“A shame Jennifer can’t join us,” he told the crippled Evangelina, the helpless Dianna, and the unseen Eddie. “How convenient for her that she never found a way out. She doesn’t have to face me—she and her mother can send their pals, and if you die, what do they care? Have they bothered to mourn Xavier Longtail? Any funeral in there for Eddie’s dad? Cripes, the ceremony for Mr. Scales was, what, five minutes in a potato field? Five minutes more than Mr. Blacktooth got, anyway.
“And I’ll bet Jennifer didn’t even think twice when a thousand or so of her new best friends got on the wrong side of my tidal sorcery. That’s a whole misty subspecies, folks. Gone. And her buddy Susan didn’t even do a blog entry on it.” He glared into the foggy woods where Eddie was, and pointed at the river. What might have been tears—of frustration, or regret—welled in his eyes. “They came to help her, Eddie. Like you come to help her. I don’t blame you. I tried to help her, more than once. And she never gave a crap.” He kicked at the sparkling pavement. “She won’t care about you, either, no matter how hard I make you bleed. And I will make you bleed, Eddie. You’ll bleed, and you’ll hurt, and she won’t care. Did she care about a single one of those water balloons with wings? Did she even bother to learn their powers, try to join them, and risk her own life alongside theirs? I killed every single one of those watery motherfuckers, and—”
“Missed one.”
A patch of fog behind him gathered instantaneously into the shape of the Ancient Furnace. A sparkling wing claw came up and grazed him on the back of the neck, as she breathed vapor over his spine. Ice crinkled his skin too rapidly for him to act. An expression of surprise froze on his face, and his arms hung in midair.
“It’s the weirdest thing,” she explained as she shifted from dragon to human. “Every lurker knows how to self-vaporize. It’s like riding a bicycle, for them. It was so hard for me to figure out that bicycle. In fact, I didn’t have it down until about twenty minutes ago.
“But the elder skill, the one that’s supposed to be hard to learn”—she flicked an ice chunk off his nose—“well, I got the hang of that right away. Only needed to see Sonakshi demonstrate it once in the hospital parking lot. Maybe it’s the winter weather that made it so easy to pull the last bit of heat out of the water within you.”
The circular void around Dianna disappeared. Evangelina managed to straighten herself after reaching into her corona with a spindly claw, extracting the arrow from wherever it hit, and tossing it into the river behind her. An oak tree to the south rustled with the sounds of a teenaged boy scrambling down. Jennifer found herself exhaling a breath she hadn’t thought she’d been holding.
“The air smells fresher out here,” she observed. She lifted the collar of her jacket. “Colder, too. You might be like this for a while, Skip. Though I only need long enough to shove these into your heart.” Two daggers appeared before Skip’s glazed brown irises. “What do you think? Can all the poison in the world thaw you in time to save your own ass?”
Dianna and Evangelina advanced. Neither of them made a move to stop her.
“End of monologue. Good-bye, Skip. Fuck you for killing my father.”
“NO, JENNIFER!”
Jennifer sighed and rested the points of the blades against Skip’s stiff breastbone. “Mom. He deserves this.”
“I forgive him. I forgive him, and I want to help him.”
This got her daughter to look up. “Mom! How could you! He killed Dad! He killed all those other people! He even killed Andi, who at least said she was sorry! He’s not sorry.”
Elizabeth bit her lip and looked at her through the barrier, a world away. “Jennifer, don’t you get it? This is our chance to destroy the dome.”
“Seems to me like killing Skip is our best shot at that.”
“If you kill him, it will never come down. Think about it, Jennifer. Edmund wanted sacrifice, and he got that. He wanted Glory dead, and he got that. He wanted Skip protected, and he’s got that.”
“Sounds like a dead guy’s getting all he wants. When’s my turn?”
“It’s about what you give, Jennifer. Forgiveness. Edmund Slider cared about that, too. We have to forgive.”
Turning to look at the icy statue of Skip, Elizabeth relaxed, took a deep breath . . . and walked forward.
