Page 59 of Tapeworld Induction

They both knew that the answer was likely not very much. She took a deep breath, and they sat there in silence. As if reading her thoughts, a torrent of molten liquid pierced the rock of the volcano and burst out, sputtering chunks of soft lava, then sluggishly running down the mountain.

Miss Kitty leapt up onto the table next to the Gunkatana, making them both jump. “What are you two up to?”

Isaak quickly moved his hand out from under Dylan’s, standing up.

Dylan glanced at Isaak, trying to catch his eyes again, trying to resume the moment they were having. But it was in vain as he started handling the sword, the blade concealed within the hilt. She stroked the cat, who nuzzled against her chest.

“See those bits?” Isaak said, pointing at two protruding spherical shapes attached to the hilt. “They look unusual, but I can’t figure out what they do.”

She nodded. “Lemme see if I can move them.”

He moved a hand away, holding the sword out and inviting her in with his body language. She approached him, and moved into the space in front of him, feeling his chest on her back. He smelled of something citrusy. Was it the Tapeworld or some fragrance he was wearing?

She grasped the hilt of the Gunkatana while he held it steady, touching his hands.

Dylan prodded and pushed the two spheres, nestling between him and the sword. The memory of his arm around her back from the night they first met… A pang of excitement, feeling his breath on her neck, making the hairs raise.

Dylan moved the two shapes in opposite directions with a twisting motion, and they fell out of the sword’s grip onto the table. They joined together to form a metal tube.

“Oh, wow. What’s in this? Good job spotting it, Isaak.” She turned back to look at him, her face ever so close to his.

He smiled down at her.

Fighting the urge to kiss him, she turned back and opened the tube. Inside was a translucent roll of paper, which grew larger than the container itself as she pulled it out. A photograph.

It was a portrait shot of a woman, brown shoulder-length hair in curls, who looked to be about the same age as them. Minimal make-up, lips pursed with barely the hint of a smile, betraying something unresolved, matching a worry behind her brown eyes.

Dylan didn’t recognise her.

Isaak immediately went stiff, his breathing halting and heavy. He moved away from Dylan, arms brushing her back as he retreated. He placed the Gunkatana, in hilt form, back on the pedestal.

“What is it?” she asked.

He shook his head. “I really don’t think I should give this to Astrid.”

21

Sticky Petrol

Dylan

Isaak’s posture was completely different now. Guarded, arms crossed. His tone of voice changed, just like in the forest, to the decisive, commanding team captain. He’d lost the cute and the kind, gone back to serious and formal.

Dylan steeled herself. This woman must mean something to him – there was no other reason for him to become so distant in the space of seconds.

“Do you know who she is?”

Isaak didn’t answer, just frowned, lost in his thoughts.

Dylan didn’t press it. Not the right time. “The Gunkatana, and the photo, Astrid’s going to ask you for them. If you don’t give them to her, will she come after you?” She walked over to him, shooing Kitty away with one hand. The cat hopped down from the table. “Does she know where you live?”

Isaak walked back a few steps, hands raised halfway. “Maybe. I don’t know. Probably, knowing her. The bigger problem is, what if she summons me?”

Shit. “She will summon you!”

“I could just not tape in, I guess!”

Dylan tightened her hands into fists at her sides. She knew it was the situation, but the version of Isaak she had started to really like seemed to have disappeared so quickly, and she couldn’t help but feel a bit like she was suddenly less important to him in some way. It didn’t feel great.