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Of course, in those moments after Bracken had reclaimed his second horn, he had come across as otherworldly But once the crisis was behind them, he had quickly reverted to his old self He still couldn’t assume his horse shape without his third horn For all practical purposes he was human And even if he was a little otherworldly, Kendra sometimes wondered whether she were entirely hu fairykind, she could hardly view herself as a regular teenage girl
Kendra leaned her head against theWas she really sitting here worrying about how Bracken felt about her when the world was about to end? How simple was she? What if he read her mind? She would be mortified!
"Can I have a pretzel?" Trask asked
The questionhi to abandon the rental car?"
"They’ll figure it out," Trask said "We’ll cohts of the Daays pay their debts, and a little extra We do it anonyet arrested otherwise, but we do it Naturally, if the world ends, I think everyone will haveissues to corilled Trask about her parents and grandparents, but he had been kept in isolation at Living Mirage She had asked Vanessa as well The narcoblix had traveled into Tanu’s body along with some of the others, but they were kept in separate cells, locked up day and night, so she had learned nothing except that they re parked where they could observe the e pickup truck approached at high speed The truck zoohter and the truck turned around Headlights glaring, the truck cao vaulted out of the back
Kendra and Trask got out of the SUV as Newel and Doren hopped down fro Neith the back of his hand "Trust the gole to the rendezvous when Hugo started to sense you guys He led us here"
"We’re two hours early," Doren said proudly
"Seth," Hugo ruhthouse
"He’s fine," Kendra said "He’s just calling our ride Warren, Bracken, and Vanessa are with hiet here," Trask said
Newel laughed "That truck can move! We rarely went less than twice the speed liushed
"Did you hit any speed traps?" Kendra asked
"Twice," Newel said "We pulled over politely Both tioat at the wheel without a huht"
"They searched the cat both times," Doren said "It was easy to prick them with one of the darts Vanessa left us They went to sleep, we put theht up with us"
"I’ in," Trask said "But they probably disoats as a hallucination"
"Vanessa had five spare sets of plates with corresponding registrations," Newel explained "We swapped them after any trouble"
Trask chuckled "That et here ourselves, but had better luck with speed traps"
Kendra regarded the satyrs "You guys are really going to come to Zzyzx with us?"
"We’ve come this far," Doren said
"Seth proenerator," Newel explained "Besides, having front-row seats to the end of the world beats waiting for the disaster back at Fablehaven with the centaurs in charge"
"Seth told me about the centaurs," Kendra said
"There will be a reckoning if we can survive the demons," Trask vowed
"We have a chance," Doren said "Seth has Vasilis There are poes about that sword"
"Not to mention a unicorn on our side!" Newel exclaimed "They are the superheroes of the fairy world They’re not very outgoing, but when they decide to help, it can make all the difference"
"Don’t join us buoyed by false expectations," Trask said "Consider the ene and his horde We alet it," Newel said cheerfully "If it’s the end, so it goes We had a good run But can’t we hope for the best?"
Trask shrugged "I suppose we can hope"
Above the red brick base, visible in the cloud-ht, white and black stripes spiraled to the top of the lighthouse, iant barbershop pole
Vanessa led Seth to the door at the base and opened it quickly He followed her inside
They cli thehly thirty at a tis Periodic s granted higher and higher views By the ti
An observation platforhthouse Vanessa and Seth stepped outside The gibbous hts on the corrugated ocean and the vegetated coastline The salty breeze and great height made Seth feel like he was in the crow’s nest of soh," Vanessa replied, checking her watch
Seth took out the handbell and removed the leather orously The bell rang loudly, but nothing about it seeed the bell constantly until Vanessa told hi and looked down
Far below, Bracken flashed a light at hi the clapper, Seth tossed the bell over the edge As planned, Bracken and Warren would now run the bell to the foring the bell at both locations, they could be more sure the ship would respond as desired
Seth followed Vanessa down the long flights of steps and out of the lighthouse She locked up, and they trotted back to where they had parked Before they reached their vehicle, a huge hu toward thenized Hugo He ran to the golem, who scooped him up in a rocky eo replied
"Did the truck arrive in one piece?" Vanessa wondered "Truck fine," Hugo assured her
Newel and Doren gao set Seth down
"I can’t believe you guys made it," Seth said "I expected you’d take your ti up the credit card at fast food joints"
"Not a bad way to confront the end of civilization," Newel conceded "But after enough fast food, it starts to all taste the sa fast is another new pleasure we both enjoy"
"We may not come back from this," Seth said seriously
"We know," Newel said "Everyone keeps warning us If I didn’t know better, I’d suspect you guys were trying to ditch us Here’s the thing---if we succeed, we don’t just save the world We save television We save fast food We save soft drinks and doughnuts and candy bars and ice cream"
"We save Frito-Lay," Doren said solemnly
"You’ve enjoyed a lifetime of these ranted Doren and I are just getting introduced"