“Not all of them are going into the southwest wing,” Araquiel said. “There’s something else going on, and it doesn’t have anything to do with us.”
My heart skipped a beat. Using my True Sight, I scanned the entire building, from top to bottom. I spotted Douma and Raphael in their glass boxes. Amal and Amane working on something and constantly looking over their shoulders, so as not to get caught—the mass memory wiper, for sure. And, just like Araquiel had said, throngs of Perfect guards dashing through the hallways.
Approximately one third were headed southwest. Outside, in the neighboring jungle, I could see Herakles firing his weapon at a Perfect, while his Faulties wreaked havoc by the gate. With the Draenir hidden close by, they managed to throw the hostiles off, running around and wearing them out.
The others, however, were moving into the northern section, where the hangars had been rebuilt. A gasp left my throat. “Oh, crap…”
“What’s wrong?” Varga asked. He followed my gaze, using his True Sight. His reaction matched mine. “Oh, crap.”
“What?! Come on, share it with the class!” Dmitri snapped, his nerves all stretched and raw.
“They’ve got new armor and weapons,” I said. “Way more advanced than ours. I think Ta’Zan upgraded the pulverizers and their defense methods against them.”
Derek grunted, pinching the bridge of his nose. “That shouldn’t come as a surprise. They knew we got pulverizer weapons from the Draenir. Counteracting that must’ve been at the top of their priority list as soon as Ta’Zan learned about it.”
“So, what, the Perfects are gearing up?” Jovi asked, confused.
I nodded. “And they’re headed southwest. They’re going after the Faulties and the Draenir. Our guys won’t stand a chance.”
“And we can’t get out to help,” Zeriel said, and cringed from the pain. “Okay, I’ve had enough. What’s the code to stop this thing from electrocuting me, again?”
“Twenty-four twenty-two,” Ridan replied. He’d memorized all the codes that Amal had given us to control the collars.
Zeriel motioned for Jovi to disable his collar. “Do me a favor, please. I can’t find the keypad if I can’t see what I’m doing.”
Jovi came up behind him and gently removed the top of a small keyboard mounted on the back of the collar. “They had these all along,” he grumbled, shaking his head slowly. “And Amal was jerking our chain during the initial escape attempt. Damn.”
“Hey, she did what she had to do,” Ridan answered. “It doesn’t matter now, anyway. We’re all in this together.”
“Thanks,” Zeriel said to Jovi as soon as he pressed the right keys. From the look on his face, the Tritone king was no longer suffering. Jovi, on the other hand, seemed pretty sore.
“What’s wrong?” I asked him.
“It gave me a tiny zap,” he replied. “Because I tampered with Zeriel’s collar. Jeez.”
“They’ll all come off soon,” Zeriel said. He looked at me. “Okay, now, like I was saying. We can’t get out of here yet, and our allies are about to get pummeled. Araquiel has yet to plant all the explosives. So, what part of this plan seemed so suspiciously smooth to you, Lenny?”
He shot me a grin, making me chuckle softly.
“Fair enough,” I answered.
“We’re in a bit of a pickle, aren’t we?” Vivienne observed.
“You can say that again,” Xavier replied.
I looked back down at Kailani. She looked so peaceful, yet so damn scary. Her body was relaxed, almost fluid in Hunter’s arms. But there was something deeply unsettling about it. I couldn’t hear her heart beating anymore, but she was definitely breathing.
I wondered where her mind had gone. She had no control over these seizures whatsoever, and I knew she would’ve wanted nothing more than to be here, with us. But she wasn’t. My only hope was that she was never away for too long. At the same time, I was worried sick, because I had no idea what effect these episodes had on her.
Kailani had changed a lot from the moment she’d set foot on Strava. The Word had impacted her in ways I’d never thought possible. I could only imagine what it was doing to her on the inside. This whole swamp witch thing wasn’t affecting her alone. No, it touched everyone who loved her. And not necessarily in a good way.
I, for one, had had enough of watching her fade out like this.
Hunter
Minutes passed in silence around us.
Corrine and Ibrahim were torn apart, holding each other as Derek and the founders’ crew gathered around them for emotional support. Sofia had the sense to gently pull them away from us. I felt like they were better off putting some distance between them and their granddaughter. Xavier, Vivienne, Cameron, and Liana were particularly talkative, trying to get their minds off Kailani.
“What’s the first thing you’ll do, once you get off Strava?” Vivienne asked Cameron, wearing a faint smile.
Liana sighed deeply, resting her head on Cameron’s shoulder. “I’ll give my kids the tightest hug in their life.”
“Yeah, wait till I get my hands on Victoria,” Xavier muttered, prompting the others to chuckle softly. “I’ll squeeze the life out of my baby girl…”
They sounded as though they’d found something to focus on. I, on the other hand, couldn’t be consoled. My mom and dad stayed close, and I could see the suffering imprinted on their faces. But I was too preoccupied with Kailani to even talk to them. All I could do was give them both a weak smile, hoping they’d understand me. I just couldn’t let Kailani go.
My heart was aching, to the point where I could almost feel it tearing itself apart. A chunk of lead had settled in my stomach, and my knees were weak. I kept watching her, unable to take my eyes off the starry lights that had taken over hers.
Lumi was right next to me, her legs crossed and her lips pursed. Her strange eyes carried the weight of thousands of years. She’d seen this before. I knew it.
Elonora and Varga stayed with Ben, Rose, and the others in our group, waiting for Araquiel to tell us how they were coming along on their end. There was no word from Herakles or Kallisto. Elonora tried to keep track of the fight outside, but they were all moving too fast for her to tell us anything useful. The Faulties had brought their best game into this.
“I don’t want Corrine and Ibrahim to hear this,” Lumi whispered in my ear, “but Kale might not wake up from this.”
“Wha—What?” I managed, my voice barely there.
“She might. She might not. I’ve told you, the circumstances of her apprenticeship are extremely rough, the exact opposite of what they should be,” Lumi explained. She didn’t like what she was telling me, but I did appreciate her honesty. I also understood why she was telling me, and not Kailani’s grandparents. “You’re strong enough to know this,” she added. “If I tell them, it’ll break them. And, if we lose Kale, we’ll need all the magic we can get. We can’t let this bilocation spell be our only option for getting out of here.”
