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My eyes widened when I saw the path of the water drop--into a tunnel I was heading right for it!
Seconds later, I ept down into that pitch darkness Total black Can't see, can't see! I kicked to keep my head above the surface For air--and to hear
Wails echoed off the tunnel walls I jerked my head around, unable to pinpoint the sounds Debris battered ht
I bu afloat With a cry, I latched on to it withlike a cork My skin was so numb I couldn't tell what it was
The blackness lightened to ain Out of the tunnel!
I blinked at ain A skull-and-bones tattoo? A bloated belly I was clinging to a headless, limbless body
"Ahhh!" I flailed away, but it seemed to follow side ht have been days--
I collided with soed my skin I craned ainst the structure, pinning my back and arm
I couldn't
More Bagmen sped toward me I was completely vulnerable, laid out for a bite If they turned me into a zombie, would I float forever?
Maybe that was how the game would be won By an Arcana ould never quite die
The Baggers thrashed to reach me, pale eyes frenzied The flood defended s
Ah, God, a house rushed toward ritted my teeth and somehoisted my body to face the tower With one arm, I climbed the service ladder
I i out of that lake of lava unhar forsmile Missed you, bebe
Another rung higher Meony ripped at my chest as I recalled my last words with Jack He and I hadwhite
Another rung The house bore down on me
It passed the swaying toithin inches I wouldn't be so lucky next time
Lucky? I laughed into the wind
At the gusty top of the tower, I coiled hed till I sobbed
Jack is dead
2
Day 385 AF?
Tess
My eyes shot open,Tess had the power to go back in time!
Jack ht be dead He didn't have to stay that way
She and I had saved his sight by reversing time; we could save his life! And Selena's We could save Jack's entire Azey army I just had to reach Tess
She, Gabriel, and Joules had been a couple of days out of Fort Arcana The three would have heard the attack, would've returned
I had to get back there How? I didn't know its location--or my own I believed the fort was in northern Tennessee Or Kentucky Ish
The storm had dwindled, the winds not as fierce, and the water had receded until the depth looked to be no more than a few feet Which meant I teetered a hundred feet in the air
Frolooht, I could just make out the remains of a town I could determine my location there
Energy filledwith purpose The stueneration, lyphs radiated like a spotlight, a beacon in the black
With one ar down Muscles so stiff Each tirip, I had to lean into the tower to balance ly place my feet lower down So slow
And every moment since that massacre counted Each second that Tess went back in time drained her of life; she'd nearly died when I'd forced her to go back just eleven or so minutes With my claws sunk into her ar out, her bones jutting
How much time had passed since the Emperor's attack? I could have been unconscious for hours--or days How far away had the flood carried me?
Why hadn't Circe killed et to Tess
I would need so much more from her than minutes But I could ith her until her power bloomed, until she could withstand the demands of her ability
What if I got her to reverse time by days, yet we still h to take out the Eet Circe to attack him sooner!
I frowned I'd heard Richter's evil laughter in my headafter Circe's flood, not just before How had he survived? If the Priestess couldn't take him out, was Richter invulnerable?
I couldn't worry about that Not yet Aric had killed the Erandmother would be a wealth of information as well Because of Aric, she was alive and safe at his castle
With their help, I could learn how to destroy Richter For now, I just needed to get to Tess On a clock Tick-tock No ti at a time
Sucking in a breath, I closedfrom the tower
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Falling
Landing
Pain!
Rebar jutted from my side Shit, shit! Don't panicI forced ht, but I was trapped on the ringed metal No time for this!
I huffed in breaths through gnashed teeth, then pushed with ed inch, till I freedfor balance My wobbly legs didn't want to hold ony
If I could take one step, it'd be one step closer to Jack
I took that step And another And another, until I was slogging through filthy water toward the town I wound around debris--and half-sube
That could've beenhtly
Aric, where are you?
No answer to my telepathic call No Arcana voices at all
Baggers snapped their teeth at me as I passed For each one I could see, how mine?
Focus In this situation, Jack would keep his cool and work out logistics Everything depended onTess as quickly as possible
When Aric had abducted me from the Hierophant's mine, I'd believed Jack had died, and I'd decided to live for vengeance But this tione
I swungfor any clue about ed, supplies floated past me--food, bottles of water I never would've passed by these treasures when I was on the road with Jack, but I didn't haveto stow them in