“Then don’t look out the fucking window,” Brad says.
We turn to him and see that’s exactly what he’s doing.
All of us find a window and look up the road ahead, right into the mushroom cloud forming above the rock. The air shimmers with heat, and we see the copter fall from the sky. Explosions and bullets ring out all around, but the big, fiery bastard just spirals his way up the tower of flame, hissing and writhing in ecstasy.
The truck swerves to a halt, and we jump out, racing towards the circle. My eyes immediately pick out Grace, standing right next to the rock.
Way too close.
She looks down at her hands, at the soft white glow playing across her fingers. It’s echoed by a pale light hovering over her belly.
What?
She looks up, and the snake looks back down at her. I know they’re communicating, but I have no idea what they’d say to each other.
The only thing I know for sure is that I’m not moving fast enough.
I pump my arms, forcing my body to new limits as I stretch my legs, leaping into my wolf shape and increasing speed, but still not moving fast enough.
Because I know what’s about to happen!
Grace looks at her hands again, then around the circle. She whispers something, I see her lips move. But then the impossible—and the inevitable—happens.
Grace steps into the circle.
“No!” I scream, my wolf shape falling away as my human body takes over, my chest ringing with the scream that rips my chest in two. I stumble hard, smacking my chest on the ground and knocking the air out of my lungs. It doesn’t even slow me down as I scramble to my feet and launch myself after Grace.
I can feel my skin sizzling, and I don’t even care. I’m watching her race across the rock towards the pillar of fire, and my only thought is to get to her. My hands blister as I reach out, then strong hands clamp around my arms, yanking me back off my feet to land in a pile on the ground.
“Get off me!” I scream, struggling, punching, kicking, fighting. “Get the fuck off me!”
Something hits me right across the jaw, and the pain ringing through me returns my senses in a staggering rush. I look up to see Rex standing over me, holding his fist.
“You’ve got a jaw made of steel,” he mutters. “Are you sane now?”
“No,” I mumble, crawling forward. “Let me see—”
Let me see what’s left of her so I can begin to mourn… and throw myself in there the second you let go of me.
“She’s okay,” Shawn says, pointing. “See?”
I look across the circle, and I can see Grace standing in the center, her head thrown back. The snake coils around the top of the tower of flame, turning downward as it looks right at her.
“For how long?” I choke out, raising my hand as if I could grab her from this distance. The horrific feeling of helplessness I felt when my family died engulfs me, closing my chest and squeezing the breath out of my lungs.
“It’s alright,” Brad says. “I think she can handle herself. We just need to stay cool.”
“Easy for you to say,” I snap at him. “It’s not your wife who—”
Brad’s scream cuts off my words as Alisha suddenly leaps into the circle. Now, all of us leap on Brad and pin him to the ground while he roars and struggles, trying to fight all of us.
“You know what’s going to happen next,” I say, catching Rex’s eye. He nods.
Shawn lets out a wail of despair as Sara enters the circle, but he doesn’t try to follow her. Rex and I get off Brad, who stays on the ground, watching helplessly as the scene unfolds. Rex stands perfectly still, watching Scarlett enter the shimmering heat and walk towards Grace.
The girls form a triangle around Grace, who stays right in the center of the circle, her eyes locked on the snake. It writhes and wriggles, making hissing sounds that imply great pleasure, maybe even triumph.
“Is this how it’s meant to go?” Rex croaks.
