“Rosa!” I called as she started to sway. I grabbed her hips to keep her upright, but unlike her last expulsion of power, she didn’t seem on the verge of passing out. Even as she gladly accepted my help sitting her down in our row, her legs hadn’t totally gone to rubber.

  Was this all part of Chekoketh’s training? Like working a muscle, strength and endurance grow with use.

  Everything around us remained deathly silent. All the passengers were gone, just piles of ashy remains. Only us on a train barreling through the frontier.

  “I’m okay,” Rosa whispered.

  Hearing her voice was like angels singing. Well, perhaps there was a better description, all things considered. Either way, knowing she was okay got me refocused on the task at hand.

  “Can you walk?” I asked. “We’ve gotta get to the engine.”

  “Just give me a second.”

  “I can help—”

  “I said I need a second.”

  I didn’t dare argue. We rumbled along in harrowing quiet for a short time before she pushed herself to her feet. A rush to the head made her wobble. The dizziness passed in a spell, and she stood firm.

  “Alright, let’s go.”

  I went to help her, but she turned on her own and walked the aisle, using the seats as supports all the way down the line. She kept her eyes ahead—not on the ashes sifting around by our feet. Straight ahead. If what she’d done in the garden had rattled her, this shook her world to its core.

  “You didn’t have a choice,” I said.

  “I did. And I made it,” she replied matter-of-factly.

  “Better dead than slaves to him.”

  A justification, sure, but true nonetheless. Chekoketh had put his cards on the table, offering Rosa what he did. The temptation for a soul in turmoil, even one as strong as her, to take the easy way out, was grand. She just didn’t know his ilk like I did.

  With the door going from frozen by the riders and Hell, to superheated under Rosa’s power, the handle of the next car snapped off as I pulled. I shouldered it open and pressed on. I couldn’t be positive, but if she’d just expended enough of her energy to turn the snow outside into a wave and obliterate everyone within the confines of the train, I had to believe we were presently driverless.

  Unfortunately, I was correct.

  Car after empty car, nose to caboose, was filled with piles of ash and the rank smell of burned flesh. The meltwater from those icy locusts mixed in to make a sort of sludge.

  I know, despite her words, it took all of Rosa’s effort not to think about the fact that each one of those represented a human being. They all had families, friends, lives. And in the blink of an eye, it’d all been taken away.

  I’d seen death aplenty, but Rosa was the hand that wielded the knife, so to speak. The excuse that Chekoketh and his horsemen left no other option wouldn’t help. Never did. No matter how much I tried to convince myself that the many deaths I’d been party to over the years were preordained or a result of some supernatural war, it was never enough.

  You just had to live with it. Scars on the soul.

  “We’ve gotta keep moving,” I told her when she stopped beside two large ash piles and a smaller one—clearly parents and their child. She remained firmly lodged in place.

  “This is Chekoketh’s game, Rosa,” I went on. “It’s when you doubt yourself most that he takes hold. And I promise you, whatever he wants you for is far worse than this. He stole their lives. Not you.”

  Silence.

  I gently grabbed her jaw and forced her to make eye contact with me. “Power doesn’t make anyone evil. We are what we are.”

  I prodded her along until we reached the engine compartment. Then, brushing aside the hump of remains from the seat, I replaced it with my rump. I pointed to a second seat that folded down from the wall. Rosa took her place there.

  I cracked my knuckles. “This ought to be fun.”

  I’ve done a great many things in my life. Things most folks wouldn’t dream of. I’ve scaled the side of Hangnoose Bluff and swung across Turner Falls. Hell, I decapitated a goat Nephilim by leaping off the side of a railroad bridge. However, one thing I’d never done was conduct a train. That being said, now sitting in the driver’s seat, I hadn’t a goddamn clue what I was doing.

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  Unfortunately for me, it was clear Rosa didn’t either, which meant I needed to pretend I was in control long enough to figure out how to actually be in control.

  “Do you have any clue what you’re doing?” Rosa asked.

  “Only thing that matters is the lever,” I told her—a lie.

  The words SCHENECTADY LOCOMOTIVE WORKS were written in silver above the conductor’s controls. What did that mean to me? Exactly fuck all. At least I knew what I was trying to drive.

  Funny difference between a train and say, a horse… in a train, you can’t see where you’re going. There’s no window up front, just a bunch of gears and levers. I leaned out the side before realizing that too didn’t matter. The rail was gonna take us where we wanted to go, and all I needed to do was keep us on the track.

  And we had to be smart because when this steam engine came into town, there’d be people waiting at the station, excited to see their friends and loved ones. But that was a problem for future James Crowley.

  “See? Easy as pie,” I said. “You lean back and rest. I know that must have taken a lot out of you.”

  She sighed and let her head fall back against the wall. Her eyes did look heavy, her skin pale, as all the adrenaline from the fight finally drained from her system.

