This is not how tonight was supposed to go. Even if the universe gave us a miracle, we can’t set things right without William. There’s no way they’ll allow him to remain on campus, will they? Not when he was pretending to be someone else this entire time. And what happens then?
The gala doesn’t matter now. I have to find William.
The door creaks open. A second later, Inessa and Sabine emerge.
“We heard everything,” Inessa blurts, tossing me my phone.
I stare at the blank screen. Take a deep breath. “Okay,” I say, thinking as I fire off a rapid SOS text to Sumner and Lionel. “We can fix this, right?”
“Let me help.” There’s a begging look in Analiese’s eyes. “Just tell me what to do.”
My teeth pull at my bottom lip. The most important part right now is William.
“We need a diversion,” I say to Sabine and Inessa. “Big enough to get Ellerby out of her office.”
“Done,” Sabine says, tugging Inessa’s arm through hers. “If Capture prepared us for anything, it’s this.”
I hope she’s right.
As they sprint down the hall, I address Analiese. “I need you here. Delay the gala.”
She goes white. “Delay—how?”
But I’m already disappearing inside the locker room. “You’ll think of something!”
Before anyone can ask what I’m doing, I throw on my coat, yank on my sneakers, and exit through the back before sprinting toward the administration building. My shoes kick up snow, cold air slicing through my lungs.
And then I see it.
Illuminated ribbons of violet and emerald shift across the darkened sky like tendrils of smoke.
My heart ricochets against my ribs. The geomagnetic storm. Solar particles interacting with our atmosphere. No—this can’t be happeningnow. We’re supposed to have more time.
I run faster, nearly colliding with the door before swinging it open. Then I sprint down the hall. Wet squeaks sound from my shoes as I round the corner, where I almost slam into another body.
Lionel is equally out of breath, raising both hands as if to sayit’s just me.
“Thank god,” I say.
He shoves his phone toward me. “They’ve tracked a flare.Theflare.”
My heartbeat accelerates as I read.X40 SOLAR FLARE WITHEARTH-DIRECTED CME. At 7:04 UTC, the Space Weather Prediction Center monitored a complex eruption with an active coronal mass ejection that has a high probability of interacting with our magnetic field.
“It’s identical to the one William witnessed during the Carrington Event,” he gets out. “They’re alerting the power grid and taking precautions. And they’re predicting it could enter our atmosphere in the next twenty minutes.”
My mouth falls open. None of this is coincidental. We have to do thistonight.
Urgency courses through my veins. “Let’s get William.”
We bound down the hall, racing toward Ellerby’s office. I’m wondering if we’re going to have to cause a diversion of our own when we hear it. A series of high-pitched screams coming from the courtyard. Lionel’s brows draw together, confused, but I’m already charging toward the window.
Outside, the sprinkler system has chugged to life. The jets spray long streams of freezing water at anyone in its path. Parents and alumni moseying around the courtyard shield themselves with their coats and scarves, ducking and running to drier ground. The ruckus is enough to draw Ellerby from her office, so panicked she doesn’t register the two of us standing there.
We take advantage of this distraction. As I throw myself through the office door, Lionel at my heels, I come to a sudden halt. Mr.Whelehan sits next to William, head snapping up from the paperwork in front of him. An acrimonious expression crosses his face as he sets down the pen.
“You both should be at the gala,” he admonishes, rising to his feet. “We’re dealing with a pressing matter in here.”
William gives me a pleading look.
