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Splits.

Straight down the middle of the Communion field.

People scream and I stumble backward.

Ezra catches me. “Move.”

The Earth opens where I was standing.

Blackness. No bottom. No roots. No dirt.

Nothing.

Just a hole that shouldn’t fit beneath a farm.

A sound rises from it. Wet. Slow. Breathing.

THUMP.

The seed embedded in Ezra’s palm pulses making him flinch.

Rhett swears.

Malakai drops to one knee.

All three grab their hands at the same time.

“Kai?”

His eyes go black then wider. “Oh.”

I hate that sound. “What?”

He looks down into the opening. “Sage.”

“What?”

“There are roots beneath Ward Farm.”

“No shit.”

“No.” His face drains. “Beneath the roots.”

I stare. “What does that mean?”

He doesn’t answer.

The hole does. Something moves far below. The Earth bulges and the Witnesses scatter.

Mariah grabs Ali. “Where the fuck do we go?”

“The house!” Ezra points. “Take everyone who can move.”

Mariah looks at me. “No.”

“Mariah.”

“No.”