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“Yeah?” How’d he know me?
“RUN!”
Didn’t have to tell me twice. Joules and I were out the door right behind him.
Between breaths, Sol said, “Tower, fire on the house! They’re in a lower level.”
“Do you one better.” I fished out my detonator and flipped off the safety.
Sol’s eyes widened. “Do it. Quick!”
I pressed the button.
Nothing.
I toggled the safety and pressed it again. Nothing. “Damn it, malfunction.”
“¡Joder! Zara’s luck.”
“Joules, use your javelins!”
He was already firing. “Malfunction this!” With superhuman speed, he lobbed several spears as we sprinted uphill in the direction of the truck. Explosions of groaning metal and breaking glass sounded behind us.
“Ouais, blast that fucker!”
Sol said, “If you’re landing a hit, then it’s already too late. They’ve escaped.”
Never slowing, Joules snapped, “Those’re your allies.”
I maneuvered between him and Sol. “Focus, Joules. Try for the copter.”
With a nod, he hurled another spear. Aimed perfectly, it rocketed over the roof—
Lightning struck, deflecting it. His next several javelins shared the same fate. “Gettin’ real tired o’ that!”
How long would it take for Zara to ready that copter to fly or for Richter to warm up?
Joules aimed for the house again. The structure crumbled, flames growing.
Yet the heat seemed to follow us as we fled. “Snow’s melting up here.” Mud sloshed up around my boots. Sweat poured down my face.
“Richter’s coming!” Sol lost a sandal, tripped, but managed to right himself. “As soon as Zara’s in the air, he will quake us. This valley will be one big lava pit. You have a car?”
“We got wheels past the hill above.” Unless Kentarch had done as I’d asked. He must have seen the flames by now.
The helicopter engine fired in the distance.
“¡Mierda!”
I told Sol, “Use your powers against them.”
Stark fear showed in his eyes. “They’re too strong! You don’t know what they are like.”
Joules huffed. “We won’t make it—”
Kentarch appeared before us. We three skidded to a stop.
Calm as ever, he said, “We need to leave.” He grabbed me, and I snagged Joules and Sol. The Chariot teleported us to the Beast and released us.
“Ay, teleportation?” Sol wobbled as he crossed to the back door. “Let’s get out of here.”
Gabriel leapt out of the truck, stretching his wings wide to block him.
Joules flanked his friend, drawing a javelin against Sol. “No way you’re comin’ with us. You attacked us in DC.”
“¡Ay, por favor! You pissed on my Bagger’s face—the one I was communing with!”
When Joules flushed red, I snapped, “Goddamn it, Tower.”
“Vámonos. We’ll figure this out once we get away.”
“We get away, fecker? This alliance is full.”
Making a sound of frustration, Sol said, “You were with Death and the Empress when Zara attacked their truck. If not for my help, you would have been trapped on a collapsed bridge. Five Arcana would all have been dead.”
“You’re playin’ both sides!”
When the copter took off behind the burning ruins of the house and the ground grew hotter, Sol glanced over his shoulder and back. “I’m going to have to insist on a ride.” His skin shimmered.
Before I could shield my eyes, Kentarch had teleported behind him, left arm tight around Sol’s neck. “Should I snap it?”
Sol dug his fingers into the Chariot’s arm, fighting for breath. “My light will . . . madden you before . . . you can kill me.”
In a disturbing voice, Kentarch grated, “I am already mad.”
To his credit, Sol didn’t shit himself. His glowing dimmed, and he gasped out, “I know their secrets!”
I told Kentarch, “We’ll take him hostage.”
The Chariot released Sol with a warning: “Never enter my truck without an invitation.”
Sol rubbed his neck. “Sí, genial. Cool. Invitation. Hostage—”
The ground quaked beneath us. The force rattled my teeth in my head; my legs crisscrossed as I fought to stay standing.
A crevice opened up near the house. Inside it, lava churned like rapids.
Joules relented. “Fine! But I’m not sittin’ next to him.”
Gabe scrambled into the truck. I shoved Sol into the back. He pitched into Gabe’s wing as Joules hopped in on the other side.
When I turned for my door, I tripped, nearly face-planting. My boots were sticking to the steaming ground. “Damn it!” The tires smoked.
I yanked up my feet and leapt inside to take the wheel. As I tried to enter the ignition sequence, more quakes rumbled. The Beast convulsed, shaking us like pebbles in a tin can. My hand flew from the switches. Three more attempts, and I managed the sequence and started the truck. Jammed it into gear, but we didn’t move. Were the tires melted to the ground?
Lights appeared above the wreckage of the house. Zara’s copter. “Kentarch, get us to the cave.”
He already had his hand on the dash. We wavered but didn’t disappear.
Before our eyes, that fault line widened and raced toward us, like a flood of fire.
Kentarch stared at the flames . . . with longing. Ache to go with her.
