sobs. She held the toddler tighter in her arms. The Superheroes backpack dropped to the ground.
In the alley, Vane’s front pressed against my back. His arms went around my waist.
I heard the father’s whisper down the quiet street.
“I’ve been assigned to guard the London gate. The gun is in the safe. Two bullets for when you need it.” The father’s face streamed with tears. He wiped it, gave the younger kid a pat on the cheek, and turned away, his shoulders drooping with failure.
Evacuees. This was real. This was all there would be. I put my hand to my mouth in the alley. Nausea rose in my stomach and climbed past my throat. I choked it back.
Vane’s arms tightened around me. “What will you give me to save him?”
The toddler? I blinked. “What do you want?”
“A favor.”
It was a demand and a plea. The last favor in Chennai hadn’t worked so well, but I replied, “Anything.”
On the street, the military man’s phone beeped. He looked at the screen in surprise. “Wait. I’ve been given an extra space.”
The father straightened. The mother didn’t wait for him. She rushed up with the last child. She thrust the kid into the truck. Her daughter quickly grabbed him and the Superheroes backpack.
“I’ll take care of them,” the teenager sobbed.
The mother put a fist to her mouth and nodded. The father jumped in the truck.
The truck roared away. The mother cast a furtive look around her and then rushed back into the small house.
I turned around and faced Vane. He deliberately slid his phone into his pocket.
For a minute, I wanted to hit him. What kind of bastard was he? Then I noticed that bit of wistfulness in his hazel eyes again. The same wistfulness with which I’d caught him watching me. Acting on impulse, I grabbed the phone from him.
I ran down the street, clutching the phone like it was a lifeline. He chased me. He could have felled me with a simple spell. I don’t know why he didn’t. As I ran, I tapped the screen. It had a password. Vivane. I rolled my eyes at the tremendous security.
Vane stopped me. A manacle went around my wrist. He snatched the phone back. I stumbled back against the side of a random car. He caught me and pulled me to him. I grabbed steely shoulders. The details of the webapp selected on the phone. He’d added a space for the little boy. The webapp recorded the time of the transaction. He’d done it several minutes ago, before I agreed to the blackmail, probably as soon as he’d found out the boy’s name.
“Why?” I demanded.
He said, “There’s always a price, isn’t there?”
“Whatever the price, I’ll pay it,” I said.
“I know. It’s what scares me.”
I understood. And I hurt. I looked up. Clear skies belied the coming storm. The stars above shone too brightly. The moon looked mournful and no help was coming. My arms went around Vane’s neck. I let all my weight hang, my knees too weak to hold me up. I listened to the beat of his heart, a good heart, even if he didn’t believe it. I couldn’t look at him as I whispered, “I don’t want to lose you either, Vane.”
He took my chin and forced me to meet his gaze. His lips curled up into an arrogant smile. “You won’t. I’m like a god, remember?”
A fire hydrant opened behind us. Water gushed out of it. It fanned out around Vane and soared straight into the sky, stabbing it with determination. I watched the watery spectacle.
That’s what I was afraid of. He and Matt thought they knew what they were doing.
I wasn’t so sure.
Even gods weren’t infallible.
CHAPTER 20 – FOREVER AND EVER
CHAPTER 20
FOREVER AND EVER
During the drive back to Glastonbury, I kept glancing at him.
Vane let out a breath. “What, DuLac? Spit it out.”
I wasn’t sure I could. Any hope I held for a miracle had died. It reminded me of his memory. Never let them know how much you want something.
Well, I wanted. Now I was paying for it.
I crossed my arms and hugged myself. “What happens tomorrow?”
“I bring Excalibur. Merlin brings the apple. Once the Fury starts, we can use Excalibur to open the gates. I will use the trident to extend the energy to all the gates from the central one at Kronos’s Circle. All of us, including the evacuees, will go through the gate. We take the apple through. Because the gates are tied, I believe it