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CHAPTER 37
Schuyler
They were in Sydney when it happened Right in Chinatown, in a little apothecary shop that sold the organic green tea that Schuyler liked to drink in the s, then her ar and she fell to the floor, dropping the tin she was holding as she writhed and thrashed against the cold linoleum tile
"Stay back!, it’s okay’she’s she’s epileptic!" Oliver said, pushing everyone away "Just give her room to breathe! Please! It’ll pass"
It was strange for Schuyler not to be able to control her body, to find it was in revolt against her wishes, almost as if it had been possessed by an evil spirit She felt as if she atching herself fro to her, but to another girl, as lying dohile her ars moved jerkily, and she frothed at the mouth
"Sorry, I’ had ceased, but even if her li a mile a minute
"It’s okay You’re okay," Oliver said, gently helping her to her feet by giving her his shoulder to lean on
"Here water," the shopkeeper said, bringing a paper cup to her lips Schuyler was glad for the kind eyes of theon Oliver as they walked out of the shop and to the bus stop, where a bus back to The Rocks was already waiting
"This was a bad one," he said, as they paid their student fare and found seats at the back
He was being kind It was probably the worst episode she’d experienced The ue had al her last visit? That the vaift, but in her case was also a burden Her hu the transfor it wanted out of her
"Are you sure you’re all right?" Oliver asked again, as Schuyler leaned forith her head in her hands
"I’ she said before she fainted
Back at the hotel, and feeling much better, Schuyler sat on the little balcony outside their room, wrapped up in a bathrobe Inside the tiny kitchenette, Oliver was putting the final touches to his curry He brought out a stea bowl and set it in front of her with a spoon They had both learned to cook while on the run Oliver’s specialty was an Indian bananaand-chicken curry, while Schuyler liked toconcoctions out of pasta and whatever she could find in the fridge (So)
"Thanks," she said, gladly accepting the warm bowl of yellow curry and rice She lifted a spoonful to her lips and blew on it before eating, so it wouldn’t scorch her tongue
Outside, sailboats and cruise ships dotted Sydney’s harbor The ocean was a deep sea-green, not unlike Jack’s eyes, she thought, then stopped herself She would not think about hi her too She focused on her food Oliver atching her through the sliding glass door
He had that look on his face, and she knehat it meant He walked out, set a cup of tea next to her, and sat on one of the plastic chairs
"Sky, we need to talk"
"I knohat you’re going to say, Ollie, but the answer is no" She took a sip of the tea A that had happened, Oliver had still ood Conduit
"Sky, you’re not being reasonable"
"I’ to put us in jail, or whatever they do to people like us" Schuyler shrugged She knew the punish Conclave justice: a thousand years of Expulsion Your spirit locked up in a box But what if she wasn’t immortal? What would they do to her then? And ould happen to Oliver?
"You heard what Jack said The Conclave has bigger probleht now Besides, maybe this time they’ll believe you The fire at the H’tel Lambert was all over the papers, and the European Conclave is up in arms’they have witnesses who saw Leviathan! They can’t deny it anymore"
"Even if they believe o unpunished You know that better than I do," Schuyler pointed out
"True, but that hen Charles Force was Regis No one is leading the Conclave right now They’re frightened and disorganized I think it would be safe to go hoanization that would make policy out of fear And how about you? You’re a traitor too, you know What about your parents? They’ll go after them"
So far Oliver’s fa tracked by the Venators: phones bugged, accounts analyzed Oliver’s parents told him on one of their rare satellite phone calls that they couldn’t go to Dean & Deluca without feeling they were being watched
Oliver took a gulp fro Foster’s can "I think we can buy them"
Schuyler stacked her empty cup into her empty bowl "Excuse me?"
"Pay them off The Conclave needs money They’re pretty much broke My parents have a ton I can buy uing? Oliver was telling her what she wanted to hear, that they could go hohtened her
"I don’t want to go"
"You’re lying You want to go home I know it And we are End of discussion," Oliver said
"I’ht back I won’t hear anything else"
Oliver didn’t speak to her for the rest of the evening She fell asleep with a crick in her neck fro so stubborn, she wondered as she drifted off to sleep Oliver only wanted the best for her
Why are you being so stubborn?
Schuyler opened her eyes
She was in New York, in her bedroom The faded Broadway Playbill covers that lined the walls were yellow and curling at the edges
Heron her bed
This was a dream But not the usual one A dream about her mother She didn’t think about her ood-bye when they had left New York last year
It was the first tira had appeared on Corcovado holding a sword
Allegra looked at Schuyler sternly
"He is right, you know The Conduits always are You cannot live this way The transforuidance and care You cannot risk your life like this"
"But I can’t go home," Schuyler said "As much as I want to, I can’t"
"Yes you can"
"I can’t!" Schuyler rubbed her eyes
"I know you are afraid of ill happen when you return But you must face your fear, Schuyler If you and Abbadon arethat any-one, not him, not even you, can do to stop it"
Her o home because then Jack would be so, so, so very close Jack, as still free Jack, who had kissed her so passionately who could still be hers But if she kept away, then she wouldn’t be tempted to see him and betray Oliver
"You cannot be with someone just because you don’t want to hurt hira said
"But even if we’re together, it will only kill Jack," Schuyler said "It’s against the Code And he’ll diminish"
"If he will take the risk to be with you, who are you to tell him what to do with his life? Look at me Look at how much I risked to be with your father"
"My father is dead And you’re in a corew up an orphan," Schuyler said, not even trying to keep the bitterness out of her voice She had never known her father, he had died before she was born As for Allegra? well, there wasn’tcorpse, noas there ’tell reat" love for my father worth what has happened to your fa such hurtful things But everything spilled out after years of living alone
She loved her el who only appeared once in a lifetiive her some enchanted sword Schuyler wanted a real parent: one as there for her when she cried, who encouraged and prodded and annoyed her, a little bit, only because they cared so much She wanted someone ordinary Like Oliver’s mom She had no idea how Mrs H-P knehere they would be, but every few e would arrive at their hotel, and inside would be chocolates and new socks and things they didn’t even know they needed, like flashlights and batteries