Here, here, and there, wolves slid into the Mobius-strip spin of Change. Suddenly Lily realized someone was missing. She shoved to her feet and looked at the gate. No white-robed man lay sprawled in front of it now. “Friar,” she said urgently. “We’ve got to catch him.”
“Shit,” Rule said. “He’s got a radio transmitter that will set off explosives at Clanhome. Benedict—”
“S’okay,” Arjenie said fuzzily. She reached into her pocket and pulled out a small metal box. “I picked his pocket. After he told you that, I followed him and picked his pocket. Took out the batteries, too, to be safe.”
Relief swamped Lily. She felt dizzy, giddy, exhausted. “Okay. Okay, that’s good. Cynna was going to Find the explosives, but best if they don’t get triggered. No telling how long it might be taking her and Cody to get them removed.”
“Rule.” That was Cullen’s voice, strained. “We’ve got a problem.”
“What?”
Cullen was crouched, magnificently naked, where he’d fallen as wolf, staring at the vague distortion that marked the gate. “The gate. Rethna tampered with it for his ritual. He didn’t get it put back right. Almost, but not quite. It’s … ah, shit.” He sprang to his feet. “We’ve got to get out. We’ve got to get out now.”
FORTY-SEVEN
“LUCAS,” Rule snapped, “get Brian.” He came for Lily.
Benedict ran to Arjenie. Dya ran away—to the other end of the cavern. Lucas raced back into the cell. Rule scooped up Lily. “Shut up,” he said before she could protest. “I’m faster.”
“Dya!” Arjenie called as Benedict lifted her into his arms. “Dya, we have to get out!”
“The tears!” The little woman’s voice was high, childlike. “They’re here, they’re here!” She skidded to a halt by one of the chests and began trying frantically to open it. The lid didn’t budge.
Benedict handed Arjenie to José and ran to the other end of the room. Cullen dashed up to Rethna’s body, bent, and seized the black stone that had flashed every time Lily shot Rethna. He jerked it free, snapping the chain. Lucas emerged from the cell carrying a brown-haired man who seemed to be unconscious.
“Go!” Benedict shouted as he reached the frantic Dya. He pushed her small hands away. “Go, dammit!”
That’s all Lily saw. Rule took off. Behind him streamed the rest—José carrying Arjenie, Lucas carrying Brian, Cullen and Sammy on their own.
“Light!” Rule snapped as they entered the dark maw of the tunnel, and Cullen obliged with a mage light, far brighter than he’d used on their way in. They ran.
The slope was steep. Even Rule must have felt the strain of racing up it carrying Lily. For her part, she held on with one arm and grimly ignored the jolts of pain in her bad arm and listened desperately for footsteps coming up from behind.
She could hear nothing but their own party. She couldn’t force herself to ask if Rule heard him. But unless Benedict was much closer than she thought, he’d be coming up in the dark. “Cullen—can you set a mage light back there for—”
“I’ll try. They follow the caster,” Cullen said. “But I’ve set one behind me a couple hundred yards. He’ll see it. He can’t be too far behind.”
Rule asked, “What exactly is it we’re running from?”
“Gate energy’s oscillating, out of sync.” Unburdened and faster than the rest anyway, Cullen could have easily pulled ahead. He stayed beside Rule. “It’s going to blow. That will release a hellish amount of energy. I don’t know what will happen. Earthquake, maybe. Or suck half the mountain into the other realm, or shove matter from that realm here, or do some goddamn thing I’ve never heard of.”
“Friar,” Lily said suddenly. “I don’t know if he had a gun.”
“We should have seen him,” Rule said, “if he came this way, but … Sammy. Take rear guard. Cullen, pull ahead and deal with him if you see him.”
Cullen nodded and put on more speed. His mage light bobbled, but stayed with them even as Cullen vanished into the darkness ahead.
They ran. And ran.
The first part of the tunnel was either natural or had been dug much longer ago, and not by modern equipment. They reached the part Friar had added to join it to his house without seeing Friar, Friar’s body, or Cullen. Without seeing or hearing Benedict, either.
Rule was breathing hard and streaming with sweat when they reached the end, where a simple wooden ladder led up to the trapdoor. He set Lily down. She swayed—no, it was the earth that swayed. Quake, tremor, call it what you like—
“Go!”
She didn’t waste time arguing about who went first, but climbed as fast as she could. Cullen’s face appeared in the square of light at the top. “No one here,” he said. “Hurry.”
She did. He hauled her up as she reached the top, set her on her feet outside the broom closet, and gave her a shove. “Keep going, dammit, you can’t do a thing to help.”
“He’s not coming. He’s sending the others up.” She could feel Rule, motionless, at the bottom of the ladder.
The floor shuddered beneath her.
“Give him this one goddamn thing and get out of here!” Cullen snarled.
He was right. She forced herself to move. Pushed it into a run and pelted out of Friar’s beautiful, empty house, stopping when she reached the car. No keys. She wanted to laugh. No goddamn keys, because they were in her purse, which was back in the house.
Lucas came running out carrying Brian. “How far,” he gasped, “are we supposed to go?”
“I don’t know.” She wasn’t going one step more without Rule.
Then José emerged with Arjenie. And Sammy and Cullen—and hard on his heels, Rule.
The earth groaned almost silently. Behind Friar’s house, the mountain began to move—earth and rock shearing off, beginning to slide down.
“He’s coming,” Arjenie said frantically. “He’s coming. I feel him.”
Where were the militia guys? Calvin Brewster and his sergeant? Lily didn’t see anyone.
The earth growled. And shook, and kept shaking. Lily fell. Lucas went to his knees, hastily setting Brian down. Cullen stumbled. José fell, Arjenie pitching out of his arms. Rule broadened his stance and stood, staring at the house …
Which twisted, groaning like a huge beast in pain. The lights winked out. Part of the second story collapsed. The earth rolled beneath Lily like it was liquid.
Benedict ran out the front door, weaving on the unsteady stone of the veranda like a surfer riding a wave. He leaped—and landed on grassy lawn just as the house shrieked and groaned hugely. The rest of the second story and most of the first collapsed in a horrendous crash. Dust billowed in the moonlit night.
A few feet from the disaster, Benedict sank to his knees, spent. Only then did Lily see Dya. She’d ridden his back like a child, clinging to his neck with one arm. Her other arm clutched a small satchel tightly.
Arjenie burst into tears and limped toward them.
The earth grew quiet.
Dya climbed off Benedict’s back. “This is a brave man,” she said solemnly to her sister as Arjenie reached them. “He says he is yours.”
“Yes,” Arjenie said, sinking to the ground and holding out one hand to Dya—her other arm still hung limp—and leaning in to kiss Benedict lightly. “Yes, he is.”
He gathered her close.
For a moment there was only the groan and crash as the debris that had been a house settled. Lily pushed to her feet, needing Rule.
“Rule,” Lucas said quietly. “We’re losing him.”
Lily moved the few steps to where Brian lay on the ground. Rule got there first. As Lily sank down beside him he was trying to take Bryan’s pulse at the wrist. He abandoned that to lay his ear directly on Brian’s chest … which was rising and falling in quick jerks. Distressed breathing. Not a good sign.