Page 55 of Once a Villain
Tom was staring at Jamie now with an intensity that made Joan feel like an intruder.
“In the timelineIremember, you and I used to be...” Jamie faltered. “Well, we were close.”
There was still a little suspicion in Tom’s eyes. “Close?” He said it like it was an alien concept. Joan had the feeling he was going to shut down again. Or maybe he’d decide that they really were spies. Maybe he’d open a radio channel and tell the Hathaways to warn the Court. Or Marguerite. But instead, Tom’s eyes shifted to Frankie, still in Jamie’s arms. “What did you say your dog’s name was?”
“Frankie,” Jamie said. Frankie woke at her name, looking sleepy and puzzled.
“I knew someone named Frankie once,” Tom said.
A glimmer of emotion in Jamie’s eyes. He blinked it away.
Tom searched his face. “Why are you here?” When he’d asked earlier, it had been accusatory, but his voice seemed a little softer now.
“We didn’t mean to come,” Jamie said. “It’s like we said. We tried to stop Eleanor, but—”
“No, I mean why are youhere—on this boat? Why is Aaron pretending to be Aaron? Why is Nick pretendingnotto be Nick? Why do you care about the message in the ring?”
Jamie took a breath. He put a hand on Frankie’s head, settling her again. “I think it’s clear that Nick’s and Aaron’s counterparts weren’t just helping humans. They had a larger plan to stop Eleanor. We want the same thing.”
“This world iswrong,” Joan said to Tom. “We all felt it as soon as we arrived here. Don’tyoufeel it?”
“The treatment of humans—” Tom started.
“Not that,” Joan said. “Or not only that. There’s something wrong with the timeline, something off. It feels—” She reached for the monster sense inside herself. “Like the timeline is sick. I can almost smell the decay.”
Jamie leaned closer to Tom, earnestly. “We have to fix it.”
Joan felt Aaron going very still beside her. He’d warned them not to reveal their mission here.
“What does that mean?” Tom said. “Fixit?” But he already knew. He answered before Jamie could. “You want to restore your own timeline. I doubt Aaron’s and Nick’s counterparts were planning to dothat.”
The moment felt fragile. Tom was still standing over them; still blocking their exit. What was he going to do?
“Tom, this world iswrong,” Jamie said earnestly. “It shouldn’t be this way. Our own timeline wasn’t perfect—not even close. But it was better than this.”
“You’re talking about overwriting this timeline. You’re talking about—” Tom stopped, but they all heard the rest of thesentence. They wanted to overwrite the people of this timeline.
Jamie swallowed visibly. “It’s not exactly death.”
Tom looked down at Jamie’s ring, deliberately this time. “Isn’t it?”
Jamie’s eyes glinted with unshed tears. “I know it isn’t. My family power gives me memories of previous timelines. I remember living other lives, but I was alwaysme.”
Tom searched Jamie’s face. Tom himself had told Joan once, in this same situation:He doesn’tknowyou. You feel things about him that he doesn’t feel about you. You miss him, and that makes you want to trust him.
From the outside now, Joan could see Tom had been right. For all that Jamie wanted to trust this Tom, hedidn’tknow him. To Tom, Jamie was a stranger who’d just told him he wanted to overwrite his whole world.
“What if I stopped you?” Tom said to Jamie. His tone was oddly gentle. “What if I told Eleanor herself what you were planning?She’dstop you.”
“She could try,” Nick said softly. His voice carried a weight, though, that made Tom look at him properly for maybe the first time.
“You won’t tell her,” Jamie said to Tom. He sounded certain. More certain than Tom seemed. “I think you know this world is wrong too.”
Tom’s mouth tightened, and it hit Joan that he was worried about something. That he’d been worried about something since he’d heard Nick’s recorded message.
The boat was beginning to slow; they’d reached the destinationTom had set—the Rotherhithe walking bridge. Tom whistled a note now, and the engine cut out. The sudden silence made Joan aware of how small the boat’s space was; how everyone’s movements made the wood creak.
“Wait... You’re just going to stop here for real?” Jamie said. He’d apparently assumed that Tom would tell the boat to keep moving once he reached their set destination. “We’re in the middle of the river. We’ll drift.”
