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He stuck out his right hand and she grabbed it, pulling, her legs wrapped around a metal pylon so she wouldn’t lose her balance and be jerked forward. She was strong. Finally, he got his leg up and over the railing and she hauled him up onto the metal mesh floor of the catwalk.
He was on his feet in an instant. “Kitsune, get out of here. Go! I’m right behind you.”
She turned and ran down the catwalk, yelling over her shoulder, “Mike’s at the intersection, about forty feet ahead.”
No time to catch his breath, the metal would melt next. He ran.
He couldn’t believe it. He saw Cassandra, twenty feet ahead of him, not moving, staring down at the devastation, and she was smiling. She’d made no move to stop Kitsune as she’d run past. “There they go, Ajax and Grandfather, into hell where they belong.” She repeated it again, standing there, and Nicholas would swear she was happy.
He tried to grab her arm. “Come on, we have to get out of here.”
His hands were blistered, and he couldn’t hold her. She pulled away. Oddly, she smiled at him and he saw the emptying madness in her eyes, the complete loss of self. She still had the handcuffs around her wrists. And in her arms she held a golden wing. “Mother wouldn’t save me. Perhaps this will.” And she leaped from the railing into the lava below.
He saw her and the cherubim’s wing disappear into the fire, the wing still clutch
ed to her chest.
Nothing he could do, nothing. He ran. The catwalk ended at the doorway to the dock. Mike was there screaming at him to hurry. He put on a burst of speed and jumped from the catwalk toward the open door. He landed in a heap, and she yanked him to his feet.
“Hurry, hurry,” and they ran down the hallway, the lava swelling, beginning to flow behind them.
He felt the unbelievable heat, saw the floor turning red, and he didn’t know if they were going to make it.
But they burst through the door and the boat was on the dock waiting for them, the engine running. Amos and Grant were on board, screaming, waving. Kitsune was in front of them, she leaped onto the boat. He grabbed Mike’s hand and poured on the speed.
They jumped from the dock onto the deck and Grant slammed the boat into gear and it shot away from the dock just as the lava reached the water and steam gushed up, making the water hiss and roil.
They motored into the open water away from the devastation. Nicholas was on his hands and knees, Mike running her hands all over him. She was yelling at him, and he thought he heard, “Lamebrain,” and then she was kissing him all over his face, hugging him, kissing him more, and he smiled and knew he was alive. Both of them were alive.
When he opened his eyes, Mike was staring at him. She sounded like she was in a bottle, something about she couldn’t get to him, but Kitsune could, and was he okay, but he couldn’t quite make out the words, but he nodded. He moved, sitting up, and his ears popped, and he could hear clearly again. He saw Kitsune and Grant, both of them huddled over the wheel, the throttle fully open, the boat at its maximum speed. Amos was hanging on to the boat rail, water splashing the tears from his face.
Mike was pointing and he turned to look back toward the island. The volcano, unfettered, had roared to life, sending huge spumes of lava high into the air and with it an immense ash cloud, and then the lava began sliding down the side.
Grant dropped to the deck in front of them. “What’s the right heading?”
Amos said, “Straight on, then maybe angle ten degrees south.”
They slowed when they were far enough away, and all of them looked back to watch the volcano’s show. The electromagnetic field had been knocked out for good. What would the volcano do? How much damage? Nicholas knew ash clouds were bad. But there was miles and miles of open sea around the island.
He said to Mike, “Jason Kohath saved us. I couldn’t do anything without his palm and his iris—he stayed alive long enough for me to get the storm stopped.” He paused. “I’ve never seen anything so crazy in my life. It was a huge storm cloud and it was so close to the coastline and then suddenly, it broke up and was gone. I accessed Jason Kohath’s files, he gave me permission.
“One more thing.” He called out, “Kitsune, thank you for saving my life.”
She looked at him, held close to Mike, and gave him a huge smile.
Once back at the Albatross, Rafael looked at the crowd and shook his head. “I’ve already got Captain Snelling and Aldo inside. I can’t fit the rest of you, we’ll go down.”
They heard a huge roar coming from the island.
“You woke up El Diablo,” he said.
Mike threw back her head and shouted, “Isn’t it a good thing that the devil doesn’t have long arms? We’re safe.”
Nicholas said to Rafael, “Can you take five?”
“I can try, if they’re skinny enough.”
“They are,” Nicholas said.
