I strode the two steps across to hug her. “They don’t know the power we hold either. The original seven beat them once, and their blood runs within our veins. It’s our responsibility now. We can do this.”
Look at me go; I had this pep-talking business down. Almost convinced myself there. Thankfully there were no more freak-outs. The girls pulled themselves together, and without thought we all reached out and linked hands. Delane was back on the ground now. She fell onto the end next to Sapha.
“Let’s do this, girls.”
Together, as a single unit of power, we strode through the trees and out to meet the Seventine. At our backs were the sacred animals plus Josian, Samuel and Quarn. The last year of our lives would boil down to this very moment. The moment we met the Seventine on the battlefield.
And we all knew only one group would survive.
Chapter 15
Either my ears had stopped working, or a hush fell across the crowds as we emerged into the open. The zombie forms still lingered in front of the crater, but they too were frozen in suspended motion. Like weird, ghoulish, skin-peeling, flesh-exposed, undead statues.
The Seventine had their army on pause, and I wasn’t sure I wanted to find out why. I blinked, and then somehow Brace was at my side. As I clashed eyes with his chocolate depths and ran my gaze over the perfect planes of his face, I actually calmed. His presence was reassuring and I was girl enough to admit that he made me even stronger. I was strong on my own, but with Brace I felt badass.
Heads-up, Red. When the Seventine released their last brother, Que’s cage was blasted open.
He used the bond, keeping our conversation private.
What happened? I asked as we continued to pick our way across the battlefield.
I knew I shouldn’t be focusing on anything but the battle right then, but this information was important.
That’s why I was gone so long. My commanders were filling me in, and I was trying to find my father. The cage has been here on First World since we left Abernath, our men continued trying to open it, but the energy was too strong. Then right when the Seventine broke free from the prison, there was an explosion of light. Three of our men were blasted away, and by the time they managed to pull themselves together, the tank was destroyed and Que was gone.
I could tell that when he’d said “pull themselves together” he meant literally. The images were not pretty. One had lost an arm; the other had his face partially torn off. Luckily they were Walkers and could eventually regenerate, but still – not pleasant. Brace had sent them across to the medic ward.
So, somehow Que’s cage and the release of the Seventine were linked. How was it linked?
It would have required an incredible amount of energy to release the final Seventine. It seems they had drawn from Earth’s shield, something on Spurn, the joining of us half-Walkers and also – maybe Que’s tank.
Que’s tank was designed to contain more energy than could be gathered in a hundred years. Maybe all of that power gathered from Earth’s transference cage was stored in the tank. Que had it sitting in his little experiment room just storing all that power until it was needed. For many years.
So how did Que end up inside it then? Regenerating and gathering original energy.
Brace’s pause felt extended, but it was really only seconds. I think the tank was supposed to just be an energy storage device for the Seventine. But Que always has a backup plan. He must have had it rigged to sense his essence. That way, if anything happened to him, he wouldn’t disperse into the universe. The tank would retrieve his energy and regeneration would be fast.
It was as good a theory as any. Que always had a plan A, B and C.
Movement caught my eye, and Brace and I stopped our guesswork. We had to focus now.
There was one more thing, though. Where are Lucy and Colton?
They’re on their way. Took Lucy a while to escape her parents. They’re laying down a heavy load of overprotectiveness on her now.
Colton would be loving that. It was a full-time job trying to keep that pixie out of trouble.
We got this, baby, Brace said finally.
His mental presence then faded out, resting in that small corner of my mind he always occupied. Just like with Quarn, Samuel and Josian – only a million times more – I wanted to push Brace away, make him go where he would be safe from the wrath of the Seventine.
But there was no way he would leave me, and I wouldn’t insult him by acting like he wasn’t strong enough to be here. Of any Walker, Brace was the one who could handle the Seventine. There was a reason he’d been the only one strong enough to house the first.
Plus a small part of me was terrified to face the Seventine. I wasn’t sure how I’d even react when I saw them for the first time. They would have their bodies now. They were no longer spirits.