“I’m here!” Chronos turns toward the sound of my voice, a smile stretching over his face when his blue eye finds me.That’s right. Look right here, old man. Here I am, alone and dying on the ice, exactly as you sawme.Doug and Denver flank him, their faces bruised, their jackets black with burns from their last run-in with us.
“Come forward, Jack.” Chronos beckons with his scythe.
I push the cold out in front of me, forming a bridge of ice between us. It ends at his feet. “You first.”
Even from here, I can see the twitching scars on his cheek, the same involuntary spasm he failed to control when he first recognized me in his staff, as if whatever he’d seen in that vision had deeply unsettled him. “Have you forgotten? This is the part where you die, Mr. Sommers.”
But at what cost? What else did he see in that vision beyond the small piece he revealed to you?
“Then come get me!” I shout. “I’m done running from you.”
A tremble takes hold of my body. The ice under me blooms red with blood. I don’t know how much longer I can hold the freeze.
“Jack!” Fleur’s cry pierces me.
I shut out the pain. Swallow my fear. My fear that no one will come. That Gaia and Lyon will abandon us. That the headlights I saw on the horizon weren’t real. I have to trust. Have to believe they will not leave us to die here, alone.
I limp farther onto the lake, trailing blood, my island thinning. “What are you afraid of? You said it yourself—we both know how this ends.”Do it. Send your dogs out here to fetch me. I’ll take them all down with me.
Chronos grinds his teeth behind his beard. He signals to Doug. “Bring him to me.”
Doug charges onto the lake like a hound unleashed, the ice hardening under him as he skates toward me. A pack of Guards runs afterhim, tight on his heels. I hold Doug’s furious gaze as I drop to my knees. The world sways, the dogs swimming in and out of focus, their howls muffled under the crack of the ice and the roar of bloody water rushing in my ears.
50
How This Ends
FLEUR
“No!” The ice cracks under Jack’s knees. I cry out as it breaks clean, plunging him in. The lake bubbles red where he disappears.
Doug skids to a stop at the edge of the ice, searching the dark water for him.
“Fleur, wait!” Poppy shouts after me, insisting there are too many of them.
But I don’t care how many there are. I will shred them all.
I round the shoreline on a wave of hot wind. Chill calls Jack’s name. He charges into the water, breaking through the cracks in the surface. Julio kicks off his shoes and dives in after him.
The lake steams as the ice melts in Julio’s wake. The Guards pace the shrinking edges of the island, their heads down as they search for Jack. Out of the corner of my eye, I see a hand snake up through the hazy water and grab a Guard by the ankle. He shrieks and disappearsbeneath it, leaving a silent ripple in his wake. The others exchange wary glances. A second Guard cries out as Julio drags her down with a soft splash. The water glows, their lights erupting from the surface as Julio takes them one by one. I don’t stop to count them as I rush at the remaining Guards.
They fan out in front of me, forming a wall in front of Chronos. Denver grins back at me from the center of their formation. I remember his face, the shape of his fists, his sneer framed in the rearview mirror of the Chevy and the sound of his gun firing. My roots burst from the soil and snag him by the feet. I drag him toward me across the wet grass, his shirt riding up, his fingers digging into the soil. A slithering vine coils around his transmitter. He twists, groping frantically for it, but I yank it out of his reach. His eyes go wide with terror as my roots deliver him to me. I bury my knife in his gut, and with a vicious twist, I jerk it free.
Denver’s magic drifts aimlessly into the sky.
I stand up fast, expecting the next Guard to be on me. But something’s stolen their attention. White lights flicker through the trees. Car doors slam. Through the soles of my feet, I feel the steady pounding of boots on the soil, bodies brushing past limbs and branches.
Lyon and Gaia. They came. They’re here.
The wind shifts, stirring the surface of the lake. The Guards fall back, forming a perimeter around Chronos. Weapons ready, they peer into the trees.
There’s a soft splash behind them as Doug crawls to shore. His eyes lift to the wispy stream of guttering light overhead, then follow it to its source. I back away as he lurches from the lake and scrambles towardDenver’s body, trying and failing to gather it in his arms as it flakes to ash. With a keening wail, he watches the last of Denver’s light drift skyward and die. I blink back tears and blot out the sound, unable to process anyone else’s grief. Doug falls silent, his chest heaving as he looks down at the wet ashes stuck to his hands. Then, with a sharp jerk of his head, his fury finds me.
I scramble back as twin flames roar from his palms, building in intensity as he surges toward me. He hurls flame after flame. I shield my face as they hiss past me, unable to find a root in the single heartbeat between assaults. Doug plows into me, snapping my head against the ground, his transmitter light blinking above me. I grope blindly through the pain, sliding my mind into a root. Doug’s hands are ice and rage and fire. His mind reaches savagely for mine, pushing my root back with the force of his own dark thoughts. I kick and thrash beneath him, my mind scrabbling for traction, for a weapon.
An arm reaches around his neck, grabbing him from behind. A flurry of dark curls falls over his shoulder and Doug’s eyes go wide with shock.
“I’m sorry,” Noelle whispers as his grip goes suddenly limp.
