“I saw the rocks fall.”
“I know.”
“Kimber, were the two flashes and bangs nearly identical, or were they different.”
“I was traumatized. How the hell should I know?”
“Please,ilati—”
“Don’t call me that.” My whisper cut through the air like a knife. “Please, don’t call me that.”
Dorian let out a sigh. “Kimber. Please. Think on it. Were they the same?”
I played the images through again, and one more time. “No… I mean, I guess they weren’t. Not exactly the same. The first was larger, much larger than the second. Triple at least. And there was a hint of green in the second, but I thought that was just the chemicals used to create the detonations.”
Dorian sank to the rocks. “I don’t think they’re dead. I don’t think they’re dead at all.”
* * *
“Not dead?” Gwen asked. “But rocks. Explosions. An eyewitness! Video!”
Dorian and Bel shook their heads in an eerie imitation of each other.
“I don’t know if wishful thinking becomes you, brother,” King Belshazzar said.
“Then, you go out there and see if you scent anything, Bel.” Dorian leveled a finger at Aiko and me. “They didn’t smell blood. Not living, not dead. If they were crushed, there would be a hint of something.”
I pinched the bridge of my nose. “I saw it happen, and I was convinced they were gone. I still am. But Dorian is right. There’s no sign of them out there, dead or alive. I don’t know how it happened, because half the damn mountain fell on them. You can’t just hop away from a massive landfall like that.
“I broke the Spine, and the reason it took so long was that I had to direct the rockfall. I didn’t have a chance to even think about directing the rockfall away from them. My magic hadn’t quite aligned. I didn’t have—”
My voice caught in my throat.
Aiko took my hand and held it.
“No one is blaming you,” Gwen said.
Bel shrugged. “And hey, we got the Russians out of Buenos Aires.”
My confusion had to be apparent on my face.
“They packed up and left afterLa Espada Ensangrentadaghosted in and out of the camp and killed the general. They only moved up to Paraguay, but that’s fine. The further away they are, the less likely they are to try and attack. We actually managed a three-prong attack on this mess, so we’re ahead of the game.”
“Glad I could help,” I grumbled.
“All this alive and dead speculation doesn’t mean a damn thing in the end, though,” Lord Cato said, finally piping up.
“Why not?” Gwen asked. “I mean, if they’re alive, someone may have them or be holding them for ransom, and we can get them back.”
“Because we don’t know, and now the prophecy is shot.”
Everyone’s head swiveled to look at Lord Cato.
Lord Xenon nodded. “He’s right.”
“What the hell are you talking about?” Bel demanded. “What prophecy?”
“The one about the Breaker.” Lord Cato waved at me.
