“Rosabelle.”
“This isn’t the same thing!” I nearly shout. “You won’t survive five seconds on the Ark—”
“I won’t survivefive seconds?” He raises his eyebrows.“Jesus, Rosabelle. Just drive a stake through my heart.”
“I’m not trying to insult you,” I say, exasperated. “It’s not just you. None of you would survive, not even your scary older brother. You have no idea what you’re up against—”
“I’ll take my chances,” he says.
“I don’t want you to die!”
James actually laughs, the sound sharp and brief. “You know, I never get tired of hearing you say that. Coming from you, it’s like poetry.”
“James.”
“What?” he says. “I’m serious.”
I shake my head, losing steam. “This is exactly why I didn’t want to tell you. I can’t reason with you.”
James reaches suddenly into his pocket again, retrieving his pager. “Shit,” he says. “Okay, now I really have to go—”
“I’m coming with you—”
“No way.” He backs up a few steps. “Take the deal, Rosabelle.”
“No.”
“Fine. Can you walk back to the house on your own, or do you still need me to carry you?”
I could scream. “I’m not going back to the—”
I sense the sky move before I hear the explosion, and I look up in time to see violent tremors warping the moon and clouds above. I gasp, my eyes widening as a fire cloud erupts like daylight in the distant dark; then the sound, shattering the silence—
Deafening.
My ears ring, a high-pitched frequency vibrating through my head. I stumble back, then pitch forward, realizing James has grabbed me by the waist, steadying me.
“You okay?” he shouts, his eyes wild.
I nod, blinking, willing my head to clear, my ears toquiet. Fear shudders down my spine. I look up at the burning sky as if from outside of myself; James turns with me to stare at the smoke, his own body rigid with tension.
I feel like I’m inside of a nightmare.
“James,” I say, raising my voice above the din.
He doesn’t look at me when he says, “You ready to accept the deal?”
“Only if we discuss the terms later.”
“Fine,” he says sharply. “Let’s go.”
38
Warner
“We have to split up.”
Kenji ducks down beside me as I say this, a bead of sweat dripping down his temple. He wipes at his face with the hem of his shirt, breathing hard. “Just like that? No romance, no poetry? You’re just breaking up with me?”
