New York: Allie's War, Early Years

I was having trouble really processing this. It was hard to believe it was real.

I was going to die. By fire, which had to be on my top five worst ways to die list.

I was still staring around, trying to make sense of the scene before me, when the man with the sandy-blond hair appeared over me. I found I could only look at him at first, tryng to breathe, feeling my breath catch on the smoke.

"Relax, Ms. Taylor," he said soothingly. "I know this is frightening...but you have been chosen to be part of something glorious. Whatever pain you feel in the process will be nothing to you once you are on the other side..." He smiled at me, and the smile seemed almost genuine. "You will be welcomed back to the halls of our Ancestors as a hero..."

I just stared at him, unable to make any sense of his words.

"Why?" I said finally.

He smiled at me. "I am sincerely beginning to believe you that you don't know who you are, holy one."

"Who do you think I am?" I said.

"I think you are one of our beloved intermediaries," he said, smiling wider. "It was no easy thing, finding you. We began to fear that it would be too late to make the offering at all...that the Bridge would arrive before we could attempt the cleansing..."

"Cleansing?" I swallowed, trying not to eye the fire I could feel inching closer to my skin. I couldn't help but think about how easily the lace shirt I wore would go up, and my hair, which was coated in a layer of hair spray. The skirt would take longer to burn.

I knew talking to him was doing me exactly no good whatsoever, but it was keeping me focused on something other than my imminent death. I was trying to think around the edges while I spoke, looking for a way out of this, but mostly, I just tried to keep my mind working in reasonably straight lines.

More than anything, I tried not to think about my mother and Jon.

My mom would lose it. I mean, really, really lose it. She was still a basketcase from losing dad, so I knew this would send her over the deep end. If they dragged her to New York to identify the burned up corpse of her daughter found in some park...

"Where am I?" I said, as the thought tried to keep going.

I looked around the trees and lawn, and found I vaguely recognized this place. I could see arches between columns, some kind of medieval-looking structure that looked almost like...