  “You have no idea, James.”

  “I’m only saying.”

  “Just worry about crashing.”

  I chuckled low and under my breath, unsure if she meant to be funny or not, and did as requested. I kept the train going, straight and true, for hours. It wasn’t difficult really, as long as I didn’t touch anything.

  * * *

  Since no one aboard remained, I blew through the few stops that’d been planned along the way, watching confused people wave us down. Some railway workers even chased us when we slipped through a small town whose name I didn’t know. Truth be told, I had no idea where we were until I started seeing signs that we were close to Golden River.

  I’d been there once or twice and knew the sights. In the distance were barns, a water tower, and a smattering of buildings. There was new construction everywhere, a sign that the place was growing.

  I leaned out the window again and saw the station up ahead. The rail yard was packed with workers, and our track converged with a few others. Steam and smoke filled the sky, and I hoped the chaos would give us the cover we needed to make an unnoticed escape.

  “This is where we get off,” I told Rosa. “One problem.”

  She’d been resting, only now rousing. “Huh?”

  “We’re here. I just ain’t got the damndest clue how to stop this thing.”

  That brought her to full alertness in an instant. “You’re kidding.”

  I shook my head. “Being honest as Abe.”

  Over the years in the Scuttlers, we’d robbed trains. But it was always Maddog who’d been in charge of screeching it to a halt while the rest of us did our thing. I had a vague understanding of what needed doing, but still…

  I grabbed the lever to my right, one I hadn’t yet used. The word BRAKE was written on a placard below it, so I knew that much. Was there a method beyond throwing it down and grinding to a halt?

  Only one way to find out.

  I squeezed what I could only call a trigger. We were fast approaching the station. It was now or never. At our speed and with the weight of a locomotive, I wasn’t sure how long it would take. What I did know was I had no interest in stopping in front of the station to answer questions about where everyone was.

  “Hang tight,” I said, then yanked the lever back.

  The wheels screeched, and we slowed fast enough to send Rosa sliding toward the front of the car. I threw my hand out to keep her from injury.

  “We gotta get off here,” I said. “Discreetly.”

  She understood. I’m sure she didn’t wanna face any accusations either.

  While the train slowed, we made our way to the new caboose since the old one faded away with Ace. That was also the wagon containing the bloody remains of Marshal Wassel, damn him to Hell. I hopped off while the engine rolled to a stop, then extended a hand up to Rosa.

  “Bushes.” I pointed and she followed.

  We slipped into some underbrush, keeping low. From what I could tell, no one had seen us. I’m sure they were too busy trying to figure out why the conductor missed the target by several hundred yards.

  People rushed the train, leaping down from the platform and directly onto the tracks. They already knew something was wrong. While they were distracted, we made our way toward the town, hunched and moving low. Screams rang out behind us, no doubt people discovering the thing was empty as a robbed grave.

  I caught a glimpse of Rosa, guilt racking her features.

  “No time for dwelling,” I said. “You didn’t set Heaven or Hell on this path.”

  She nodded meekly, and I led her through some tall grass and into the back forty of a farm on the outskirts of the city.

  In another life, I figured I could have made a pretty good go of things here. There was no river made of gold like the moniker, but from what I understand, prospectors flocked to this land, panning the waters and carving out stone. Unlike Dufaux, it seemed those who made a living here used it for more than setting themselves up as kings.

  The sun was damn near set, which meant we had a choice to make—continue our trek east through the night or find a place to bed down until dawn. One look at Rosa was answer enough. Though she’d rested a bit while I guided the train, she looked positively knackered, not to mention the many lacerations on her face and neck from the locusts.

  “Let’s find lodging,” I said. “We can get a fresh start at first light.”

  Part of me expected her to put up a fight, but she agreed without protest, and we made our way closer to the town’s center. Like I said, this wasn’t my first time in Golden River, however, I was no expert.

  By now, the place was abuzz with the mystery of the empty train. We heard more than whispers about the stain on the ceiling that had formerly been called Marshal Wassel. There’d be investigating and whatnot, which meant continuing our way east by another train was probably out of the cards.

  Night only made the whispers louder. The people needed a way to get their thrills, and our mystery provided. This was settled land—where you could walk outside town and maybe the worst thing you might run into was a bear.

  “Where are you taking us?” Rosa asked. “We have no money for a room.”

  “Outlaws don’t pay for hotel rooms, darling,” I said.

  “Better to find some stables by the edge of the city, then. Mamá and I spent Lord-knows-how-many nights hiding in hay. We won’t be caught.”

  “As much as I’d enjoy rustling in the hay with you, I know a guy.”

  “Do you always ‘know a guy’?”

  I snorted. “You been around as long as I have, doing the things I do, and it pays to make friends.”

  “Oh, so he’s a friend?”

  “Well… Not exactly.”