Poppy takes another step, and I tense. Her eyes have a dead numbness to them. Her fingers clench a little, as if she’s holding an invisible rock, and then Theo’s chest convulses like he’s being shocked by defibrillator paddles.
She squeezes her fingers tighter around that invisible rock, and Theo twitches one last time before going still.
He’s dead.
Poppy lowers her hand. She’s breathing hard. So am I. My heart feels like it’s going to pound its way out of my chest. I can’t form words or thoughts. All I can do is stare at her. I’ve never seen anything like that.
“What did you do?” I whisper.
Her face is completely devoid of color, beads of sweat dotting her forehead. “He was going to kill you.”
I keep staring at her. I can’t reconcile this teenage girl who’s trembling in front of me with the person who just wielded that power. She killed Theo without even touching him.
“We…need to go,” I finally say. My knees wobble as I stumble to my feet. “Get on the bike, Poppy.”
Her gaze shifts to Theo’s lifeless form, then back at me. She doesn’t say a word. She doesn’t need to. The gravity of what she’s done is clear to both of us.
I throw my leg over the bike. Poppy climbs on behind me and clings to my waist, her face burrowed between my shoulder blades. We’re both pushed back by the wind as I squeeze the throttle, giving as much gas as I can.
I try to check in with Teriq over the comm. No answer. I try Adrienne via telepathy next, and this time I receive a response.
“All the comms are dead,”she tells me.“They’re using signal jammers everywhere. What’s your location?”
“I’m alone with Poppy. I have no idea where to go.”
“Get to the airfield. Ev’s on standby.”
“Where are you?”
“We managed to get out. Saved who we could.”She sounds tired.“We’re en route to the airfield, too. Should rendezvous with you shortly.”
“Who’s we?”
“Me and Karra.”
“That’s it? What about the others?”
“They took Teriq. Declan’s dead.”
Fuck.“How many other casualties?”
“I don’t know. A lot. They decimated the entire east section of the bunker.It’s a miracle we got out. And Evlynne isn’t responding. I’ll try her again now.”
She severs the link.
I draw a deep breath and attempt to reach out to Evlynne, too, but also to no avail. Her silence troubles me, but not as much as what greets us when we reach the airfield ten minutes later.
I scan the empty tarmac, my stomach in knots as I try to make sense of what I’m seeing. Or rather, what I’mnotseeing.
No plane.
No Evlynne.
Just shadows.
Poppy follows my gaze, panic lighting her eyes. “Where’s the plane?”
“Stay on the bike,” I say tightly.
