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“No,” Julian said firmly, his hands gentle on the white hen.
There is, Lilin whispered. You can go after him.
“Lilin says—”
“We will speak of this more later,” he said, turning away. “There is nothing we can do at this moment.”
But he hadn’t said never. I latched onto the thought.
“For now,” he said, “Theo is right, we need to get back to town.”
"Here," Theo said, and suddenly a bright white light illuminated the remains of the cave. He'd found one of the camping lanterns. "This'll help. And—oh.”
He held up the lantern to illuminate Luca's car—or what was left of it. It looked as though Olryg had stepped on it. The roof was completely caved in, the tires sticking out at odd angles. The orange paint was bubbled and scorched.
My chest tightened. Luca loved that car. I pressed a fist to my chest, trying to keep the pain at bay.
"Hey," Theo said, and suddenly his arm was around my shoulders, warm and solid. "You heard Julian. He's not gone. Just…temporarily incapacitated."
"Like that's so much better," I said bitterly.
"I mean," Theo said, tightening his arm around me, "it's not like we're just going to leave him. You said it yourself. There has to be a way to get him back." He glanced at Julian. "After all, we've got James Beckwourth, here—"
"Who?" I said.
"Never mind," Theo said. "And we've got me, who bravely flailed with terror fifty yards away—"
"Don't undersell your role," Julian interrupted.
Theo gave him a look. "I threw rocks at a demon," he reiterated, an undercurrent of shame in his voice. I reached up and squeezed his hand.
Julian shrugged. "You threw rocks at a demon," he said. "You lived. We lived. You played a part in that."
Theo huffed a little, looking away, but two tiny spots of pink appeared high in his cheeks. "Whatever," he mumbled. "Anyway, you have that superhero ring, whatever it is—"
"Holy object," Julian interrupted again.
"—Not to mention Lilin," Theo concluded.
"She's not even here," I pointed out.
I could be, Lilin remarked.
"No, you can't," I said. "We can't fight giant demons twice in one day. You stay in there."
"You do probably need to work on not talking to her out loud," Theo added, raising an eyebrow.
I mustered a glare, but it was halfhearted. "You try having a second person in your head. See how you feel."
"What I'm saying is, I think we have a fighting chance," Theo said. "If we can find him, I mean." He looked at Julian again. "Right, mountain man?"
Julian's incredulous gaze landed on Theo. "Are you suggesting the three of us march into Hell itself in an ill-fated rescue attempt and give Olryg another chance to kill us when he has all of his forces supporting him?"
Theo grimaced. "Well, the four of us."
"Absolutely not."
Theo glanced at me. "We'll work on him," he said in a stage whisper, then squeezed me again. "Come on, unicorn. Let's get down this mountain. It's a long hike back to civilization."
