them.”
“Can you do it?” Call asked.
Alex shook his head. “I’m drained.” He really did look terrible. Even the whites of his eyes looked gray.
“So are we,” said Aaron, indicating himself and Call.
Alex turned to Tamara. “Tamara, I can show you how. It’s not that hard.”
“I can do it, even if it is hard,” she told him, her voice steely. “Tell me what to do.”
“Whoa,” said Aaron. Something had darted by him — something sleek and dark, with blazing eyes. He pressed his back against the van, pulling Call after him. Havoc tried to lunge forward, but Call called him back with a snapped command.
Alex was talking to Tamara in a low voice, and she was nodding as he spoke. Even before he was done talking, she raised her hands and began to move them. She didn’t move her fingers like Alex did. It was more like she was plucking harp strings. Call supposed everyone did magic differently.
Call could almost feel the power coming off Tamara. Instead of air, though, it was fire that sprang up in embers, in a wide looping circle around the escaping animals. But even as the fence crackled to life, corralling the great majority, the rest of the animals scattered — some of them toward the woods, and others toward anyone they saw. Now terrified by the fire, their eyes looked maddened and wild. Many of them had their teeth bared.
What does it do to have chaos inside of you? Call wondered. He wanted to reach out and touch one of their souls — to find out what had truly been done to them. But there was no time to do anything but react.
A fox leaped at Alma’s throat and she thrust it back. Another went for her legs. A snake whiplashed through the grass under the van and was gone.
“Look out!” Alex wrenched Tamara to the side just as two enormous brown bears barreled toward the van, their massive bodies like tanks. Alex and Tamara hit the dirt as Call threw his hands up to send whatever he could at them — a swath of fire or black chaos, he wasn’t sure — but it was like scraping the bottom of a dry well. His hands trembled, but nothing happened.
And then the bear was on him.
He heard Aaron yell as the bear swung its paw, knocking Call to the ground with a single swat. Call rolled to the side, stunned, and the bear reared up above him, roaring. Call saw Aaron thrust out his hand, but the same thing seemed to be happening to him — only dull sparks came from his fingers. There was no magic.
Call reached back over his shoulder to grab Miri just as Havoc sprang. The Chaos-ridden wolf’s jaws closed around the bear’s neck, sinking into the thick fur. The bear gave a growling wail. Havoc scrabbled to ride its back, claws and teeth sinking in. The bear shook its heavy body, trying to dislodge Havoc, but the wolf hung on. Finally, the bear knocked Havoc free. Havoc tumbled to the ground with a whimper, and the bear lumbered away toward the center of the road.
Miri came out, Call scrambling to his feet. A quick check of Havoc assured him that the wolf was all right. Aaron had found a stick and was using it to try to hold off the other bear. Alex, who had shoved Tamara behind the van, raced back toward them, just as the bear swatted the stick from Aaron’s grasp. Alex pushed Aaron out of the way and spun toward the bear, his hands out, air magic spilling from his palms.
But the bear was no ordinary animal. Its eyes spun red-and-orange as it swung claws toward Alex, who yelled and went down on one knee. His sweater shone red and wet in the moonlight, a gory tear in the shoulder.
“Alex!” Tamara exploded from the other side of the van, running toward them. Call could have told Alex she wasn’t going to stay put. Aaron had his hands moving, as though he was trying to reach out for chaos magic, but nothing seemed to be happening.
“Aaron!” Call yelled. “Catch!”
He threw Miri. Aaron caught the knife, swinging it toward the bear. Blood flew in a spray as the blade connected with the creature’s midsection. The bear roared, its eyes narrowing as Tamara neared them, more fire blooming in her hands.
Faced with fire and blade, the bear spun around and began to lumber quickly away. But the damage was