Clockwork Twist : Missing Read Free Page B

Twist shook his head, smiling softly, and tried to keep himself out of the fray.
    “Excuse me,” a deep, clear voice asked from behind Twist and Jonas. Twist nearly leaped out of his chair when he saw the strange, golden-eyed man standing so near behind them. Twist’s heart thundered once again, and every fiber of his being screamed at him to run. The man glanced at Twist with a cold disinterest that pinned him still in his seat before looking back to Jonas.
    “Hello,” Arabel uttered stiffly, with obvious surprise. Her mirth had vanished completely as she looked at the man with a slightly fearful fascination. Myra also stared up at him with wide eyes.
    “Are you Jonas Davis, the sky pirate?” the man asked.
    “Who wants to know?” Jonas asked back, turning to look over his shoulder with covered eyes. Twist knew Jonas could feel his sudden fear, but Jonas showed no signs of fear himself.
    The man looked to Twist. “Is he Jonas Davis?” he asked, his voice still sounding light.
    The moment he heard the question, Twist felt a powerful and undeniable compulsion to respond with the truth. He managed to keep his mouth closed, but his head slipped into a shallow nod that he was helpless to stop. The man smiled slightly and put a hand on Jonas’s shoulder.
    Suddenly, the whole world flashed a blinding, burning white.
     
     

 

     
     
    Twist’s ears popped, as if from a sudden pressure change. He tried to move, to reach out, but his limbs wouldn’t respond. Then, in the briefest instant, everything was completely normal once again, as if nothing had happened at all.
    Twist jerked when his body responded to his orders again, and he looked around at the shop in total bewilderment. No one else seemed perturbed in the least. The man had vanished again. Everyone was still sitting calmly, talking together and sipping at their tea. For a moment, Twist wondered if it had happened only to him—perhaps a strange flash of the future, like he sometimes experienced in times of danger—but something in the air wasn’t as it should have been. Something was very wrong.
    “What was that?” Arabel asked.
    “You saw it too?” Twist replied instantly.
    “Saw what?” Arabel looked at him curiously. “You just jerked like something bit you. Are you all right?”
    Twist frowned at her while his thoughts fought to make sense of themselves. He turned to ask Jonas if he’d seen the flash, but Jonas wasn’t there. His chair wasn’t sitting at the table anymore; there was no setting laid out for him. The cup of tea that Myra had poured for him was gone. Every sign of him had vanished. The nagging flaw in the world instantly revealed itself at the same moment. The familiar warmth at the back of his neck, the effect of Jonas’s presence on his Sight, that subtle second heartbeat, was gone.
    “Where’s Jonas?” Twist asked, searching the shop for him. He lifted the tablecloth to see nothing but knees and boots beneath.
    “Who?” Arabel asked.
    A wave of icy terror rushed through Twist’s body so fast that it left him breathless and trembling. “Your brother,” he said, forcing his voice to steady as he stared at her in horror.
    She only frowned at him, confused.
    “Twist?” Myra asked gently, laying her hand on his arm. “Darling, are you all right?”
    “Where’s Jonas?” he asked her desperately, taking her metal hand in his own.
    “I don’t know who that is,” she said, half in sorrow and half in fear.
    “No no no no no this can’t be happening,” Twist said in a single, shuddering breath. He closed his eyes and forced his mind to steady. This was ridiculous. Of course Jonas existed. He must have just gone somewhere in that strange, flashing moment. Arabel and Myra were playing a game. A cruel, cruel game.
    “Seriously, what’s going on?” Arabel asked, leaning forward over the table to speak to Twist. “Why are you so upset?”
    “This isn’t funny,” Twist said, opening his eyes to look at her. She