Ten steps later, she was through.
The shimmering barrier disappeared, leaving behind a ruined town that suddenly seemed to breathe in. The river’s current shifted, the trees bent inward, and the sunlight played longer on the rooftops.
The doctor kept walking, until she was in front of Jennifer and Skip.
“Mom . . . how?”
“I realized, as Andi was dying, that Edmund cared about three things. First, he wanted this town to experience sacrifice. It has certainly done that. Second, he wanted Skip to reach his potential.” She nodded at the moon. “Check. And third, he wanted a different Winoka. He wanted a town that was built on forgiveness, instead of retaliation. It’s the only logical kind of civilization . . . and Slider was all about logic.”
Jennifer shook her head. “We’ve been trying to pass through this wall for months. You can just walk through it, and it’s gone?”
“Listen to me, Jennifer. I couldn’t walk through it before I lost something precious—even more precious than Glory had been to me. And I couldn’t walk through it until I had forgiven that enemy. Your father’s death, the seraph’s sacrifice, Skip being at our mercy—these all had to happen. Without that sequence, we’d still be stuck.”
“So we just forgive Skip, and it’s all over?” Jennifer looked warily at where the barrier used to be, as if it would reappear at any moment. “That sounds too simple, Mom.”
“Then why has no one tried it? We’ve thrown fists and shot bullets and even wheeled minivans into that dome. No one on the inside, who has lost what you and I have lost, has tried forgiving anyone else.”
“I haven’t forgiven anyone.”
“But I have. It only takes one. That’s all Edmund needed to see: a glimmer of hope. A touch of humanity.”
“And he killed all those people.”
“He killed no one. He isolated us, and left us to make our own choices.”
“Mom. You can’t seriously expect this is over. Things like this are always more complicated. Dad died. Skip killed him. You can’t just walk across a bridge, and say it’s okay, and, and—”
“What did you expect, Jennifer—that we’d have to toss a magic ring in a volcano, or find little bits of someone’s soul spread out over town and crush them with a glowing hammer? Would those things really be harder than what I have done here right now? I’m human, honey. Part of me still wants to see you shove those blades into that kid’s chest. But I can’t let you. That’s not your destiny. That’s not the solution. That’s not how the real world has to work.”
“I know how the real world has to work. Bad people like Skip hurt others. Good people like you and me punish the bad people. That’s justice. That’s my destiny.”
“Jennifer, honey. Put down the knives.”
Waking from a gray dream, Jennifer looked at the weapons in her hands. Her fingers began to tremble.
“Kill him, Jennifer!” Dianna sounded desperate. “You must, before he thaws. Look at the moon.”
Through the haze, the dark jade disk above began to yield, on one side, the slimmest crescent of brilliant emerald light.
“We’re running out of time!”
“Yes, Dianna, we’re running out of time.” Elizabeth’s voice remained calm. “We’ve been running out of time since the dome went up. Since before that, really. That’s the excuse people like you have always used: if we don’t kill now, when on earth might we get the chance again? Hurry, and kill, hurry and kill. Has that gotten us anything? Did that bring down the dome?”
“Your daughter brought down the dome, when she froze Skip.” Dianna approached with an exasperated expression. “Please, Jennifer! Protect us all! Finish the job!”
&nb
sp; Jennifer bit her lip. “What if she’s right? I’ll never get the chance to stop him again,” she told her mother. “What else can we do?”
“Let me take him back to the hospital. We’ll keep him frozen for a while. We’ll talk. I’ll bet you and I will come up with something.”
Jennifer looked around at the clear sky. The dome was gone. It was a miracle. Her mother’s miracle—that much was obvious, whatever Dianna said.
“I want to believe you so much, Mom.”
“Then believe, honey.”
Her mother’s hand caressed her hair, and Jennifer felt a peace she hadn’t felt in months. Maybe years.
“Okay, Mom. Let’s take him back.”
The peace deepened inside. She knew she had made the right choice.
Then the missiles slammed into the bridge.
