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Sabra puts her hands on her hips. “What else would you suggest doing in a pinch to stop a nuclear apocalypse? Those guys eat nuclear energy like it’s candy.”
“How exactly do we know this?” Abaddon asks.
Sabra waves a hand. “That’s the theory anyway, from the information we’ve gathered. They eat every source of energy starting with radioactive material until a particular plane is bereft of life, then they lie dormant for ages until they find a new source.”
“So, what’s your great idea for getting rid of them?” Abaddon asks.
Sabra starts to open her mouth, but her and Layden’s cell phones go off, along with all of the guys in black suits. I left mine back at the castle, so I join Remus at Layden and Sabra’s side.
“What?” Remus asks.
“Time to see if our friends here work as advertised,” Sabra says, turning her cell phone out toward us.
I can’t read the text—what country are we in now anyway?—but the flashing red radioactive symbol with arrows pointing to a skull and a figure running away is pretty difficult to misinterpret. It’s a nuclear fallout warning. Nuclear missiles have been launched somewhere nearby.
I clutch Remus’s side in dread. “Oh my god.”
Did he know this was coming? Obviously, Layden and Sabra did. Is this what they talked about in the meeting earlier?
He just lifts me and runs toward the shelter of the buildings where the other women are.
Abaddon lifts off in the air. To do what, I have no idea. Layden just sprints beside his brother, hefting Sabra in a fireman’s carry when she doesn’t move quickly enough.
We pass by Vlad, who’s paused near the entryway with his hand shielding his eyes as he looks to the sky. I only now remember—Phoenix! Did she ever come back down? Or is Vlad watching for missiles?
I lift up and look back toward the courtyard just in time to see Phoenix land back in the center of the circle with the tornado completely dissipated. She looks so small for someone who just made something so big happen.
“How will we know if it worked?” I ask the hallway of people gathered anxiously once Remus sets me down.
“Online feeds,” Layden says, his phone already out, thumbing through sites.
Vlad, Phoenix, and a cadre of dark-suited men are pushing in the doors the next moment. “Out of my way,” Vlad demands. His arm is around Phoenix. She looks exhausted as her grandfather drags her past us, but she looks up, her eyes briefly connecting with Layden’s. He looks like he wants to reach out to stop her grandfather. Maybe pull her into his arms.
But then she’s gone, shuffled off to whatever underground bunker Vlad obviously has no interest in sharing with us.
“Phoenix,” Sabra calls uselessly. “We’re going to need you to contain them again.”
Phoenix doesn’t say anything, just lifts a hand in acknowledgment before she’s yanked around the corner. My constricted chest can’t quite loosen in relief. Does that mean they think it will actually work? Big inter-realm traveling energy-devourers will save us from a nuclear disaster?
“Layden,” Kharon demands. “Update.”
“There’s nothing,” Layden mutters, thumbs moving faster. “Just people freaking out about the warnings going off everywhere. Shit. Shit, shit, shit.”
The two babies start crying, and Kharon paces down the hall. “We can’t stay here.”
“Wait a second,” Layden says, dragging a hand through his hair. “Just wait a second.”
“We might not have seconds!” Kharon yells. The two dots on his neck are still dripping blood. Then he looks at his wife. “Maybe Luna and I can open another portal where we can hide?”
“Wait!” Layden shouts. “Here!”
“Here, what?” Remus growls, so tense beside me his body feels like marble.
“It’s happening!” he laughs.
“What?” Remus starts, but Layden shows us his phone.
I squint at the grainy footage, but the shape of the sky-whales is unmissable. It’s just hard to make out—
