First comes the light—a blinding, orange-white bloom that turns the snow into steam. Then the sound hits us, a bone-deepWHOMPHthat lifts the back of the Jeep off the ground.
I look back. The place that destroyed my voice and my childhood is being swallowed by dragon fire.
The walls collapse into the inferno.
The facility is dying.
The scratch marks on the door of Cell 4 are ash.
—We did it, Lu—
I watch the black smoke rise in the rear view mirror and wonder if we’ve really won, or if the battle is just beginning.
36
Holy.
Holy.
Holy.
Shit.
That was crazy.
Behind us is a fiery inferno, and cuddled up to me are six little kids.
When I look through the canvas Jeep walls, I see Donovan galloping beside us. Cosmo circles in the sky, breathing fire, his scales reflecting the orange glow.
How is any of this real?
No time to wonder that now. We’ve got to get out of here.
Will anyone survive that blaze?
Do I care?
No. I don’t. They can all burn in hell.
The Jeep swerves off the main track and into the trees. A little boy crawls even closer to my body and I wrap an arm around him. I wish I’d a dozen arms to hold all these babies close. But I can hold them close in a different way.
I close my eyes and focus on Lumina traveling out and filling the children with warmth and comfort. They won’t easily come out of their traumatized state, but this will at least help.
The vehicle bounces violently over the terrain but the lilac sparkles sooth the bumps.
—Rest, little ones, we’ve got you—
—What now?—Cosmo asks.
Alexis has it planned out, of course. —Donovan, go to the cabin. Can you grab Willow and the child, take them on your back?—
—Of course!—
—Then transport them to where we left the vehicles. Take the Range Rover and start heading north. Cosmo…land by the vehicles, grab the van and head this way. We’ll load the kids inside—
—And you?—I ask.
—I’ll stay behind with the third vehicle, take out anyone who escapes the compound—
