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“Where are we going?” I ask him, breathless.
Kilorn answers instead. “The river,” he says. “And then the ocean.
Can you take us?” He glances at Shade’s hands, as if he could see his
ability plain in his flesh. But Shade’s strength is buried like mine, invis-
ible until he chooses to reveal it.
My brother shakes his head. “Not in one jump, it’s too far. And I’d
rather run, save my strength.” His eyes darken. “Until we really need
it.”
I nod, agreeing. I know firsthand what it is to be ability-worn, tired
in your bones, barely able to move, let alone fight.
“Where are they taking Cal?”
My question makes Kilorn wince.
“Hell if I care.”
“You should,” I fire back, even as my voice shakes with hesitation.
No, he shouldn’t. Neither should you. If the prince is gone, you must let him go.
“He can help us get out of this. He can fight with us.”
“He’ll escape or kill us the second we give him the chance,” he
snaps, tearing away his scarf to show the angry scowl beneath.
In my head, I see Cal’s fire. It burns everything in its path, from
metal to flesh. “He could’ve killed you already,” I say. It’s not an exag-
geration, and Kilorn knows it.
“Somehow I thought you two would outgrow your bickering,”
Shade says, stepping between us. “How silly of me.”
Kilorn forces out an apology through gritted teeth, but I do no such
thing. My focus is on the jets, letting their electric hearts beat against
mine. They weaken with each second, getting farther and farther away.
“They’re flying away from us. If we’re going to go, we need to do it
now.”
Both my brother and Kilorn look at me strangely, but neither argue.
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“This way,” Shade says, pointing through the trees. A small, almost
invisible path winds through them, where the dirt has been swept away
to reveal stone and asphalt beneath. Again, Shade links his arm through
mine, and Kilorn charges ahead, setting a swift pace for us to follow.
Branches scrape against us, bending over the narrowing path, until
it’s impossible for us to run side by side. But instead of letting me go,
Shade squeezes even tighter. And then I realize he’s not squeezing me
at all. It’s the air, the world. Everything and anything tightens in a blistering, black second. And then, in a blink, we’re on the other side of the
trees, looking back to see Kilorn emerge from the gray grove.
“But he was ahead,” I murmur aloud, looking back and forth
between Shade and the pathway. We cross into the middle of the street,
with the sky and smoke drifting overhead. “You—”
Shade grins. The action seems out of place against the distant
scream of jets. “Let’s say I . . . jumped. As long as you’re holding on to
me, you’ll be able to come along,” he says, before hurrying us into the
next alley.
My heart races with the knowledge that I just teleported, to the point where it’s almost possible to forget our predicament.
The jets are quick to remind me. Another missile explodes to the
north, bringing down a building with the rumble of an earthquake.
Dust races down the alley in a wave, painting us in another layer of
gray. Smoke and fire are so familiar to me now that I barely smell it,
even when ash begins to fall like snow. We leave our footprints in it.
Perhaps they will be the last marks we make.
Shade knows where to go and how to run. Kilorn has no trouble
keeping up, even with the rifle weighing him down. By now, we’ve cir-
cled back to the avenue. To the east, a swirl of daylight breaks through
the dirt and dust, bringing with it a salty gasp of sea air. To the west,
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the first collapsed building lies like a fallen giant, blocking any retreat
to the train. Broken glass, the iron skeletons of buildings, and strange
slabs of faded white screens rise around us, a palace of ruins.
What was this? I dimly wonder. Julian would know. Just thinking his name hurts, and I push the sensation away.
A few other red rags dart through the ashen air, and I look for a
familiar silhouette. But Cal is nowhere to be seen, and it makes me so
terribly afraid.
“I’m not leaving without him.”
Shade doesn’t bother to ask who I’m talking about. He already
knows.
“The prince is coming with us. I give you my word.”
My response cuts my insides. “I
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