As we looked closer, it was only a quarter of the gigantic ring that had been smashed by a pillar that had toppled over on it.
“This took them four years to build,” I said, panic building in my system. “We’re going to have thousands and thousands of Bane falling on us in three days.”
“So it’s true?” Elijah asked, glaring at me through the dim light. “They really left a beacon here in the city?”
I nodded. “Come on,” I said, turning and sprinting back outside.
We found Royce immediately when we got back to the hospital. The aftershocks seemed to have finally died out. He was barking for Elijah when we came up.
“The Pulse,” I said, my voice anxious. “You’ve got to get it out of that garage. The entire building is about to collapse on it. It’s already damaged.”
Royce’s face reddened further and he took half a moment to formulate a plan. “Get a team. Take one of the tanks. Pull it out of there!”
Elijah started shouting for his crew.
“You got this?” I asked Elijah, who nodded and headed for our own underground parking garage for one of the tanks.
I turned to see what I could do to help Royce when a bolt of lightning flashed through my brain and my knees buckled.
Everything illuminated in green. Numbers flashed everywhere. Suddenly they all pulsed and formed into a zero point one two in the center of my vision.
And the world was black again.
TWENTY-TWO
I was lying on a cot when I came to. It was dark and the air was cold.
I sat up and looked around.
It seemed everyone was sleeping outside. It must have been late, considering it looked like most everyone was in fact sleeping. Several small fires were scattered about, a few lone figures sat around them, warming their hands and talking.
I heard Avian speaking not far away and found him with Royce, their heads low, their voices heavy and quiet. I rose to join them.
They stood over a man and my entire body felt cold when his face and all of the blood came into view.
Eli. Morgan’s husband. Expectant father.
“Is he…?” I tried to ask.
Avian met my eyes and nodded his head.
“What happened?”
“They were out with the rehoming crew,” Royce said, his voice rough. “They were all cleaning a new building when the quake hit. The roof collapsed on them.”
“He bled out,” Avian said, his voice catching.
I squeezed my eyes closed, shaking my head.
“Where is Morgan?” I asked.
Avian pointed to a cot a ways away. She was curled into a ball around her slowly growing stomach. “She was hit too. It knocked her unconscious. She hasn’t woken up yet.”
“The baby?”
“We don’t know.”
I nodded, hugging my arms around me. “Will it be safe to go back inside the hospital?” I asked Royce. I couldn’t dwell on the death and despair any more.
“Elijah’s crew scouted it out. Everything looks okay,” Royce said. “We want to check it again in the morning. We thought it safest to give everything some time to settle.”
“Do you remember anything this time?” Avian asked me, walking around Eli’s cot, pulling me into his arms.
I shook my head. “Same as the last two times.”
“Once we get this all cleaned up Dr. Beeson will fix it,” Avian said, pressing his forehead to mine. “It looks like most of the equipment made it through. He’ll do what he does best.”
I nodded, biting my upper lip. I suddenly recalled the memories and nightmares I’d had in the Underground, the dreams. Dr. Beeson evaluating me and declaring I didn’t need an adjustment yet.
“Get some rest you two,” Royce said as he covered Eli with a blanket. “There isn’t much more you can do until morning.”
“What about you?” I asked Royce. There were dark bags beneath his eyes.
“Not now,” he said, shaking his head. “There will be no sleep for me tonight.”
I wanted to ask him more questions. I wanted to know if we’d be able to fix the Pulse. We needed to make plans. I wanted to know if everyone else had made it out of the hospital okay. But his eyes told me he was done with questions for the night.
“Come on,” Avian said, taking my hand and pulling me toward one of the fires.
We stopped in the firelight. Avian held his hands up to the flames to warm them. They were covered in blood.
“I’m going to try and go back to the tent tomorrow as soon as I can manage,” I said, a lump in my throat. “I’m going to need some of my stuff.”
Avian met my eyes with sadness. “When you’re this close to the coast and there’s an earthquake, often times the shore gets flooded. We’re lucky a tsunami didn’t rush in on us. There’s a good chance the tent isn’t there anymore.”
I squeezed my eyelids closed, my stomach feeling sick. There was nothing in it that was dire, nothing that I couldn’t find in this city elsewhere. Except for the picture of my mother.
“We’ll check though,” Avian said. He placed a finger on my chin. I opened my eyes to meet his. “It might still be there.”
I could only nod once again.
I didn’t sleep that night. Avian and I curled into each other on a blanket on the ground, never once letting go. While I listened to his steady breathing, I could only gaze out into the dark night.
My thoughts turned to West. I wondered if he was okay. Would Margaret hurt him? Turn him out onto the Bane-infested streets?
I could only pray that Tristan would be able to protect West like he promised.
But would West even want to come back with Tristan? He’d left New Eden willingly to try and get away from me. How was he really supposed to move on if he had to see Avian and me every day? I wouldn’t really be able to blame him if he didn’t want to come back.
Finally morning started growing in the horizon. I pressed a kiss to Avian’s forehead and went to see how I could help.
Avian’s patients slept, probably with the aid of some kind of medication. Morgan was still sleeping, her eyes moving rapidly beneath her eyelids. While I certainly didn’t want her to die, I almost wished for her to never have to wake up and find the love of her life and the father of her unborn child gone.
I was looking at Eli’s empty cot when Gabriel stopped silently at my side. I observed his face, saw the heavy bags beneath his eyes. He’d been up most of the night, if not all of it. I had little doubt it had been him that had buried Eli.
“It’s not fair,” I said, looking back to the cot. It was covered mostly with a blanket, but it had slipped off one corner, exposing the blood stains. “He survived the Bane this long. And then to be killed by a force of nature?”
Gabriel cleared his throat and swallowed heavily. “No it isn’t fair, but in a way it was a kind of beautiful way to die. Better to be claimed by nature than to be stolen by TorBane.”
“I suppose.”
By now the morning light had broken over the tops of buildings, calling everyone to wakefulness. I turned to see Avian roll over, his eyes searching the crowd. When he found me, a smile lit up his sleepy face.
This time I did manage to smile back.
Something moved in the corner of my eye. I looked over to see two figures down the street, moving slowly, struggling.
I took a few steps closer, squinting to see through the blinding sunlight.
“Tristan?” I said.
He looked up as I said his name. Then he and the figure at his side collapsed to the ground.
“West!”
I rushed toward them, at the same time Elijah, Nick, and Tuck did with guns pointed in their direction.
“No!” I shouted to them, waving a hand at them. “It’s okay. He’s a friend.”