Jacob hadn't paid much attention to Sydney while they were in her loft. But now, sitting on the train, he observed her silently. Dark hair framing a heart shaped face, full lips, blue eyes that felt like they were looking through him. She had perfect teeth, something that, in his time, signified money. Her cheeks flushed when she laughed, which wasn't often but when she did, it came from her core. At this particular moment, she was asleep, head resting against the window with a jacket under her head. Sighing, he looked out of the window, wishing he had a way, any way, to get a message to Evie. Little did he know, she was doing the same.

-0-

"Aleck, please tell me you've come up with something." Evie was very close to desperate. Jacob had disappeared a week ago and no one, not even his beloved Rooks had seen him.

"I'm sorry Miss Frye. I haven't come up with anything yet." He was apologetic. He missed Jacob as well.

Evie sighed deeply. Her mind raced when she thought of a story her mother had told her. One day, as children, she and Jacob had wandered off to play hide and seek. Jacob was seeking and Evie had hidden high in the branches of a tree, giggling as she watched her brother search for her. He was several yards away when her foot slipped, and the word 'help' flashed through her mind as she began to fall. Before she squealed, Jacob had turned and spotted her, darting across the grass to catch her before she fell. She landed squarely on top of him, breaking his arm, but since that day, her mother had sworn the two of them had a mental connection. Perhaps now was the time to test her theory.

Evie went back to her brother's living quarters, running her fingers over his books and trinkets on his table. It was too quiet without him. She sat on the floor and crossed her legs, looking around for another moment before she closed her eyes and focused, thinking of nothing but Jacob.

Jacob.

-0-

Jacob!

He jolted awake, gasping deeply. He had been asleep until he heard Evie's voice shouting in his head.

"Jacob, are you okay?" Sydney was kneeling in front of him, concern on her face.

"Yes." He panted, still trying to get his bearings. Sydney got him a bottle of water and he took several sips, his breathing slowing after several minutes. "Just a bad dream."

"We're at the station. I think some air will be good for you." She placed her hand on his forearm gently.

"I'll be fine in a moment."

"Ma'am?" A man walked by, concerned by Jacob's pallor and her look on her face. "Is everything okay?"

"My boyfriend is having a bit of a rough day. Could we get some privacy so we could get off the train in peace?"

"Of course."

He disappeared from sight, giving the two of them peace. Sydney took a paper napkin from her pocket and carefully dripped water on it from the bottle. "It's clean, I promise."

She dabbed at his forehead, wiping sweat from his brow. "Are you really okay, Jacob?"

He nodded, holding her gaze. "We should go."

"Yeah." She stood, and waited for him to do the same, wrapping an arm around his waist.

"What are you doing?"

"Helping you." She pulled his arm around her shoulder.

"Do you think you could hold me up if I fell?"

"I'm stronger than I look."

Jacob scoffed and pulled away from her, giving her a mocking bow. "After you, my lady."

She rolled her eyes and laughed under her breath but walked out of the car and off the train, to the platform and the waiting car. They rode in silence to the house, and Jacob was surprised at the size of it. It loomed over the horizon, white with black shutters and rolling hills around it. It was massive, to say the least. Sydney had keys in her hands and unlocked the door, pushing it open so the driver could carry in their luggage. The interior of the house was more simple than he anticipated, dark wooden floors, with white walls. As he walked the hall, he glanced in rooms as he passed. The first room had large windows and a glossy black piano.

"Jacob?"

"Hmm?" He glanced her way and she pointed up the stairs.

"Your room will be the first on the left. You should rest."

"I'm fine." He assured her.

She crossed her arms and waited, sighing deeply. "I've got all day."

"So have I."

The driver cleared his throat. "I'm going to leave. Can I get you anything before I go?"

"No, thank you." Sydney held Jacob's gaze. "Jacob was going to rest."

"Was I?" He quipped, smirking at her.

"Yes, you were."

"It seems we're at an impasse." He chuckled and walked back to the room with the piano, tapping one of the keys.

"Don't. Touch. The. Piano." She came up behind him, closing the cover for the keys gently, her fingers tracing the pattern in the wood.

"My sincerest apologies." He said, in a tone that was anything but sincere.

"Shut up, Jacob." She said, but her smile had no hostility.

-0-

The air around him was full of noise, hooves clomping on cobblestones, little gutter rats calling for him. Jacob felt he was home. Looking around, he was home in London.

"Jacob?" Evie's voice tickled his ear. He turned and saw his sister and both of them smiled. "What happened?"

"I don't know the specifics but it seems I've traveled in time. Evie, you wouldn't believe the things I've seen."

"You've what?" Evie scoffed. "That's impossible."

"What's impossible is Starrick is here. He's not dead, Evie."

Her eyes widened and her skin paled. "But we both killed him, Jacob."

"I know." He reached out to touch her shoulder but his hand passed through her. He had forgotten he was dreaming. Music drew his attention to a nearby alley. It was faint but something about it prodded at his mind, coaxing him to follow it and move away from Evie. He could hear her following him, could hear her calling for him but it was growing fainter as the music became louder. A soft voice was singing, and nothing else mattered except the voice. It wove through his brain, embedded itself in his skin, made his blood burn. He would do anything the voice told him.

-0-

"Jacob?" Sydney spoke up, startled that Jacob was standing in the parlor. "Are you all right?"

Being in the country had always made her tired, so Sydney had spent most of the afternoon on the porch, resting on the swing and listening to the wind in the trees. Jacob had disappeared once the driver left, but if Leon trusted him to keep her safe, then she knew he wouldn't be far. When he didn't come back for dinner and she hadn't seen him after the sun had gone down, she tried to go to sleep. Sleep didn't come easily. Logan kept texting her, wanting to know when she'd be back and where she had gone. Eventually she turned her phone off and wandered downstairs, going to the place she felt happiest. Her piano.

Music had become an escape when her parents had fought as a child. The fights never made sense but they were intense, often resulting in her mother packing her up and moving them out in the middle of the night, a hood low over her face. But her father would always find them and they would return home, and the fights would resume. Music though, it made time stop, it made the fights stop. When she sang, everything stopped.

So here she sat, her fingers manipulating the keys, pulling music from the chords, singing softly, when she heard footsteps behind her. Turning she saw Jacob, standing behind her as though he had been hypnotized. "Jacob?"

Her voice made him blink, and he shook his head several times to clear the fog from his mind. "What...happened?"

"I think you were sleep walking. I didn't mean to wake you. I know you're not supposed to wake a sleepwalker."

The edges of his mind was still fuzzy when he looked at her again. Her eyes, clear and beautiful, were like pools of water and he was ready to drown in them. He'd do anything for those eyes. He looked at her lips.

"My God, those lips." Jacob muttered softly, placing one hand against her cheek, tracing the line of her lips with his thumb.

"What are you doing?" Her tone matched his, soft as if the silence was something that could be broken, shattered by the slightest noise.

The words came out before he could stop them. "I'd do anything you asked of me."

Sydney recoiled as though she had been slapped. "Who told you to say that?"

"No one." He replied, his hand growing cold already as she had moved away, already going up the stairs. "Sydney!"

"Leave me alone." The door slamming finished their conversation.

A/N: Thanks to all who have read this. Feel free to leave a review, my lovelies.