, and Ana knew it. The Council had chased her down, too. “You mean their
empire
is stuck.”

Ana
shrugged. “The same thing, really. This building contains every plan for New
York. Every piece of their tech. Without it, they’d be three aliens trapped in
a time they don’t know. With this building trapped, they’ll be desperate.”

As
they waited, a rumble sounded from outside. One of the cameras flickered to
static. A small light nearby glowed red, blinking frantically.

“That
must be your self-destruct,” Monroe said.

“To
keep them from using my bomb’s components. Now shh.” Ana placed a finger on her
lips and ducked her head down, barely peeking through the dim window.

The
elevator dinged outside the room, and the Council stormed in, Cora slamming
through the door. She spat something at the other two, striding to the middle
screen. On one of the distant screens, Monroe saw himself flee the building
with Ana. Cora hissed words that Monroe couldn’t understand.

“What?”
Monroe asked, but Ana shushed him again. He frowned, but didn’t turn to her for
an explanation. He wanted to see this.

Alek
spoke, perhaps reassuring her—Monroe couldn’t tell—as he ran a hand through his
white hair. Cora rolled her eyes, but her jaw dropped as she saw the screen
with Monroe and Ana running. The Council’s attention shifted as they ran down
the streets, disappearing into the obelisk.

Paris
muttered something, pointing at another screen. On it, Charlotte and Bill were
visible in the small mansion, walking toward the exit.

The
white-haired leader asked something, raising an eyebrow. They all pulled black
orbs from their side bags, dialed them on, and vanished.

“Well,
okay,” Monroe said, pushing open the door, letting light spill into the cell.
“Now it’s our turn to trap them.” He turned back to the room. “Right?”

But
Ana was no longer there. Gone, too, was Charlotte’s astrolabe.

“You
mother
fucker
,” Monroe said, staring at the spot where she had been. That
respect, the tear, all that regret he’d seen had been an act. He slammed a fist
on the ground, then the glass, and kept pounding.

His
fury settled, turning inward. His lips and side still bled. Ana had stolen an
orb before. Yet he didn’t check on her while he stared out the window. Didn’t
notice the bag get lighter on his shoulder. “Idiot.” But wallowing would be
even more idiotic. “Get it together ’Roe.” His voice sounded eerily like
Charlotte’s. “Get it to-fucking-gether.”

Charlotte
needed to get home to Charlie. And Bill … Well, Monroe just wanted a chance to
change what he knew he couldn’t. Or, at the very least, one last moment with
Bill. It couldn’t end like this. He wouldn’t let Bill go like this.

With
a deep breath, he steadied himself on the glass. The monitors, the dial, the
way to save his family were just outside this room. Just beyond the glass. “You
can do this.” His focus shifted, and he saw himself, a shadow in the glass. To
his own outline—his bloody face, his messed-up hair, his dark eyes—he
whispered, “You can do this.”

With
a nod to himself, he pushed out of the containment cell and crossed to the
controls. He tapped in the coordinates he’d practiced with Ana, and a view of
the small mansion appeared. Charlotte and Bill stepped outside; his heart
thumped. There they were. This time he wouldn’t simply watch. On another
monitor, he zoomed into the map at the same spot. Three dots blinked in red
before fading.

The
Council had arrived.

Charlotte
and Bill talked to the Council. Paris vanished as he realized what Ana had
done, and on the map, his dot zipped away to three other points in the city.
When he reappeared, Alek’s shoulders sagged for the slightest second. Cora held
out her hand. It was almost time.

Monroe
tried not to think about Ana’s lies. Tried to believe that she’d taught him
what he needed to know. He’d have to rely on her glee at the idea of the
Council trapped in the containment cell.

Charlotte
and Bill took Cora’s hand and, at the same time, the three dots appeared on the
screen, two lines connected to one—indicating Charlotte and Bill. Then the dots
turned into thick lines, traveling swiftly through the city, zigzagging through
the streets, making their way to the spire.

Before
the lines reached the building, Monroe twisted a dial as he’d practiced. If he
worked fast, the Council wouldn’t even realize they’d been slowed. Tapping out
the new coordinates that Ana had taught him, Monroe redirected the Council’s
path slightly. Into the containment cell. The thin line of their trajectory shifted
slightly.

So
Ana hadn’t lied.

Monroe
was about to touch the button to speed up their movement, but paused. Charlotte
and Bill would be trapped there, too. The Council had promised they would work
together, but Monroe knew that was a lie. What would they do when they found
themselves trapped?

Monroe
typed at a few keys, but with the impenetrable language, he couldn’t figure out
a way to isolate the New Yorkers.

