at him but not hearing his words. She was lost in Freedom through sacrifice, freedom through sacrifice, and because she was so athletic, she was already a little stronger than Alex. In the near distance, over the silent footsteps of the girls and the knives, over the voice of Ultravox, he heard Elle laughing.
Alex used all his strength to roll with Minhi, trying to push her away without doing any damage, but she came back at him, zombielike, raising the dagger.
“Minhi, it’s me,” Alex said, as Minhi slammed him back against the toppled table.
“He’s the vessel,” said Elle. “He is the one.”
“Minhi—” Alex said, catching her wrist. She was bearing down with the knife. “Wake up!” he shouted at her. There were others gathered around, because Elle had told them he was the one now, and they were waiting their turns.
Minhi was very close, and she drove her knees into his ribs, bringing the knife down slowly. “Minhi, wake up. It’s me.”
He remembered the snowstorm and the other night’s helicopter rescue. “Take my hand,” he said, using his other hand to reach for her free one. “Minhi, take my hand,” he said again, and he felt the tip of the edge of the knife press down against his chest.
Suddenly he had a sense for why he had seen his sister’s hand through the snow, or seen the chopper through the haze of Ultravox on the train. Because lies are fog, and truth could burn through it. Right?
He slipped his fingers through hers. “Minhi, take my hand!” he shouted, and then he saw it, a blink, and the pressing stopped. He saw her blink again. “Wake up, it’s me,” he whispered.
All at once Minhi gasped. “Alex?”
“Yes, can you get off me, please?”
She sprang off him like a rabbit, falling back, scrambling backward. Alex took the knife as Minhi dropped it and turned to the man in the chair. Alex had just reached the ropes binding the man when Elle hit him like a freight train, and he tumbled sideways with her.
Wasn’t the first time he’d fallen with a knife, and his father’s words echoed, Keep the knife away from you always. If you begin to fall, remember where it is, and keep it pointed sideways. In the microsecond he was falling Alex realized the tip of the knife in his hand was pointing toward his own ribs, and he twisted his hand out, landing hard on the forest floor.
The knife caught Elle in the side and she shrieked, spinning back in pain.
He returned to the task of freeing the man. He cut the binding ropes, saying, “Run, the road is that way.” He waved in the general direction of the road. One of the girls was about to plunge a dagger into the man when Minhi, shrieking, grabbed her and pulled her away. The man scurried into the distance, gone, sure to have a tale to tell that no one would ever believe, ever. Alex tossed away the knife and grabbed his stake from the ground, looking around frantically for Elle. But she was gone.
Minhi kicked one of the girls away. She looked at him with tears in her eyes. “Alex, what’s going on?”
The glazed-eyed girls were drawing closer. The voice of Ultravox still droned, “Freedom through sacrifice, freedom through sacrifice, freedom through sacrifice.”
“They’re asleep, just don’t hurt them,” Alex said.
“They’re not going to play that nice,” Minhi responded as they backed up against the overturned tables.
Alex felt someone grab him by the shoulder and he spun, stabbing at his attacker—Elle—with his stake. He connected at the chest but she was able to shrink back. Alex reached into the pack and drew out a glass ball. He hurled it at her, catching her square in the forehead. The glass sphere of holy water burst and she screamed as it burned her forehead and dripped down her body. She fell back, crawling.
Elle wouldn’t stay down long. She never did. But they had twenty sleepwalking assassins to deal with. Alex thought again of the flash-bang and yanked one from his pack, pulling the pin. “Minhi, cover your ears,” he said. Then he shouted, “Wake up!”
He threw the flash-bang into the air as hard as he could and covered his ears just before it went off, but his ears rang anyway with the concussive force of the sound. Brilliant light shot through the clearing as the explosive noise reverberated, and he waited a second as the echo died down.
He looked back hopefully.
The glassy-eyed horde