“So must you,” I say.
Avi releases the projectile. The Sixers duck as it drops into the mortar’s barrel, hits the base, and blasts back out again. There’s aBAM. A flash of silver metal. The bomb flies toward Ran Doc Min, who turns and gapes, but at the last second a force field appears around him. It’s a blue-glowing dome of protection, automatically shielding their group from the attack.
Crap. They’re wearing Shield Rings.
Probably should have seen that coming.
The bomb detonates in a blast of fire. I cover my head, brace against the wave of heat from the explosion. My ears are ringing, and my eyes burn, but I pull my ray gun off my hip and start firing before the smoke clears.
The Determinist thugs have the same idea. Spurred by the explosion, they’ve opened fire, the cargo hold devolving into the chaos of ray beams and stunner ammo and yelling. “Move!” I shout at the others, and they duck for cover behind the crates. Vera, Jester, Youvu Hum…
But not Lament. He’s gotten close to an opponent and is fighting the man hand to hand. The soldier pulls out a gun. Shoots. It’s nearly point-blank range, and I let out a stunnedNO, but somehow, the ray beam misses.
It doesn’t make sense that the ray beam misses.
Lament disarms the man, takes the weapon for himself. The movement is so perfectly practiced, and Lament’s face is easy, and okay, he can fight? My stomach lurches even as he slams the enemy in the temple, watches him go down. When Lament spins around, his headset is skewed around his neck, my lifestone illuminating his face with bright green light.
I dart forward to cover Lament, taking out two more armed soldiers before grabbing Lament by the shoulder and hauling him behind the nearest stack of crates. “What are youdoing?”
“Fighting,” he breathes.
“You can’t just stand out in the middle of enemy fire!” My hands are trembling. My voice is ragged, like I’ve swallowed fishing net. Lament glances at his lifestone, then back at me.
“It’s notarmor,” I snap, though in truth, I have no idea what a lifestonecan do. Everything I know has only ever been in stories. “You can’t be a bonehead about it.”
“Hey. That’s my line.”
“Doc Min is wearing a Shield Ring,” I say. Behind the crate, shots continue to fire. The air smells like metal and electricity. “They’re powerful, but they have a limited charge. If he takes enough hits—”
“It’ll wear down the force field,” Lament finishes.
I nod. “We’ll take turns.”
Lament and I switch off peeking out from behind our cover and blasting enemy fighters. The Youvu Hums (including the other Youvu Hum, who arrived with Toph and Avi) are engaged in another hand-to-hand fight with a nearby cluster of Determinists. Avi has entered the room and is pulling missile-like grenades from her hip, throwing them at random, letting off small but powerful blasts. Doc Min and Morton and my mother are standing out in the open, their Shield Rings flaring each time a shot comes their way.
I think about Mount Kilmon. Master Ira’s School for Children. Longji is built in the volcano’s shadow. There is at least one altered heat collector still in place. If there are children living in the home, they will be some of the voroxide’s first victims.
I look at Lament. He’s fullyon, a cut across one cheek, hair flying as he lets off another blast from his stolen ray gun. Here, with the fight raging around us, he looks strong and determined and beautiful. So beautiful. I never got the chance to say it.
He ducks back behind the crates. There’s a lull in the fight, and for a moment it’s just the two of us here, protected in this temporary bubble of stillness. Lament notices the way I’m looking at him. Hitches a breath. “Keller—”
I kiss him. Because I am the chief of bad timing. And my heart is full of him. And we might be fighting for our lives right now, but I can’t stop myself.
This time, Lament doesn’t freeze. He just… unfolds. Into me. Likehe’s been waiting for this, expecting it, wanting it, too. His free hand fists the front of my jacket and his mouth is warm and he’s everywhere, everywhere, yet somehow I still need more, because this kiss isn’t anuntil-next-timekiss.
It feels likeI’m sorry.
It feels likeGoodbye.
Pulling away is hard. Fucking impossible. But I do, releasing him, moving back. The lifestone is a blaze of green. Lament looks totally dazed.
“It can’t always be about science and logic,” I say, touching the place where the lifestone rests against his heart. I hear Toph give a war cry, gunfire starting up again from behind the crates. “There has to be hope and love and fate, too.”
He looks like he can’t catch his breath. Like I’m not making any sense. “What are you—?”
“Everything will be okay,” I say, kissing him one more time, hard and rough, because I have to. Then I tear away and bolt for the open door. A fresh stream of ray beam fire follows, blocking Lament from chasing after me.
It’s the hardest thing I’ve ever done, walking away from him.
