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Diana turned away and only then realized that Astrid had been standing just a few feet away, quiet, listening.
Caine saw her, too. “What’s your advice, Astrid the Genius? When she comes, when that monster child of ours comes to kill us all, it will be Sam’s little laser show she does the most damage with. So what do you have to say, oh great fountain of morality?”
Diana stared at Astrid. Caine was right, and Astrid knew he was right. Of course, Diana thought, Astrid had seen the implications quicker than anyone. That’s why Astrid had tried to derail the big meeting in the mayor’s office.
Astrid, still manipulating, Diana thought bitterly. And yet, wasn’t she just defending the boy she loved? Was that so terrible?
A little kid came rushing up and pulled Astrid away.
“See?” Caine said, as though Astrid had proved his point. “When it ge
ts down to it, when it gets down to the endgame, everyone just wants to buy another five minutes for themselves and their . . . and the people they care about.”
It was Sanjit’s little sister, Bowie, who had found Astrid and pulled her away. “Lana says you should come.”
“Why?” Astrid asked.
“Sam. Quinn just brought him to Clifftop. And he’s hurt.”
Astrid ran from the town plaza to Clifftop with her heart in her throat. She burst in, breathless and red in the face, and nearly stepped on one of the injured in the hallway.
Lana looked up as Astrid came tearing in and, before Astrid could speak, said, “He’ll live.”
But Lana was not with Sam: Sam was in a corner, on the floor, practically shoved underneath a coffee table. Quinn was with him.
“Hello, Astrid,” Quinn said.
She ignored him, knelt beside Sam, and took his face in both hands. “Sam. Sam!”
“He’s been out for a while,” Quinn said.
“What happened?”
“It seems he ran into Gaia outside of town. Broke him up pretty bad.”
Astrid twisted her head around and yelled at Lana, “Why aren’t you helping him?”
“Because he’s not going to die and this one is!” Lana snarled back.
“We need him!”
“You all needed Brianna, too. How did that work out for you?”
Astrid jumped to her feet and for a moment was so out of control she nearly swung at Lana. Lana did not flinch. Sanjit moved smoothly between them.
“Hey, hey, hey, come on. Come on.”
“You want to do something useful, Astrid, talk to your brother,” Lana said.
Astrid recoiled.
“I know all about Nemesis,” Lana said. “I know what’s on the line. You asked me to reach out to the gaiaphage—well, let me tell you, Astrid, that touch goes both ways. It’s not pleasant, Astrid.” She was barely squeezing the words out through gritted teeth. “It’s not fun sliding up next to evil . . . hearing in your head the voice of a thing that tried to enslave you. To kill you. It hates me. It’s practically salivating at the idea of crushing me. Do you get that, Astrid the Genius?”
Astrid was taken aback by the venom in Lana’s voice, the pale fury on her face. Lana had aged in just the short time since Astrid had seen her last. Astrid knew she was seeing the face of some kind of suffering that she couldn’t really understand. But the fear, the fear on the face of this tough girl . . . that she understood.
“Lana, we can kill Gaia,” Astrid said.
“And Little Pete can kill the gaiaphage,” Lana said. “Little Pete is the power: you know it, I know it. The gaiaphage is desperately afraid; that’s why it’s attacking. It’s afraid of Pete. It’s slaughtering people out of fear of Little Pete.”
