Ben gives me a look like I’ve lost my mind. Okay. Still have hair. No matter how charred I feel, it was a supernatural fire. I’m not actually burned to a crisp. And now that I think of it, my body doesn’t hurt at all. In fact, my body feels great. Healed. And brimming with power.
The ground shudders and sways. More popping noises and the cracks in the concrete from the lightning strikes start to widen. Shit.
Ben gingerly tugs at the collar of my coat. “Maggie. I think we’d better go.”
Something hits my face. Wet. My first thought is bug splatter, but Ben’s still talking and tugging at me, and I can’t hear the locust song.
“Stop spitting,” I mutter to Ben as another drop hits my cheek.
She frowns. “What?” Her hand flies to her own face, touching. She pulls it back and stares in wonder. “It’s water.”
We both turn our eyes to the sky, where the black cloud of locusts has been replaced with thick roiling storm clouds.
“Kai.” I get to my feet. “Where’s Kai?” We both look around frantically, but he’s not where I left him. “The locusts didn’t . . . ?”
“No,” Ben says. “He was at the edge of the dam. Facing the lake. I saw . . . There!”
She thrusts her hand out, finger pointing, but she doesn’t have to. I see him too. A figure floating in the clouds, held aloft in the storm. A bright nimbus of white light surrounds him, and his eyes flash with the silver of thunder. The rain starts to fall in earnest, fat drops splattering the ground like the heavy tread of angels.
Another boom, and Ben and I watch a chunk of the dam break off, tumbling off the edge. Another, and another, and concrete rips apart to cascade over the edge. We stumble backward, toward the eastern side of the dam, as the world starts to crumble beneath our feet.
Ben screams. The ground tilts and she slides. I grab her hand, pulling her off the cracking concrete. But the dam is breaking around us, and soon there will be no safety anywhere in sight. To my right the lake is rising, waves rocking high over the railing, grasping greedily for their own freedom.
Thunder booms. I look up to see Kai throw out his hand, palm forward. He curls his fingers in, making a fist, and slowly lifts his arm upward. I stare, dumbstruck, as the shoreline changes course, rising into the air at his command. A wall of water rises, as if dragged skyward by an invisible force. It’s both beautiful and terrifying. But it doesn’t stay there long. I expect him to fling it back upon itself, but instead he spreads his fingers sharply. Water shatters to mist, evaporating into the desert air and rising up to fatten the bulging storm clouds, catching rainbows in their impossible spray.
“Fucking hell.”
Rainbows.
And I know how to get us off this crumbling dam.
“One more blessing, old man,” I mutter as I pull Ben tight against me and, with only a moment of hesitation, wrap my free hand around Neizghání’s sword. Fire travels up my arm, fills my veins, the power of the storm saturating an already oversaturated vessel.
The world tilts, the edge of the dam coming up fast, a fall into oblivion. I backpedal, trying to keep my balance and my hold on Ben and the sword, but I can’t. My feet lose their purchase. And we fall.
I scream to the lightning, desperate as a deathbed prayer.
Ozone fills my nose, something inside me ignites, and I shatter into flame.
Chapter 43
Lightning strikes the command tower on the west side of the canyon, and Ben and I stumble onto solid ground. Ben collapses, vomiting. I’m not much better. My whole body feels like it’s going to shake apart. With unsteady hands, I sheathe the sword in the scabbard on my back. Stomp my feet to try to dissipate some of the raw energy around me.
“Did we just . . . ? Did you . . . ?” Ben stutters out once she’s left the contents of last night’s dinner at her feet.
“I think so,” I admit, my voice as shaky as my hands.
“And you’ve never done that before?”
“Once, with Ma’ii, but he was driving, and it was a lot smoother. Sorry for the bumpy ride.”
She shakes her head. “Don’t be sorry. Look.” And I look where she’s pointing, back to the center of the dam, where we were just moments ago. Most of the dam is still there, still holding the water back, but there’s a V-shaped chunk of concrete probably fifty feet wide missing in exactly the spot where we were standing. Lake water pours through the break in a powerful rush that cascades down seven hundred and fifty feet to the rocks below. It looks peaceful from here, beautiful even.
I scan the sky, searching the clouds, but I can’t see Kai anywhere. I know he must be there, embraced by the storm, controlling the flow of water with whatever supernatural powers he’s harnessed from Tó’s pot and his own power.
The rain is steady now, a cold curtain of a downpour that’s already starting to chill. It’s been so long since I’ve felt rain, I can’t help but turn my face upward, let it wash over me. Ben’s not as charmed. She’s running to the nearest shelter, the guard tower. I take one last mouthful of rain and then hustle after her.
Ben’s rattling the doorknob, trying to open the guard tower door. “It’s not locked,” she explains, “but there’s something heavy blocking it.” She leans in with her shoulder. “If I could just . . .”
I add my shoulder to the push, and together we open the door a foot. Ben peeks in the narrow opening. “Maggie, wait!”
“What is it?”
“There’s somebody there. Blocking the door. A body.”
I look in, and sure enough, there’s someone lying on the floor, blocking the doorway. I see long legs sheathed in familiar brown leathers, big biker boots, and the edges of two thick red braids.
“It’s Rissa,” I say, voice grim.
I move Ben back and reach through the opening. Try to push against Rissa’s shoulder to get her off the door, but I can’t muster enough power to move her, and she only flops forward at the waist before she falls back again.
“Is she dead?” Ben asks, her voice scared.
“I . . . don’t . . .” I sit down, stick my foot through the door and kick Rissa in the side. This time she stirs, and I think I hear her groan. “She’s alive,” I tell Ben. “But hurt.”
We need another way in. There’s a window on what looks like the second floor. Narrow. Too narrow for me, but not for a sixteen-year-old Deer clan girl. I explain what I’m thinking to Ben. “Can you make it?”
She nods, eager. I position myself under the window, and Ben steps back about ten feet to get a running start. The rain is quickly oversaturating the parched earth, turning the ground to mud. I plant my feet wide, brace my back against the tower wall, bend my knees, and cup my hands in front me. Give Ben the go-ahead nod.
She doesn’t hesitate. I grunt as I take her weight in the makeshift steps my hands make, then I lift and push. Her foot on my shoulder is surprisingly light, as if she’s suddenly weightless, and she scampers up the wall. Grasps the windowsill with ease, flipping herself over, and kicks through the glass in one smooth movement. After a moment she leans out the open window to give me a thumbs-up, and then I can hear her quick footsteps on the stairs as she makes her way to the front door.
“Careful,” I warn her as she grabs Rissa by the armpits and drags her out of the way. Once she’s moved, I join them both inside.
“Her pulse is good,” Ben says, relief evident in her voice. “And I don’t see any wounds.”
“Check her neck.” I have a suspicion.
Ben gently turns Rissa’s head, lifting her hair out of the way. And sure enough, there’s a small needle prick at the base of her neck. Ben frowns. “Gideon got her?”
“Or Aaron.”
She sucks in a breath. “Do you think he betrayed us?”