“Stop!” I shout as one rushes me. I slip out of his path and press my hand down on him, and he screams and collapses onto the ground like the previous man did.
When I look at the spot where the initial fighting took place, I notice that the land between the two sides is cracked, and I realize that Torin must have done it. Is he gaining his powers back enough to use them? If he is, there’s some hope we can stop Famine. But is it enough?
I can feel the hourglass on my chest heating up for some reason, almost like it’s burning hot. Is it because I’m using this Death magic while incapable of freeing my horse? I hesitate as I assess the remaining people still being controlled by Famine’s sand. But it’s not like I can just ignore them. I can’t leave them while they’re trying to attack anyone who gets near them, whether they’re friend or foe.
One has leaped onto Torin’s back while he holds down two more, and I quickly touch all three of them as both sides work together to get the sand off them.
There’s clear confusion as everyone slowly comes to their senses, and both sides anxiously draw back from each other. With the fighting over and Torin keeping watch in case someoneelse starts something, the guards gather their wounded and rush from the scene, allowing me to hurry back to Mickey.
“How are you doing?”
Mickey shakes his head as I pull him to his feet, but he seems too panicked to properly walk with me. I’m not sure if he’s having a panic attack or if it’s from the bullet, but his breathing is coming in gasps and he seems unsteady.
“R-Riley, they’re gone,” he whispers.
“It’s going to be okay. They’ll be back.”
“What if they’re not? What if they’re gone? I can’t feel them. Riley…”
I just pick Mickey up since I’m getting nowhere fast when he’s having a panic attack on top of being injured. I rush toward the Door, planning on getting him out of here while the others deal with the aftermath of the fight. I just hope that no one died during it.
“Is he okay?” Torin asks as he catches up to me with Vero on his heels.
“I think so. The bullet sliced his side open, but I think he’s having a panic attack because he can’t feel Tommy and Joy,” I say.
“Why the fuck are you panicking?” Vero asks. “It’s temporary. Do you fucking listen?”
Mickey catches his eyes. “You promise it’s temporary?”
Vero huffs. “Your ears stop working?”
“Is he okay?” Story asks as he runs up to us.
“He’ll be fine,” I assure him. Torin takes Mickey from me and we hurry over to the Door that’s hidden in the cellar of a nearby building. When we slip through, Story goes with us, even though it doesn’t seem like he does well being separated from his sister.
I push ahead of Torin and dash into Special Agent Kim’s office. “We need medical attention. Can you drive us to the hospital?”
She looks startled but jumps up and rushes into action, insisting we get an ambulance here so they can get him into the busy city quickly. Once the ambulance arrives, they have to practically peel Mickey out of my arms—which he refused to be removed from while we waited—since he seems a bit frantic.
“Riley, don’t leave me,” he begs when they hoist him onto the gurney.
“I’ll meet you there, okay? I can’t take up room in the back, but I’ll be there when you arrive,” I promise before hurrying over to an SUV that Kim seems to be planning to follow the ambulance in.
Before Torin gets in, he hesitates. “I think I’m going to go back,” he says. “Mickey seems okay… so I think I need to go back if that’s all right with you?” Story hangs back with Torin, telling me that he’s probably going to stay with Torin as well.
I look at Torin, wondering if he feels a connection to these people after having lost his own—if he feels the need to protect them… to save them when he couldn’t save his own. But how much will it hurt him if we can’t save them? What if we fail to save them as he failed to save his people? I don’t want him to hurt even more.
But I know I can’t deny him this.
“Yeah, I’ll be over as soon as I’m done with Mickey,” I say. “Please be safe.”
“I will.” He leans in and kisses my forehead before rushing back inside the building with Story.
I don’t like it. I don’t like being apart from him. I don’t like leaving him in that world with a horseman he can’t even see, but I can’t leave Mickey and I can’t deny Torin this.
Vero shoves me into the SUV and it takes off before I can say anything more.
“I don’t understand why the necromancer would cry over people who are already dead,” Vero says. “He shouldn’t even be disturbing the dead, let alone crying over them.”
