“You know them better than me,” Rainbow said, “but these are the people who tossed me in a cell, chased us with helicopters, and trapped us with a net, which ended with a nine-story fall, so, you know. I don’t love this idea.”
“Whoa,” Tara said.
“I don’t expect any of you to come with,” I said. “But you’re right. I do know them. And right now, we want the same thing.”
Torrance climbed out of the ambulance near the clinic. The streetlights reflected off her round glasses and turned her platinum-blond hair white.
“Look, I gotta . . .” I gestured vaguely toward the ambulance and took off. An annoying limp slowed me down, but I reached the clinic right as Torrance opened the front door.
“Hazel! How’s your leg?”
“So-so. What’s with the ambulance?”
“I requested it from a private clinic two towns over, to transport Ha—Alpha—to the West Asherton facilities.”
The very place Alpha had escaped from, and the last place she wanted to return to.
I must’ve flinched, because Torrance added, “I know. But we need to monitor her health and keep her comatose until this is all wrapped up. It’s safest for her, and for everyone else. If there’s still a link between her and the remaining trolls and they try to follow her, better they come to us. But listen, I just got an update on—”
“I’m coming back in,” I said.
“—the rift, and—” Her eyes lit up. “You are? Oh, thank God. I was about to try to convince you.”
“What did you hear about the rift?”
“It’s, um.”
“Bad?” I prompted.
“Unfortunately, yes. My colleagues detected a pattern. They’re making progress on identifying where the rift will reopen next. It’s going to expand further. Worse than before. Much worse.” Torrance moistened her lips. “That’s why we really need you for further studying. Let me call in your decision.”
“I want to visit my dad before we do anything else,” I said.
“I’ll ask Director Facet.” She peered past me. I turned to see the other Hazels and Tara approaching from the field.
“So,” Rainbow said, chin raised. “How much room does that ambulance have for tagalongs?”
The faces behind her were nervous and smiling. I couldn’t help but smile, too. I would’ve done this alone. I really would have.
But I was impossibly glad that I didn’t have to.
“We’ll make it work,” Torrance said. “I know this is a difficult decision. I’ll do what I can to protect you and make sure you’re treated well. Let me help bring Alpha out to the ambulance. We’ll talk more after.”
She smiled in relief, then disappeared inside.
“Is there anything I can do?” Tara asked. “I feel like I crashed your party. And then that party had, like, cops and parents showing up, and apparently those cops are omnipotent bureaucratic bastards happy to see the world destroyed if it means less paperwork? Also? It’s starting to hit me that I was standing next to an actual dragon, like, two seconds ago. A dragon. I love dragons! This is so cool.”
She looked at Neven across the field with starry-eyed adoration.
Rainbow leaned into me and whispered, “She’s itching to draw Neven.”
I hid a grin. “Thanks, Tara, but the MGA probably wouldn’t even let you onto the lawn.”
“And you heard what the Power said,” Red added. “We need to do this ourselves.”
“Makes sense.” Tara scratched her head. “Maybe I’ll see you sometime? You can come back for Dickens Day in Wellsboro.”
“Maybe,” I said, distracted. “Sorry. I need to talk to Neven.” I made my way back across the field. A cold gust whirled past me, and I hunched, increasing my stride despite the ache in my leg.
Neven met me halfway.
“The others are joining me in West Asherton,” I said.
“I’m aware.” Neven stretched, catlike. “If you want me with you, then I’m with you. But to be frank, I don’t think I can be much help if I’m locked up, and if I fly anywhere near Philadelphia, that’ll happen within a matter of minutes. Those helicopters were everywhere.” Her upper lip curled in disgust. “I never used to have to deal with helicopters. This dimension is terrible.”
“I’ll take your word for it.” I hesitated. “I don’t want to leave you. I just really think we need the MGA’s help.”
She bumped my shoulder with her nose. “You’re doing good.”
I smiled wanly.
“Be smart. Be brave.”
I tried not to let my fear seep into my voice. “I’ll have to be, to close an interdimensional rift without equipment, magic, knowledge, or skills.” I had so many questions, but I knew Neven wouldn’t—couldn’t—answer them.
“You’re the Chosen One. That’s not entirely meaningless.” Neven drew her head back. Her wings spread. “Good luck.”
I watched her leave. A familiar panic bloomed in my chest. Shit, can’t turn back now, you probably forgot something and it’s going to mess up everything, you can’t do this alone—
But I was used to that panic.
I was used to hiding it, too.
I turned back toward the others.
Time to go home.
CHAPTER FORTY-FOUR
There was a way to close the rift.
That much I knew, or neither Neven nor the Power would be wasting their time on us.
There is a way, I repeated to myself, a mantra as we drove across the hills of midnight rural Pennsylvania. There is a way.
We simply needed to find it in time.
An hour into the drive, we stopped at a gas station to refuel.
Mr. Ávila was driving the ambulance, with Alpha safe in the back and Red watching her. Rainbow, Four, and I were in Torrance’s SUV, which she parked in the lot next to the gas station convenience store. I stretched. I hadn’t quite napped—how did people ever sleep in cars?—but my head felt fuzzy nonetheless.
The driver’s-side door slammed shut behind Torrance. She walked toward the ambulance, raising a hand to get Mr. Ávila’s attention. “I’ll fill her up,” she called. “You check on the girl.”
The scent of gasoline hung in the air. My nose twitched. Damn, that was strong. The smell was
