With a delirious cry of relief, she released the tempis and fell back into Mia’s arms. Amanda never had a chance to see the van. For all she knew, her other little sister had flown in on angel wings.
David supported Amanda’s legs as Mia pulled her into the van. Hannah kept her eyes squinted shut, reeling with perplexity as someone seized her by the armpits.
“What’s happening? Who’s got me?”
“I do,” said Zack.
The actress cracked a dizzy laugh. “Oh my God. I want to kiss you so much. Is everyone else okay? Theo?”
“I’m here,” Theo said from the front. “We’re all here.”
“I knew it. I knew you’d find us.”
He smiled exhaustedly. “I knew you’d know.”
The cube of light vanished, leaving eight cops and six Deps fumbling helplessly on the concrete. Melissa uncovered her eyes and rushed to the railing. Even half-blind, she had no trouble recognizing the driver.
“Peter, don’t do this. You have more to lose than they do. You have a son!”
David cast a sphere of light around Melissa’s head. She fell to her knees, grimacing.
The door slid closed. Peter floored the accelerator. He bounced a baleful glare at David through the mirror.
“Goddamn it, boy. You didn’t have to do that.”
“She’ll recover.”
“I’m talking about the whole thing. What was that light you used? Was that the Cataclysm?”
“It was, in fact.”
Peter pounded the wheel. “Jesus Christ! You ghost the Cataclysm on Commemoration, right on top of a goddamn building? People probably saw it for miles! They’ll be talking about it for months!”
David leered at him in umbrage. “I did what I had to.”
“You could’ve used darkness on them. You could’ve stunned them with noise. I know you folks are new to this world, but there are consequences—”
“Hey!” Zack shot forward in his seat, his face flushed with rage. “We almost died because of your instructions! You don’t get to lecture him. And when your people stop trying to kill us, maybe then we’ll give a shit about protecting their secrets. Until then, fuck them and fuck you.”
Hannah sat between David and Zack, her hands clutched tensely on their thighs. She felt like she missed a year of plot development. She wasn’t even sure who was flying the van.
Theo held up a diplomatic palm. “Look, we’re all shaken up right now. Can we just—”
“Oh no!”
Everyone followed Mia’s gaze out the window. Two sleek blue police cruisers flew along the Seeker’s left side while another kept pace to the right. A pair of flashing aerocycles rode up the rear.
Theo’s mind spun with helpless flurry. This aerial chase was a whole new wrinkle. His counterparts in the God’s Eye had gotten away scot-free.
He looked to Peter. “What now?”
The Irishman aimed a tight scowl out the windshield. “It’s okay. They won’t get us.”
“How do you know?”
“Because you haven’t seen what I can do.” He heaved a loud, woeful breath. “This won’t be subtle either.”
Seven stomachs lurched as Peter pulled the Seeker into a sharp ascent. He leveled out and looped to the left, steering them back toward the buildings of Battery Place. Despite everything her senses told her, Amanda couldn’t accept the nitty-gritty, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang details of her current existence. She was flying. Over the city. In an automobile.
Hannah nervously scanned the police vehicles. “They’re shifted. You can’t outrun them.”
Peter studied her in the mirror. “Which pretty sister are you?”
She narrowed her eyes suspiciously. “Hannah.”
“Figured. You’re already thinking like a born swifter. It’s not always about speed, hon.” He turned to Theo. “I’m afraid I’m gonna have to ask you for a little advance on trust.”
“What do you need?”
“When I give the word, you hold the wheel and keep it steady, no matter what.”
“Why? What are you—”
He steered the van on a crash course with a fifty-story skyscraper, the only conventional box tower on Battery Place. A plane of mirrored glass panels lined the front.
Peter closed his eyes and pressed his fingers to his temples. “Okay. Now. Hold it tight.”
Theo leaned over and grabbed the wheel. “Wait! What are you doing?”
“Just trust me, Theo. Keep us steady.”
Melissa lay on the roof, her wrist pressed over her flash-burned eyes. She listened intently to the police radio as they described the impending collision. He wouldn’t. He’s not crazy.
Theo forced the same thought while he struggled to hold the van on course. His foresight had fled him like an ejected jet pilot. He couldn’t see a thing beyond the growing wall in front of them.
The Silvers kept their frozen eyes forward. Hannah locked arms with David. Amanda and Mia clasped hands. The widow threw a frantic gaze over her shoulder at Zack. He reached forward as far as he could. She closed the gap with tempis. Pink and white fingers entwined.
The van was ten feet from the building when Mia screamed and Peter’s glowing eyes shot open.