CHAPTER 47
Susan
Susan knew three things about Apache helicopters.
First, she knew that the AH-64A was a tank- killer when first designed and constructed. They each had an array of Hellfire missiles, Hydra rockets, and Stinger missiles that worked together effectively against air or ground targets. They also each had a thirty- millimeter cannon slaved to the aircrew’s helmets: where they looked, the weapon would fire. They were truly amazing military hardware.
Second, she knew an Apache battalion came with nearly twenty Apaches and about half as many Kiowas, which were scouts that often laser-painted the Apaches’ targets. The Apaches could then remain hidden behind terrain and still attack the painted target with Hellfire missiles. Her father had explained this to her one Thanksgiving dinner years ago, using a turkey drumstick as an Apache, a spoonful of cranberry sauce as the Kiowa, and a mound of mashed potatoes for terrain. The unfortunate target was Susan’s own pile of dressing, which had too many pieces of chopped celery. Watching the cranberry-painted, vegetable-infested concoction “destroyed” by the hidden Apache drumstick under her mother’s barely tolerant gaze had made a deep and favorable impression on Susan. Celery, her father had explained with mock seriousness, simply does not recover from that sort of firepower.
Third, she knew her dad was an excellent pilot and that he would almost certainly be in the first wave of Apaches to secure the town of Winoka, once the barrier came down.
Ruddaduddaduddaruddaduddadudda
She heard the sound while sitting at Gautierre’s hospital bedside. He was sleeping peacefully, though the bruises and burns on his face would take time to heal. Certainly, she was calculating, watching his mother die at the hands of his girlfriend will have an even longer recovery period. Is that what Skip had to deal with, after Jennifer killed his father? Is Gautierre Longtail the next Skip Wilson?
Ruddaduddaduddaruddaduddadudda
She recognized the sound immediately and looked out the window. The first thing she noticed was the clear sky full of stars.
No blue tinge. It took a moment to process. No blue tinge. No Big Blue! The dome is down!
“Gautierre!” She shook him awake. He started, and she spared him an apologetic look as she pointed. “Look! It’s gone! The dome is gone. Jennifer did it!”
Ruddaduddaduddaruddaduddadudda
He sat up and smiled at the untainted sky. “Maybe we should get in a car and bug out of this town.”
She considered the idea. What if they’ve only interrupted the sorcery—not stopped it? We’re going to feel like first-class asses if we get trapped twice. Why not get to an outside, fully supplied hospital?
Two things stopped her. First, she wasn’t so sure any hospital out there would be better than the one where Dr. Georges-Scales was in charge, supplies or no. Second, those choppers would be the first wave of the military force that would come in, secure the town, and evacuate anyone in need of medical assistance.
We don’t need to go anywhere. Help is coming to us.
Ruddaduddaduddaruddaduddadudda
She could see them now—three of them, anyway. The twilight made them hard to define precisely, but she was pretty sure they were Kiowas.
“They’re coming this way,” she told Gautierre. “Their recon’s been pretty good—they must have seen people coming in and out of here for months. They’ll know this is a good place to—”
Several thundering explosions rocked the entire building. The lights went out, and Susan could hear screaming from down the hallway.
How could they? They saw my blogs. I told them all about the suffering in here. I introduced them to dragons, to beaststalkers, to all of it . . . and all they want to do is destroy it?! And Dad is leading them!
The feeling of betrayal reeled her senses, but not so badly that she couldn’t keep her feet. She staggered to Gautierre’s bed and began disconnecting his IV.
“Change of plan, babe. Let’s blow this fucking town.”
CHAPTER 48
Jennifer
“Get off the bridge! Get off the bridge!”
Dianna and Evangelina slipped out of the third dimension, leaving Elizabeth and Jennifer to drag Skip’s frozen body off the creaking bridge. The volley of explosions had blasted the underside of the span, sending chunks of asphalt and steel plummeting into the Mississippi. Eddie, once again on the wrong side of the bridge, was forced to run back to the eastern bank.
