“You told her wrong.” Solon studied the lachrymatory in his fist. He slipped it inside his robe pocket. “Coming for the Tearline girl himself. Hiding somewhere in these mountains. One must admire Atlas’s commitment. It is essential, Eureka, that you keep your distance from him until you are prepared.”
“Obviously,” Eureka said, but she looked down at her plate so they wouldn’t see her eyes. If Atlas was here, Brooks was here. If he was here, she could still save him.
“If he’s here,” Ander said, “we have to kill him.”
“No one is touching Brooks,” Eureka said.
“Brooks is gone,” Ander said, and looked to Solon. “Tell her.”
“For now, the boy you knew still exists inside his body,” Solon said, “but once one is taken by Atlas, there is no way out. Were you sentimental about this mortal coil?”
“He’s my best friend.”
“Eureka.” Ander reached for her hand. “When you shed the first two tears in your backyard, what were you crying about?”
“It’s complicated. It wasn’t just one thing.”
But it wasn’t complicated at all. It was the simplest thing. She’d been thinking about a pecan tree in Sugar’s backyard. Her mind had climbed the branches, searching for Brooks. He was always there in her happiest childhood memories, always laughing, always making her laugh.
Eureka realized Ander already knew what she was about to say. “I cried because I thought he was gone.”
“And you were right”—Solon raised his glass—“so let’s move on.”
“That was before I saw him swimming toward me this morning,” Eureka said. “As long as Brooks’s body exists, as long as his lungs still draw breath and his heart still beats, I won’t give up on my friend.”
“Your friend is but a tool now,” Solon said. “Atlas will use the boy’s memories to manipulate you. When he is done, he will take the boy’s soul with him.”
No. There had to be a way to stop the world’s worst enemy without ending her best friend. “What if I refuse to go to the Marais altogether? I’ll stay here until the full moon wanes, and Atlas will have to go back to the Sleeping World. He’ll leave Brooks’s body and go home.”
“That’s no better than Ander’s absurd idea to kill Brooks. Atlas’s mind would return to Atlantis. On his way he will discard your friend’s body and steal his soul,” Solon said. “In either case, you would be avoiding the one thing you must do. You must face Atlas. You must destroy the Evil One.”
“But Eureka has a point,” Ander said. “Under your cave’s glaze she would be safe from the Seedbearers and Atlas. Why can’t we just ride out the storm until he sinks again?”
“Just kick the can down the road to the next Tearline girl?” Solon said. “And leave this world rotting with wasted dead while you’re at it?”
Shame washed over Eureka. She had started this rise. She would finish it once and for all. “Solon is right. This ends with me.”
“Now, there’s the girl Diana spoke of.” Solon’s eyes filled with boyish excitement.
Eureka studied the smoothness of his skin, the youthfulness of his dyed leopard-spotted hair, the vivid brightness of his pale blue eyes. But Solon was exiled from the Seedbearers seventy-five years ago. Nothing made sense anymore.
“Why aren’t you old?” The question escaped her before she realized it was rude.
Solon set down his mug and cast a wide-eyed gaze at Ander. “Do you want to field this one?”
“We should be talking about Eureka’s preparation to go to the Marais, not—”
“Not what?” Solon asked, beginning to stack their plates. “Your secret?”
“What secret?” Eureka asked.
“Don’t do this,” Ander said.
“It won’t take a minute. I have the story well rehearsed.” Solon grinned, gathering silverware from the table. “You really want to know how I stay so vibrantly young?”
“Yes,” Eureka said.
“Monkey glands. Injected straight into the—”
Eureka groaned. “I’m not kidding, Solon—”