He’d
have to distract the Council somehow. Keep them alert so they wouldn’t hurt his
family for the redirect. So long as Monroe kept talking, bargaining with them,
they’d be okay. Charlotte and Bill could hold their own.

Monroe
pressed the red redirect button, and the thick lines sped up, twisting along
the city to the spire, directly to the containment cell he’d indicated. The
containment cell door clicked, the light turned on, and through the glass he
saw figures swaying inside. But only
two
figures.

Oh
God. It was Bill. Charlotte. His heart thrummed inside, stomach flopping around
like he’d traveled a million miles in this city. He’d trapped them and only
them. He’d made everything worse.

“Thank
you,” came a sarcastic voice behind him. “We couldn’t have done that better.”

Monroe
spun, then shoved himself away from the Council standing beside him. Paris
grinned as always, Cora had an eyebrow lifted, but Alek’s hand was on his
beard, and he watched Monroe carefully. “How did you do that?” Alek said. “Did
your friend teach you?” He swept a hand through his white hair, turned to the
room, and spoke something in their language. “Do you prefer English, then?
Leanor, come out, come out. We’ve caught your merry band.”

As
he said it, Paris stepped forward, gripped Monroe’s arm, and pressed a thick
metallic box against his wrist. Metal spiraled up his arm, squeezing his skin.
And then it burned.

•
• • • • • • • • • • •

The
pain
sent Monroe to his knees. The burning roiled up his arm, every millimeter of
the silvery spiral alive with fire.

“She’s
not
here
,” he told them, teeth clenched together. Spots of white kept
blossoming in his vision until he squeezed his eyes shut. Breathed through his
nose. Of course they had a way to avoid being redirected. Ana must’ve known.

“But
you admit you’re with her?” Alek asked. He turned to his companions and
muttered something about Leanor. “Tell us where she is. Paris?”

Through
thin slits, Monroe saw the short man slide a small box from his pocket. The box
contained a single dial, which Paris twisted with a grin.

Flames
seared up Monroe’s arm.

“Agh!
I’m not
with
her! I want to stop her! Stop
torturing
me!”

Alek
nodded toward Paris and the pain receded.

Monroe
took deep gasps of air, oxygen buzzing through his lungs and down his arm.
Trying to get the burning to lessen. But even with the dial turned down, the
prickle of pain seemed to grow without Paris doing a thing.

“You
don’t, ow, you don’t know me.” Monroe took a deep breath. Tried to ignore his
arm and focus on the three towering above him. “But I’ve met you.
We’ve
met you.” Monroe flicked his eyes to Bill and Charlotte. Both of them were at
the one-way glass, their hands cupped around their eyes to see through.

Alek
tilted his head. “Have you now?”

Monroe
propped a foot under himself. Pushed himself up. Swayed slightly backward, but
he used the wall to keep from falling back down. If he gritted his teeth, he
could do this. He had to stay on their level. “After all of this. You’ll be so
furious. You’ll know who did this to you. And you’ll go after her. Chase her
through time endlessly, give her no choice but to activate her bomb.”

“But
her bomb already activated,” came Cora’s voice.

Monroe
repositioned his focus. “You know how hard events are to talk about when time
travel’s involved. Once upon a timeline”—he gulped away the pain—“you got free.
But so did Ana. Leanor. You wouldn’t leave her alone. So she created bombs. And
even then, in that changed world, you still chased her. She still activated her
bombs. I saw you chase her.”

“And
why were
you
there?” came Paris’s rough tone. “Harboring your friend?”

Clenching
his fist seemed to help Monroe manage the pain. “Trying to stop her. We
discovered she destroyed New York. We’re going to stop her. My friends were
trapped by her bomb, helpless. So I came back for them. Only …” Monroe frowned.
“Leanor took my time device with her.”

Alek
stepped forward. “She was here?”

Oh,
no. That was a way to stop Ana. To let the Council trap her. But it wasn’t the
right
way. If they went through time now, if they captured Ana, they’d imprison
Monroe, too. He’d find himself in the containment cell with Charlotte and Bill.
They’d never get free.

“That’s
how I got here. I forced her.”

“Hmm,”
Alek said. He turned away, sat at a computer, and began rewinding through a
view of the room. Watching as Monroe worked at the controls, as he stepped
backward into the cell. “Aha,” he said, leaning in as Monroe and Ana came from
the room. “Well, that’s easily resolved.”

“No!”
Monroe shouted. Immediately the pain rippled up his arm, coursing through the
metal spiral. Paris grinned widely, peering at Monroe as he dialed up the pain.

