“They won’t be able to help if I’m not there!”
“Maybe you should have thought of that before you put out your call from a hundred miles away.”
I can’t stop myself from grimacing at him, but my pulse thumps with more anxiety than annoyance. Major Yin said we didn’t have much time. What will the “top brass” do once they get here?
If it involves bigger bombs, then we’re in deep trouble.
Sorsha’s hellhound-shifting partner—Omen—emerges into the physical world behind me. “I saw something half a mile back that might help. How many beings do we need to get to the city for your plan to work?”
I swallow hard. “As many as we can manage. But especially me and my mates. And Gracie.”
The more humans we have involved from the start, the easier it should be to encourage others to join in.
Omen glances over at Jonah, who’s sitting on one of the benches with a similarly tense expression, and lets out a gruff sigh. “Let’s give it a shot. I’ll be back in ten or so minutes. Hold tight.”
It’s not like we have much choice unless the van suddenly sprouts wings so it can fly over the traffic.
Actually that would be a really handy feature. Why haven’t humans implemented it yet?
Omen vanishes, but I remain in physical form, gripping the seat back and peering at the cars ahead of us. “At least a lot of people want to help?”
Rollick gives a short guffaw. “Let’s hope that is what they’re coming for and they’re not here to slam us for asking.”
We creep forward a few inches at a time. At this rate, we’ll be back at the city next year. But it has only been about ten minutes when a whirring engine sounds beyond the windows.
Omen pulls over to the shoulder of the highway steering what looks like a miniature jeep. Its overlarge wheels bounce over the dips and bumps on the unpaved ground.
“We’re borrowing an ATV,” he calls over to us. “There’s room for the two humans to perch behind me. Everyone else needs to stay in shadow form. Find whatever dark hollows you can. I figure we can fit more than a dozen if you squeeze tight.”
My heart lifts. I glance around at the van’s shadowy interior. This means we need to leave the shadowbloods behind for now, but most of our other allies can come along. “Let’s go!”
I dip into the shadows and sidle up against Hail, who’s totally awake now but whose presence still feels a little groggy. He leans into my touch with a waft of affection before we propel ourselves side by side across the gap between the vehicles and into the patch of darkness overtop one of the ATV’s wheels.
A flurry of fellow shadowkind dart after us and settle into their own spots, cramming close. Jonah and Gracie scramble out of the van on their feet and dash over to Omen.
As our sorcerer and my former captor’s daughter squish onto the seat, the hellhound shifter guns the engine. “Hold on tight!”
The little vehicle roars forward. It bounces across the uneven terrain, going not quite as fast as the van would on the road but moving a heck of a lot more swiftly than anyone’s driving the highway right now.
Thankfully, our position in the shadows cushions us from most of the movement. I hate to think how Jonah’s and Gracie’s insides must be getting shaken and stirred.
Squished close to me in the darkness, Fen lets out a nervous giggle. “We’re really going to do this.”
To my surprise, it’s Vim who answers, her voice still rough but less snarky than usual. “Yeah, I think we are.” Her attention shifts to me with a sweet-and-sour mix of admiration andshame. “You were pretty incredible back there, Peri. If you think you know how to fix the rift… I want to see what you can do.”
Despite my fears, a spark of joy lights in me. “What we all can do,” I say. “It won’t work without every one of us.”
The ATV tears past the line of jammed cars toward the remains of the refugee camp, just scraps of a settlement after most of the evacuees have been relocated. I wonder how many of the people arriving here now came from the city to begin with.
It’s their home. They have the most to gain by saving it. But from what I’ve seen, humans have a large capacity for looking out for each other, even if they’re not always great at acting on it.
Rows of cars are already parked all along the sides of the highway in the camp and the smaller roads that branch off around the edges of the city. Omen brings us to a stop by the cluster of trailers Rollick had his people drive farther afield.
One of Rollick’s assistants is standing outside one of them, wringing her hands. “What’s happening? Where did all these people come from?”
As we sped back to the city, my certainty about what we’re going to do—whatI’mgoing to do—has grown. Resolve rises up in my chest as rich and potent as a perfectly glazed ham.
I materialize beside her. “I’m going to balance out the murk. Get the rift back into harmony with both realms so it stops messing things up. But I can only do that if all these people work with me.”
