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“Yes,” Pietro and Cody said in unison.
She returned her fierce glare to Pietro. “But if you harm Tezzel—” She swiveled around to locate Reese’s captain and motioned him forward. He joined them with alacrity. “Go with them. If he tries to harm this woman, kill him.”
The captain looked horrified, and both Reese and Cody dissented loudly. “Disable him,” Reese said. “Don’t kill him.”
The captain nodded. “All right. Where are we going?”
“The main temple,” Pietro said. He glanced over his shoulder. “But—with all the roads blocked—I don’t know the best way to get there. Cody—”
“He’s coming with us,” Reese interjected.
“All right. We’ll find our way.”
Rovyn pushed forward. “I can take you,” she said.
Good. Make yourself useful,Jayla wanted to say, but she restrained herself. She was trying to figure out why Rovyn was here to begin with. Actually, she still didn’t understand why Cody was here, or Pietro. Reese had apparently arrived just moments before she and Tezzel showed up, miraculously managing to navigate the disrupted gridway on his journey from the northern bridge.
“Then that’s settled,” Jayla said.
“No, wait!” Pietro exclaimed. “We need the key to get to the bottom levels. Cody, do you have it with you?”
Cody shook his head. “I’ve got my big keyring, but the temple key is in my room. You’ll have to stop there first.”
“I’ve got one.” The soft words came from the stranger who appeared to be Pietro’s companion, a good-looking man wearing the bracelet of a priest but bearing the physique of a fighter. “Harlo gave it to me right before we left on our trip. I can get us in.”
“Good,” Jayla said. “Let’s go.”
Reese was driving a mid-sized sprinter that wasn’t designed to hold four people, but they squeezed in anyway. Jayla and one of Reese’s guards crammed themselves in the tiny back seat while Cody sat in front to give directions. Reese tore out of the drive at a pace that rivaled Tivol’s at his most reckless, but within five minutes he had to screech to a halt because of hazards in the road. A pair of gridcars—one going north and one going south—had apparently been spun around by a recent tremor and smashed against each other. Several people were already laboring to move the southbound vehicle off the road.
All four of them jumped out of Reese’s sprinter and ran over to help, though they convinced the whole group to shift their attention to the northbound lane instead. It took maybe ten minutes before they were able to push the car far enough to the side that Reese would be able to squeak by. They flung themselves back in the car, and Reese took off with a jerk. There was a sound of rending metal as they scraped the derelict, but they made it past.
Two more roadblocks were dispatched in similar fashion. Jayla felt her fear and tension rising. Every minute they delayed was another minute Tivol could do violent harm to either of his captives. It didn’t help that the sun was rapidly sinking, making the whole world seem like a darker and scarier place.
The fourth obstacle was a chest-high pile of bricks that used to be a building that must have practically hugged the gridway before a tremor brought it down. The four of them climbed out of the sprinter, Reese’s bitter, hopeless cursing serving to express what they were all feeling. Ahead, in the failing light, Jayla could see another rockpile sprawled across the road.
“We’ll just have to go on foot,” Cody said. “We’re only a few miles away now.”
Jayla took his arm. “Would it be faster to run the cable?”
He glanced down at her. “Maybe. We wouldn’t have to detour around fallen debris.”
Reese glanced up at the gently swaying netting overhead. “Is it safe?”
As if in answer, a spark shimmered along one of the wires and blinked out. Cody actually grinned. “Maybe,” he said.
“All right,” said Reese. “Let’s do it.”
“Not you,” said Cody. “It takes skill and practice, and you don’t have time to learn.”
“If it gets me there sooner—”
“Cody and I will run the cable,” Jayla said. “You two follow on foot. We’ll only beat you by a few minutes.”If we aren’t electrocuted,she thought.
“All right, just go!” Reese exclaimed. “But tell me the address.”
Cody shook his head. “I don’t know street numbers. It’s on Kalmien Road, if you know it.”
Reese looked unsure. “I know the general vicinity.”
