Page 199 of Sparktopia
I thought for sure she was dead. But then a miracle. I see her and that man she was kissing last night. Somewhere, through the Looking Glass, she is alive. I know this now. It’s a fact, not a guess. And if I cross over, I could find her.
But as I’m thinking this, I turn a little more and my gaze wanders to Jasina Bell on the other side of the massive glass wall. She’s still talking. Not to me. I’m not even sure she knows I’m here. She’s talking to Gemna, who, now that I look closer, I think is screaming. She’s talking to the other girl, too.
Jasina. The girl who shows up with not just questions, but answers. The girl who takes notes. The girl who wants to make history. The girl with a plan.
She’s got a plan.
I don’t know what it is, but tying her to a circle that is clearly meant to drain the spark out of her in order to power a portal to another world isn’t enough to make her give up. She is plotting something. She’s always plotting something.
And she left me to die.
They all left me to die, actually. I’m not even supposed to be here. I’m sure they thought I’d sleep right through their secret ritual under the Tower District.
But that’s neither here nor there.
Jasina is the one who matters now. She took my father’s notes and left me to die.
In my sleep.
So she could… what? Take my job assignment? Did she really think she could just replace me in this whole scheme?I’mthe Extraction Master, not her.
It’s like… next-level balls. On someone who doesn’t even have balls.
It’s audacious. It’s bold. It’s…brave.
Stupid, as well. But there’s something to be said for dodgy escape schemes.
And as I’m thinking all this, cyan-blue light begins to seep out of Jasina and Gemna. Gathering around them like a cyclone wind.
I turn to my mother and smile. “What do you need me to do?”
Her relief is so immediate, it comes out as a breath of air the color of spark.
I’ve never seen my mother display spark. It never even occurred to me that once upon a time, she was a Spark Maiden.
But of course she was.
She’s the Extraction Matron.
And there is only one way to become a Matron. Ya gotta be a Maiden first.
“You don’t have to do anything, my son.” My mother lets out another breath, and again, it’s spark. It swirls around in the air between us. Then she steps forward, making it disperse as she passes through it. I am fascinated as the little particles glitter in the air like stardust, but no one else seems to notice.
I want to look at Jasina one more time. But I can’t. I can look only at my mother as she comes towards me and, once again, takes both my hands in hers.
They are cold. And it’s weird. Because all my life I’ve felt only warmth from her.
“The Little Sisters are almost done.” My mother turns, panning a hand at the short line of still-standing Little Sisters in front of Donal Oslin—who looks like he’s been in the down-city taverns all day. He’s drunk on the spark that he’s stealing from the girls.
There are only five left. And he’s taking the spark pretty fast because he finishes one in the few seconds that we’re watching.
“One he’s taken them all,” my mother continues, “the glass will be primed and he’ll power it up. And once that happens, the door will open and we will all walk through.”
She lets out a breath of spark, but this time she pans her hands to the people waiting in a dark corner. The Council, of course. All the district Masters, including Donal’s father. And the Matrons who are not directly involved in the stealing of spark.
But there’s another face over there. One more staring back at me.
Mitch.
