“I’m going to destroy everything!” Arjun howls. “I’m going to rip this door to shreds. I’m going to—”
“Let me out!” Paris screams, his voice filled with terror. “Let me out now!”
“I’m sorry.” Sullivan is full-on crying now. “I’m so sorry!”
“Don’t touch me!” Rhea shrieks. “You want to hurt me. You want to destroy me!”
Fifi’s eyes fill with tears as they meet mine. “We have to help them.”
“I know.” I head toward Rhea as Fifi deals with Arjun.
“Get away from me!” she screams, backing up. “Don’t come near me.”
“Fine! I won’t come any closer,” I promise as I crouch down. “But I need you to get on the ground. If you just get on the ground—”
“I’m not touching that ground. You want to trap me! You want to hurt me! You want to—”
“I don’t want to do anything but help you!” I blow out a long breath, run a frustrated hand through my hair. Already I can feel the sadness creeping back, making it hard to think around the crushing anguish pressing down on me.
It’s just the fog, I tell myself as I force myself to stay focused. The sadness isn’t real.
“It’s the fog that’s hurting you, Rhea,” I say as calmly as I can. “If you get on the ground, you’ll be able to see that. It will help you think clearly—”
“I can think plenty clearly!” she shrieks. “You’re trying to trick me! You’re trying to—”
“Just get on the ground, Rhea!” Sullivan says. “The rest of us are down here and we’re fine.”
“You’re lying! You want me to believe you, but I never will. I’m never getting down there. I’m never—”
She breaks off as Fifi comes out of nowhere, launching herself at Rhea’s shoulders and full-on tackling her to the ground.
33.Stop Your Vining
WHICH, SURPRISE, SURPRISE, MAKES RHEAscream her freaking head off. “You’re hurting me! Let me go! You’re hurting me!”
“You really thought this would help?” I ask dryly.
“She’s down, isn’t she?” Fifi grins. “And all that screaming requires a lot of deep breaths. She’ll be herself any second now.”
“Get off me,” Rhea snarls.
“You sure about that?” I ask.
“Pretty sure—”
“If you don’t get off me in the next two seconds, I’m going to scratch your eyes out.” Rhea’s voice is calm now, her own eyes narrowed as she glares into Fifi’s.
“And she’s back,” Arjun says wryly from where he’s stretched out on the ground.
“Lucky us.” But Fifi rolls off her.
The second Rhea’s on her back, flat on the ground, the fog dissipates completely.
“Is that it?” Paris asks, sitting up. “Is that all we had to do?”
“I don’t know.” I sit up as well so I can get a good look around.
With the fog gone, I get my first clear look at the place and realize we could be anywhere. Sure, there’s grass and a few trees, but they don’t look anything like the ones that grow all over Anaximander’s.