Monroe
kept his feet beneath him. Ground his teeth together, clenched his fists,
breathed in, even stamped his foot to remain under control.

He
had to be as strong as Charlotte or Bill would be in this situation. He had to
be stronger than he’d ever been. Stronger than even them, with their trained
muscles.

“No,”
he said more calmly. “Don’t you see? You chased her through time; you
imprisoned her. None of it worked. So you came up with a different plan.”

“Impressive,”
Paris muttered, dialing the pain back down.

“A
different plan?” Cora stepped forward. “We told you about this?”

“It’s
obvious. You kept putting yourself at odds with Leanor, when you needed to be
smarter than a simple brute.” He fixed his focus on Cora, not wanting to bait
Paris.

“Then
tell us.”

Monroe’s
brain fired, trying to imagine every scenario. Trying to put together
everything he’d learned about Leanor. Not the woman she became, the woman he
knew, the woman who mentored Charlotte. But the woman they’d seen at every bomb
site. The woman who’d betrayed him only moments ago. And the woman she was that
first time they’d met. The first time they’d spoken. A woman tortured by
regret.

“From
the beginning, Leanor cared too much about your world. Your city. Your people.
She saw what was happening. Saw the rich getting richer. The poor living in
shitty homes.” He was assuming now, inventing, but no one stopped him. “So she
decided to do something about it. She invented a way to change the past. A way
to undo all of your work. But it wasn’t about
you
. She didn’t want to be
your enemy. She just wanted to change the world.”

“And
she did,” Alek said, standing. Fury in his eyes.

“Yes,
but that’s who she
is
. That’s important, see? You’ve always thought of
her as an adversary. Someone to trap, to torture, to invent for you. Someone to
leave behind. But Leanor won’t ever stop.”

“She
abandoned this world, too,” Alek said.

“Only
after it was too late,” Monroe said, hurrying. Alek was losing patience, even
if Cora was listening with curiosity. “The point is: chasing her won’t work.
You have to stop her in an even smarter way. You can’t think of her like you
have been. You have to think of her as she is. Not the Leanor who’s foiled your
plans. You have to remember the Leanor who wanted her city to be perfect.”

Alek
crossed his arms.

Monroe
had to finish this. “She ruined New York City—
my
city. Condemned
millions—then thousands—of people to your time. You want her stopped? Easy. Get
her to stop herself.”

Cora
looked back at Alek, who dropped his arms. “Stop herself?”

“I
wasn’t with Leanor. Not the one who sent you back here. No, I knew the Leanor
who had to live for decades with what she’d done. An older Leanor who lived in
a marred city everyday. Another city ruined by her actions. She couldn’t live
that way. So she gave my sister the gift of time travel. She taught us how to
use it, introduced us to her old self, and gave us a reason to stop herself.”

“What
reason?” Cora asked.

Now
Monroe fixed his gaze on Paris. “We loved Leanor. And you killed her.”

Paris’s
lips spread into a greedy smile. Exactly what Monroe needed.

“Well,
that’s easy then.” Alek stepped forward, gripped Monroe by a shoulder. “We’ll
just make that happen.”

“Except
you need
us
to finish the job. If you appear? She’ll run again. Make the
Blast worse, regret be damned. You
need
us. Otherwise you …” No, that
wasn’t right. “Otherwise your
empire
, all your plans for the future,
will never happen.”

Alek
froze. He didn’t like being out of control. Monroe would have to appeal to
that. Cora was already on board, watching Monroe intently as he spoke. Paris
was rubbing his hands together, ready to kill.

“But
if you let us go now, give us a way
out
of this age, we’ll finish the
job. We’ll stop Leanor once and for all. But maybe you could do it on your own.
Maybe you don’t need us.” It had to be Alek’s choice.

“How?”
Alek asked. “How could you stop her, when you’ve already failed twice? Didn’t
you say both you and they got caught in Leanor’s bombs, too?”

“Her
regret,” Monroe said, staring at Alek. He could use this man’s lies. “She
ruined your world. Set a host of dominoes falling that couldn’t be stopped. And
then she came to my world and destroyed a thousand buildings. She’s teetering
now, on the edge of despair. All she needs is a little
push
.”

“To
make her sorry?” Cora asked.

“Exactly,”
Monroe said. “This building is full of tech. I know that. So surely you
wouldn’t have had her build the Cornerstones, allow her freedom, without a plan
to make sure you’d be okay. Not just convincing my Leanor to stop herself. But
endless plans. Plans B all the way through triple Z.”

A
smile flickered on Alek’s tight lips. “Her regret, yes. A perfect punishment.
Come.”