A woman was over his shoulder.
They landed in front of us as I pressed the button.
Crackle, crackle, crackle, BOOM.
Crackle, crackle, crackle, BOOM.
The sky lit up with a mesmerizing glow of orange, yellows, and reds. Black filtered in around it and throughout it, streaking with damaging beauty. And it all looked so much more deadly through the tears in my eyes.
Everyone stared at the morbid blaze.
Theron sprinted out of the night, stumbling a little, his eyes blurry and watering. His narrowed eyes trained on Cassander, but he didn’t speak yet. Instead, he peered at the blaze.
Cassander bent and helped Poppy slide off his shoulder to her feet. Then he turned to me, muttering, “I told you I could save her. Or were you that trigger happy?”
My chin trembled.
I was certain it was at that point he realized someone was missing.
He turned in a slow circle, his eyes searching and only finding friends with tormented expressions. And no God in sight. His brows snapped together in disbelief, and he started running far to the right, and then far to the left. Still searching, still hopeful.
Cassander bellowed, “God?”
He won’t answer you.
“God? This isn’t funny, man!”
No, it’s not.
His steel gray eyes narrowed in on me. He hissed, “Why did you push that button?”
I opened my mouth, but I only choked.
“Why, Mina?”
In a hoarse voice, Finn murmured, “God went in.”
Poppy’s head spun to us, her blinking confused…then not. Her eyes flashed with an eternal break—something truly breaking inside of her—then suddenly, it was all gone. Just gone. Nothing showed. As in—nothing.
All emotion drained from Cassander’s face—as if it were his life force, his shoulders drooping forward and his legs not strong enough to keep him from swaying unsteadily.
“Son, what’s going on?” Theron asked, shaking and rubbing his head. The drugs hadn’t worn off completely yet.
Cassander’s jaw fell open like he was gasping for air, and his chest hiccupped a bouncing pulse. His nostrils flared, and he tipped his head back as he battled for control. Then he turned toward Poppy.
Tears fell down his cheeks in a steady flow, but his eyes were livid and furious. He charged toward her, his finger raised in the air like a bullet pointed at her head. With his teeth bared, he bent and placed his face directly in front of hers, and shouted, “You fucking bitch!”
Spittle and tears flew over her frozen features from his face. She stood completely still, her hands in fists down by her sides. But she didn’t look away from his gaze, taking his words deep inside herself—wherever she had crawled to because she wasn’t present right now, not in her mind.
Cassander moved a step forward, their legs aligned now as he pressed his face even closer to hers. His forehead jammed against hers, the tip of his nose touching hers. He bellowed in utter devastation, “I told you what would happen. I begged, Poppy.”
Finn’s chest heaved, but he stepped forward and raised a hand. “Cass, you need to back up.”
His head did tilt up, and his eyes were white. I hadn’t been able to see at this angle. No one else had either with the way they stiffened. Those eyes didn’t leave her, and he hissed, “Do you know what I get to do, Poppy? I get to kill my own brother because you…couldn’t…fucking…listen.”
Cassander’s hands jerked, the smallest bit, his palms toward her.
Poppy’s body bowed in on itself as she suddenly flew backward, her arms and legs flying out. And she didn’t even try to fall right. She had taught me today about doing that.
