“Jumping off a Philadelphia skyscraper isn’t my fate. It’s not the only way. It’s not inescapable! It’s not my decision, it’s yours! It’s just what you think would be cool to see. And I’m not playing along. It’s not fair. It’s not. You don’t get to ruin my life and end it before, before . . .” Before I get to live in the same house as my sister again, I get to tap my own frozen yogurt, I get to kiss a girl, I get to eat at a restaurant other than Franny’s, I get to see the midseason finales of my favorite shows, I get to thank Aunt Lina for her clothes, I get to graduate, I get to wear the purple gloves I got for my birthday—
The Power’s edges shook, as if someone was plucking at them. For a moment I feared the same was happening to me—to all of us—but when I looked down, my hands looked normal.
Still trembling, still bone-white, but normal.
“Board up the world,” I said. “I don’t care if the other Powers rip into you for it. I don’t care if it’s drastic. I don’t care if it means you lose access to our world forever—hell, that sounds like a plus to me. Do it. Send the other Hazels back safely—making sure Four survives—then do it. Or I swear I’ll watch Philadelphia die, and after that, Alpha and I will gather every troll we can find and set them loose. I won’t lift a finger to stop them.”
“You’re bluffing.” The Power’s voice was high, dipping low near the end.
“Am I?” I said shrilly. “After all this, do you think I’d rather throw myself off a rooftop than choose to live and screw you over in the process?”
“You wouldn’t risk hurting other people.”
“I’m standing here alive, aren’t I? I’m taking that risk already.”
“Hazel,” Neven said, her tone a warning.
The Power’s face shifted, jittered. For a moment, I swore that I saw Torrance in its features—then Caro’s, and then it bulged out and took a shape like Neven’s before drawing back in and shifting into Facet, back into me, into Valk—
“Hazel. The rift. We’re out of time.”
I ran to Neven. My every step was muted. The others were already climbing onto Neven’s back, helping Four even when she groaned in pain and nearly passed out. We were barely seated before Neven shot off the roof. I clung tight, one arm around her neck, the other holding on to Rainbow’s arms around my waist.
I didn’t want to look at the city below. We needed to survive a few more seconds. A few more. One more. Three more. Two more. Another few. Please.
The crackling I’d heard became louder. A hum so deep it vibrated into my bones.
I should have stepped off that ledge—
Rainbow’s hands slipped from my waist.
“No!” I yelled, reaching behind me to grab her.
I felt only air.
I glimpsed over my shoulder. Rainbow had gone. Four, Red, and Alpha still sat there, pale and spooked.
Four faded. The last I saw of her were startled eyes looking into mine.
“Neven?” I said, my voice high. High, but not thin, not weak. “Neven!”
“I need to put you down.” She leveled out, no longer soaring upward.
“They’re disappearing—”
“You won. They’re being sent home.” The hum around us faded into a distant whistle. Neven folded her wings and shot down like a spear.
Behind me, one of the others yelled something. She got cut off mid-word.
“Neven, what—How did I—” Wind blasted into my face, making it difficult to speak, but at least I felt wind again, rather than stillness and white. “I didn’t even get to say—Did the Power listen? What happened?”
“It lost.”
“It looked—”
“Different?”
“Yes!” Wind buzzed around my ears. The whistling sound died in the distance.
“Good.” Single, disconnected words in the air. “The Powers’ form is malleable. Often, it’s something that frightens you.”
“What do they look like to you?” I shouted, not sure why I asked.
“Themselves,” she said.
I clung to her tighter. The ground was coming into view. White draped across an empty road like fog. My eyes squeezed shut, forehead pressed against her neck. I heard nothing and no one behind me.
“The Power is closing the gaps, Hazel. I’ll be pulled out next. I might not land on time.”
“No! Not you too! I need to tell—”
“You don’t need to say anything. I know. So do the others.”
“But—”
“I’ll find a way to tell her family.”
“What? What do you—”
“I am so damn proud of—”
My face shot forward, my legs clinging to nothing. My hands grasped at air.
“Neven!”
I tumbled over. Forward. Falling.
I screamed.
The ground came at me fast. Forty feet. Thirty.
Wait, no.
The white pulled away.
This wasn’t the ground.
I twisted my body, extended my arms, and crashed into the river.
CHAPTER SIXTY-EIGHT
Cold.
I went deep. Shot down like a bullet, inhaling mouthfuls of freezing, filthy water. I kicked to position my way back up, even if I didn’t know which way that was, and right as I started to panic, my face broke through the surface and I spat out water and gasped and gasped and gasped. I kept myself afloat, looking left and right.
From one side came the sound of rushing water, though the river looked calm—
Except for there, the unruly water near the shore. A face broke open the surface, sucking in fresh air.
One of the Hazels. Her hair was glued to her face, clinging to her cheeks and covering one eye. She splashed around, gasping and coughing the same way I was doing.
“Alpha?” My voice rang out over the stillness of the water.
“Y-yeah.”
Any second, she would fade before my eyes, the water rushing into the empty space she left behind. We watched each other, paddling to stay afloat.
Finally she turned, swimming to the shore. I forced myself into motion and followed, trying not to think of how deep the water went beneath me. This wasn’t like the creek in the woods at home.
We were at a row of boathouses. Docks and small white boats surrounded us. Alpha swam to the nearest ladder. She pulled herself