Pieces of the arch support over their heads were hanging loose, and Jennifer could feel the entire western half swaying back and forth. She shifted into dragon shape and lifted Skip-sicle the rest of the way so that her mother could focus on running.
They barely reached the western abutment when a horrific screech of metal against metal signaled the death of Winoka Bridge. The entire span plunged downward with a cascade of roaring splashes. The river consumed the lower material without difficulty, but the higher bits of the arch stuck in its craw and poked out like broken teeth from a watery grin.
Somewhere to the north, another several explosions rumbled.
“That sounds like the hospital,” Elizabeth muttered.
“What’s going on?” Jennifer asked.
Ruddaduddaduddaruddaduddadudda
Even with her excellent dragon vision, Jennifer could not spot the helicopters at first. Their anti- infrared shielding and low flight paths shrouded their approach. When she did spot them, she cursed.
There were at least ten of them slipping through the river valley, some larger than the others. They popped up fewer than two hundred yards away, pointed their rockets at the electricity substation on the riverbank, and let loose with a new storm of rockets. Moments later, the lights began blinking out across Winoka.
“Mom. They’re going to destroy the town.”
“I can’t believe that, honey.” In the dwindling light, Elizabeth’s despair was still visible. “I see it, but I can’t believe it.”
“We can’t let them do this.”
“Agreed. How do we stop them?”
You could try forgiving them.
“Evangelina, that sort of sarcasm doesn’t help—”
Fine. Let’s move to action. We must destroy them.
Jennifer and Elizabeth looked at each other. Was Evangelina right? Did they have no choice?
Surely, this time, you will not argue. Surely, this time, you see the only possible path.
“You don’t have to leave it to her.” They turned, surprised, to hear Dianna say this. Her hands glowed with golden energy. “You can pursue them and deal with them in any way you like. Maybe you can find a less violent way to stop them than what my daughter has in mind.”
Mother. You’re interfering. I’ve had time to heal, and I am hungry.
“Daughter. Stand still and listen. This is not our town. This is not our legacy. Those it belongs to need our help. Let’s give them a chance.”
Evangelina’s legs twitched. Then she was gone.
Dianna sighed. “You will have to move quickly if you want a different outcome from what she has in mind. You won’t be able to save all of them—but maybe you’ll be able to save some of them.”
r /> “Save them? Have you seen them? According to my friend Susan, they top out at one hundred eighty miles per hour and have heat-seeking missiles, among other fabulous blow-uppy stuff. Perhaps you saw them take out the bridge we almost died on. Ms. Wilson, I don’t think saving them is going to be a problem. I think catching them is going to be a problem. I think not dying is going to be a problem.”
“What can you do to help us?” Elizabeth asked.
Dianna raised her glowing hands and motioned at Jennifer. “I can make her faster.”
Jennifer licked her lips. “How much faster?”
“Fast enough. You could take your mother with you. Perhaps together, you will find a way to disable one or more of the helicopters.”
Another volley of missiles smashed into the center of town. Jennifer figured it was the armory, an opinion confirmed by a rapid succession of subsequent explosions.
“Faster.” With a single word and a burning touch, Dianna transferred a jolt of energy through the limbs of the Ancient Furnace. Jennifer immediately marveled at how slow the rest of the world seemed to be going. Let’s race, she told everyone and everything she could see. Let’s race race race!
She turned to her mother. “Ready!”
“Jennifer, honey.” Her mother was clearly torn. “I can’t go with you. I need to get to others, form some sort of defense. They’re going to come after the hospital.”
Now Jennifer was racing her own fear, which seemed disturbingly up to the task. “How will I do this alone?”
Her mother motioned across the river. “You don’t have to. Take Eddie. Take out as many as you can, hurting as few as possible.”
“What if I don’t have a choice?”
“I trust you, Jennifer. Make the best choices you can. It’s all anyone can do.”
Suddenly, a helicopter over their heads spun out of control and careened into a building. The resulting fireball lit up the streetscape enough for them to make out a shadow of a dragon slipping away, looking for its next kill.