“He’s awake,” Sanjit said.
“You think?” Virtue snapped between gasps for air.
“How do you feel, little dude?” Sanjit asked him.
“My head hurts,” Bowie said. “And I want some water.”
“Good timing,” Sanjit muttered.
They had reached the edge of the cliff. The rope was still where he and Virtue had left it the other day. “Okay, Choo, you go down first. I’ll lower the kids down to you one by one.”
“I’m scared,” Peace said.
Sanjit lowered Bowie to the ground and flexed his cramped fingers. “Okay, listen up, all of you.”
They did. Somewhat to Sanjit’s surprise. “Listen: we’re all scared, okay? So no one needs to keep reminding me. You’re scared, I’m scared, we’re all scared.”
“You’re scared, too?” Peace asked him.
“Peeless,” Sanjit said. “But sometimes life gets tough and scary, okay? We’ve all been scary places before. But here we are, right? We’re all still here.”
“I want to stay here,” Pixie said. “I can’t leave my dolls.”
“We’ll come back for t
hem another time,” Sanjit said.
He knelt down, wasting precious seconds, waiting for the cold-eyed mutant creep Caine to step out of the house any moment. “Kids. We are a family, right? And we stick together, right?”
No one seemed too sure of that.
“And we survive together, right?” Sanjit pressed.
Long silence. Long stares.
“That’s right,” Virtue said at last. “Don’t worry, you guys. It’s going to be okay.”
He almost seemed to believe it.
Sanjit wished he did.
Astrid could feel the arteries and veins and tendons in Nerezza’s neck. She could feel the way the blood hammered trying to reach Nerezza’s brain. The way the muscles twisted.
She felt Nerezza’s windpipe convulsing. Her entire body was jerking now, a wild spasm, organs frantic for oxygen, nerves twitching as Nerezza’s brain sent out frantic panic signals.
Astrid’s hands squeezed. Her fingers dug in, like she was trying to form fists and Nerezza’s neck was just kind of in the way and if she just squeezed hard enough—
“No!” Astrid gasped.
She released. She stood up fast, backed away, stared in horror at Nerezza as the girl choked and sucked air.
They were almost alone in the plaza. Mary had led the littles away at a run, and it had signaled a full-fledged panic that drew almost everyone in her wake. Everyone was pelting toward the beach. Astrid saw their backs as they ran.
And then she saw the unmistakable silhouette that sauntered after them.
He might almost have been anyone, any tall, thin boy. If not for the whip that curled in the air and wrapped caressingly around his body and uncurled to snap and crack.
Drake laughed.