Witch and Wizard - James Patterson [38]
The lead guy’s baton was cocked back, and I snatched it right out of his hand, then kicked his legs out from under him and hit him with a roundhouse punch as he was falling to the sidewalk.
I was moving so fast that I was a blur. I took away all their batons and threw the sticks into a sewer, then knocked them down one by one—except for a beautiful twofer. Finally the gang members were sprawled on the ground, groaning and moaning.
“Now, let’s see those IDs!” I stood over them and roared, but Sasha was already pulling me away, hurrying all of us up the street and around the nearest corner.
“That was very cool,” he said.
“I needed the practice. And I think maybe I could actually get into this wizard thing.”
Meanwhile, Celia was on my arm, light as could be. “That was incredible, Whit. Loved it!”
“You definitely show potential,” Wisty said, and grinned.
And for that instant, that second, it was like everything was back to the way it was supposed to be, the kind of life I always thought I would have.
But just for that moment.
Chapter 61
Wisty
AFTER WHIT’S DEMONSTRATION of his latest skill set, Sasha led us down a mostly deserted street toward a building with a facade pockmarked by bullet holes and missile strikes. I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. Had all this happened while we were at the Hospital? Time felt so… distorted.
“Man, I was hoping I’d been gone long enough for this to stop. All the bombing.” Sasha shook his head.
“What do you mean?” I asked.
Sasha shrugged. “I was in the Shadowland for a couple of hours.”
Whit frowned. “Why would that be long enough for the, um, New Order to come to their senses and stop bombing?”
Sasha looked at me and Whit in surprise. “You don’t know? Celia…?”
“I didn’t get the chance to explain everything,” Celia said. “We were busy escaping, you know?”
“What don’t we know?” I asked. “What else?”
“Lots. For one thing, time is different in the Shadowland,” Sasha said, continuing to walk very fast. “In this case, it looks to me like I was probably gone about a month or so. It’s not always consistent. Depends on the portal you have to use. Once, I came back and it was earlier that same morning.”
Whit and I stared at each other. We had no way of knowing how much time had passed since we’d been captured. We had so many questions.
Apparently the Weasel did too. “So can we step back in time to a day when Wisty actually takes a bath? Her hair is practically turning to dreadlocks.”
“Get off me, you ingrate,” I said, peeling him away from my neck and plopping him on Feffer’s back instead. “Feffer, you’re a kinder soul than me. Meet your new best friend.”
Feffer barked good-naturedly and wagged her tail. Could she have ever been a hellhound?
Then Sasha stopped and pointed.
“Here we go! Home sweet rubble-strewn home! This is where a bunch of us are hanging. Kind of a mingus, but we’ve fixed it up pretty good.”
I looked up and read the broken fluorescent sign, dangling from some wires, for the most amazing luxury department store in the whole world. I’d never been able to afford to even walk through these doors.
“Garfunkel’s?” I said breathlessly. “We’re gonna live here?”
For a moment, I felt like a queen.
Chapter 62
Whit
IN SPITE OF THE DEPRESSING UNCERTAINTY about our parents’ whereabouts, Wisty’s voice was full of excitement as she said the name of the familiar department store.
“I guess this is, like, your dream come true, huh?” I said to her.
She gave me an ironic smile as Sasha led us through the revolving doors, one of which had been shattered by a rocket, or maybe a runaway tank.
“Totally,” Wisty said. “On the one hand, we’ve been dragged away from our parents, imprisoned, starved, stun-gunned, denied all basic human rights and freedoms, yada yada yada. On the other hand, look! To my right! It’s, like, bra wonderland!”
I was about to make a joke about how it would be a wonder if she even needed one, but she raised her drumstick at me and I shut right up.
“No electricity in here,” Sasha said as we walked up a motionless