Chapter 77

“I didn’t mean to freeze you too,” Jim said after a moment. “I did, though, didn’t I? I didn’t even know if it would work, but I thought…if I got the Muses to run back to the Veil, maybe…”

“It’s okay, Jim,” Nathan said. “You did good. It was more annoying than anything.” He smiled for good measure, but Jim still looked far away, like half of him was back at the Gatehouse. “Hey. Don’t you believe that stuff you spouted back there? ‘Cause I do. You’re not like other changelings, Jim. You’re different. You’re going to be different.”

The twitch of a smile pulled at Jim’s lips. “If you say so, Nathan,” he said.

Nathan took that for as much of a win as he was going to get and started to work on the first tire. Jim took another.

There was still no sign of Sasha.

“Hey, Red, where did you go? We need some help here!” Nathan called, not daring to yell too loudly or risk them being discovered, but there wasn’t even so much as a grumble in reply.