of being overtaken, even for a moment, put too much force behind my fists. Thirty yards away, a man fell to the ground, lifeless. I froze, my fists at my sides, breathing hard, the rain dripping from my nose and chin.
“Here!” Levi said, still fighting. “We’re here!”
Michael appeared next to me, dry and unaffected by the rainstorm. “Leave this place!” he bellowed to the creatures so loud that I had to cover my ears.
The shells shrank back in fear, withdrawing to the sea.
Samuel appeared next to him, and then I felt an army of Archs and Cimmerians behind me, surrounding the lighthouse and filling up every square foot of earth between us and the cliffs.
“Wait,” I said, taking a step. I looked to Michael, squinting from the rain. “They’ll leave them in the Narragansett. They’ll wake up weak in the water.”
Michael raised an eyebrow.
“They’ll drown,” I insisted.
Michael frowned at the retreating shells.
Dad, Claire, and Bex ran to where Levi and I stood.
Moments before, we had been surrounded by hundreds of Archs. Now, we were alone in the night just as the sun broke through the clouds and the rain let up.
“Are they following?” Claire asked.
Levi shook his head. “They’re making sure the humans get back safely.”
“That’s nice of them,” Claire said, surprised.
“What was that about?” Dad said, two deep lines forming between his brows.
Levi shook his head, unsure. “She remembers. I think it triggered something.”
“Like wrath maybe?” Bex said, unsettled.
“I haven’t seen that many shells since Jerusalem,” Claire said.
Dad’s expression turned more severe as he scanned my face. “What is it?”
“I wasn’t prepared,” I said, ashamed to admit the truth. I was still in disbelief. “They overwhelmed me.”
Bex and Claire traded glances, and Dad continued to watch me, unhappy.
“Well, she’s been sparring with us. We’re barely a challenge,” Bex said.
“Speak for yourself,” Claire said.
“Enough,” Dad snarled. He glared at Levi. “Well? What are you capable of? Can you challenge her?”
“He held her down in the alley,” Bex said. “He can at least best her for a few seconds.”
“More than a few,” Levi said.
I arched an eyebrow.
Levi noticed my expression and cleared his throat. “I was tasked with her assassination. I’m confident I can challenge her, but I don’t think …” His eyes drifted to me.
“What? You can’t hit her?” Claire said, smirking.
Levi clenched his teeth. “I know you can’t.”
Claire’s grin vanished, and she took a step. Dad held the back of his hand to her chest, keeping his eye on Levi.
“If you sparred with her, could you land a punch?” Bex asked, his question sincere.
“Yes, but I don’t want—” Levi began.
“It’s settled then,” I said. “I’ll train with Levi.” I looked to him, touching his chest. “It’s just safer for me in the long run, right?”
Levi frowned, unhappy with the thought of attacking me for real. “I don’t want to do this.”
“You’re assuming you’ll win,” I said, holding out my hand.
He took it, and we followed my family back to the dock where the Katherine waited to take us back to Newport.
Morgan was standing in the long line of Backdoor Burger. Its bright orange front door was nestled between two green dumpsters in an alley downtown, but they had the best BLTs in New England. I joined him, tugging on his T-shirt to let him know I’d arrived.
The floors, walls, and ceiling were of the same type of wood. The bi-level eatery had no windows but plenty of lighting to make up for it.
A woman at the register was closer to my mom’s age than mine. Every time I’d been in there, she had been manning the counter. Her arms were covered in tattoos, and she had a bull ring in her nose. My favorite thing about her was that she always wore T-shirts or hoodie sweatshirts that said something completely inappropriate.
Today’s shirt had a black skull with a spatula and fork crossing beneath it and read, Culinary Badass.
“Next!” she yelled.
“Sorry I’m late,” I said. “I had a long night.”
“Did you go to a party?” he asked, trying not to look wounded.
“Of course not. I was at Levi’s.”
“Levi’s,” Morgan deadpanned. “The guy you hate.”
“I don’t hate him anymore.”
We took a few small steps as the line moved forward.
“And why is that?”
“I’ve spent some time with him. He’s all right.”
“So … does that mean I don’t have to hate him?”
“That’s correct.”
“Cool. Why didn’t you bring him?”
“Next!” the counter woman called.
We moved forward.
“We hung out last night. I wanted to hang out with you today, Morg.”
Morgan grinned, appreciative of my sentiment. After