The Scientist's Cultist

vi - decode.

Rowan's fear returned in one fell swoop; all it had taken was one very scary word. "Turbulence?"

Landon squeezed Rowan's hand even though his skin had grown rather clammy. "Being with you in that car in the 1920s was a million times scarier than a couple of bumps on an airplane. You're a badass, Row, embrace it."

As the stewardesses completed their safety instructions and the plane took off at what felt like the speed of light, never once did Landon loosen his grip on Rowan's hand. Landon would never know how his strength transferred to Rowan in one simple gesture—one act of faith. And there was one thing he'd learned from their time together, it was that he didn't have to face his fears alone anymore.

- - - - - - AUGUST 31, 1888 - - - - -

Whitechapel, London 3:30 p.m.

JUNE WOKE SLOWLY to a light flashing straight into her eyes. Bleary-eyed, June rubbed at her eyelids with the backs of her hands until she was able to make sense of her surroundings again. She had nearly forgotten that she and Theo were in London, though it came back to her rather quickly as the sensation returned to her limbs.

Glancing to the side, June could see the rough outline of Theo's body in the bed across the room. Whoever the two strangers were that they'd shared the room with were gone, but judging by the light coming through the window, it must have been sometime in the afternoon already. Surely that hadn't been the light to wake her up, though, had it?

On cue, whatever had been flashing began its sequence again. This time, June's eyes had adjusted well enough to the light that she could see where it was coming from. Her Travel band.

Stunned, she watched as the green light on the metal band blinked several times before dimming again. After 30 seconds of nothing, the sequence began again. Was the Travel band malfunctioning in some way? Was their team trying to send them some sort of message?

June pushed herself up into a sitting position, silently criticizing herself for not waking up earlier. Most of the day had been wasted already, all because there were no alarm clocks in the 1800s. She stood slowly, wincing at the ache in her legs, and made her way over to where Theo lay still. His eyelashes fluttered against his skin as he dreamed, and June paused with her hand inches above his shoulder.

Worst case scenario, we'll pretend to be in love again. Theo's words had been repeating themselves in June's brain like a tattoo ink pen poking straight into a vulnerable muscle. It was true that the kiss they'd shared was to get them out of a sticky situation, but it had meant something to her. To hear Theo call their intimacy a worst-case scenario had cut deep. She had thought maybe—just maybe—there was something real forming between them. Now, June was far less confident that she was even an item on Theo's radar.

Theo shifted suddenly, exposing the arm with his Travel band on it. To her surprise, it flashed in the same pattern as hers. Whatever happened to their bracelets was more important than her complicated feelings. She crossed the remaining distance between them and gently shook Theo's shoulder.

Theo shot up instantly, his eyes open wide. "What's wrong?"

June yelped and jumped back a little, fumbling over her words. "Uh, nothing, I just, um, our Travel bands are doing a thing."

"What?" Theo lifted his hands as if a puppet master was controlling his limbs with strings. "Oh," he said groggily as he watched his Travel band flash in the same peculiar pattern. "What does that mean?"

"I'm not sure. At first, I thought it was malfunctioning, but if it's happening to yours too..."

"You think the team is trying to tell us something?"

June nodded silently, keeping her eyes trained on her Travel band. There was something peculiar about the flashes. Some were quick while in other instances the light stayed steady for a second or so before fading. Every so often, there would be a moment when the Travel band would dim completely for a moment before the process began all over again. Was it possible this was Morse code?

"You're looking very stoically at your Travel band," noted Theo. "What's going on in your head, June?"

"I think it's Morse Code," she explained. "If I can just figure out where the beginning and end of the sequence is, I think I can decode the message and—"

"Hold on," interrupted Theo, raising both hands in front of him. "You know Morse code?"

June felt her cheeks grow hot. It was horrendously embarrassing when he put it like that. "I've loved codes and puzzles since I was a kid."

"Man, I wish I would have known that when my friends and I were trying to get through some of the levels on Keep Calm and Nobody Explodes," Theo joked. "We could never figure out the Morse code part."

Normally, June would have laughed and made a joke about how it was a good thing they weren't trying to virtually defuse a bomb currently because otherwise, they'd probably be dead. Given that their current situation was just as dangerous, the joke didn't seem as funny. June watched, captivated, as the green light on her Travel band blinked out again. June counted to five in her head before the sequence restarted.

"There," she said. "This must be the beginning of the sequence."

"What does it say?" Theo asked. June was so focused on following the code that Theo's question sounded like it was coming from the other side of a narrow tunnel.

"L-I-B-R-A-R-Y-A-R-C-H-I-V-E," June spelled aloud.

"Library? Why would they be sending us to the library?"

"There's more," June interjected. "M-E-S-S-A-G-E-I-N-B-O-T-T-L-E." The green light went dim. "That's it?"

"They aren't referencing the movie, are they?" Theo asked, glancing up at June from where he was still sitting on his bed. June resisted the urge to smooth his disheveled hair. How was it possible to be frustrated with someone yet equally as

"What movie?"

For once, it was Theo's cheeks that reddened. "Did I say movie? I definitely meant to say song. I mean, come on, there's no way I have ever seen a romance movie in my life."

June couldn't help the coy smile that tugged at her lips. Theo liked romantic dramas. Damn, he was really making it difficult to stay upset with him. "If you say so. I think the team is relying on us to read between the lines here. If the destination is the library archives, maybe they're directing us toward a book or a document by that title?"

"Maybe," said Theo. "What else could 'message in a bottle' mean? Surely they don't want us to literally put a message in a bottle, do they?"

June's mind began to race. Was Theo onto something? Theo and June hadn't had an opportunity before they left to discuss how they were going to communicate with the team, and they couldn't expect to return home until they completed their mission. What if the team had figured out a way for them to communicate under the directors' noses? It was a genius idea.

"June? You still in there?" June blinked to find Theo's hand waving back and forth in front of her face. "Finally, I thought I lost you."

"I think I figured it out," she said. "I think they want us to communicate by putting some sort of message in the library's archives; something that won't be removed or messed with for the next 200 years or so."

Theo raised his eyebrow. "You interpreted all of that from like, six words? Are you sure?"

June kicked up a shoulder in a shrug. "No."

Theo pushed himself off his bed in a huff, coming to a halt mere inches away from June. Her pulse stilled at his proximity, though he hardly seemed fazed. He also didn't make any effort to move away. "Alrighty then," he said. "Let's go read some books."