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"Rhoda!" Eureka’s shout echoed across the lawn

As Rhoda was passing Albion, the Seedbearer reached out and grabbed her hand Instantly she froze, her ar his head, see

Beneath Rhoda’s feet a cone of volcano-shaped earth blooround At first it looked like a sand boil, a bayou pheno into a powerful geyser along a flooded alluvial plain Sand boils were dangerous because of the torrent of water they spewed from the core of their swiftly formed craters

This sand boil speind

Albion’s hand released Rhoda’s, but a connection between them remained He seemed to hold her by an invisible leash Her body rose on a sprocket of inexplicable wind that shot her fifty feet into the air

Her limbs flailed Her red robe twirled in the air like ribbons on a kite She soared higher, her body completely out of her control There was a burst of sound--not thunder, more like a pulse of electricity Eureka realized Rhoda’s body had broken through the cordon over the yard

When she entered the storh the slender gap created by her body Wind wailed in like a hurricane Rhoda’s red silhouette grew smaller in the sky until she looked like one of Claire’s dolls

The bolt of lightning crackled slowly It huddled in the clouds, lighting up pockets of dark, twisting ath cloud and tasted bare sky, Rhoda was the closest target

Eureka braced herself as lightning struck Rhoda’s chest with a single awesome jolt Rhoda started to screaly static sizzle

When she began to tu of her body was different It was lifeless Gravity danced with her Clouds parted sadly as she passed She crossed the boundary of the Seedbearers’ cordon, which resealed itself soround and left an indentation of her crumpled body a foot deep in the earth

Eureka fell to her knees Her hands clasped her heart as she took in Rhoda’s blackened chest; her hair, which had sizzled into nonexistence; her bare ar scars Rhoda’s ers had frozen into stiff claws, extended toward her children, even in death

Death Rhoda was dead because she’d done the only thing any mother would have done: she had tried to stop her children’s suffering But if it weren’t for Eureka, the touldn’t be in danger and Rhoda wouldn’t have had to save the dead on the lawn Eureka couldn’t look at the twins She couldn’t bear to see them as destroyed as she’d been ever since she lost Diana

An animalistic yelp came from behind Eureka on the porch Dad was on his knees Cat’s hands hung on his shoulders She looked pale and uncertain, as if she ered shakily down the stairs He was a foot away from Rhoda’s body when Albion’s voice stopped hi to do"

Before Dad could respond, Ander reached into the pocket of his jeans Eureka gasped when he pulled out a sun "Shut up, Uncle"

" ‘Uncle,’ is it?" Albion’s s up?" He chuckled "What’s he got, a toy gun?"

The other Seedbearers laughed

"Funny, isn’t it?" Ander pulled back the slide to load the gun’s cha an aura around the gun It was the saht Ander brandished the silver case All four Seedbearers startled at the sight of it They grew silent, as if their laughter had been sliced off

"What is that, Ander?" Eureka asked

"This gun fires bullets made of artemisia," Ander explained "It is an ancient herb, the kiss of death for Seedbearers"

"Where did you get those bullets?" Starling stumbled a few steps back

"Doesn’t matter," Critias said quickly "He’ll never shoot us"

"You’re wrong," Ander said "You don’t knohat I’d do for her"

"Charirlfriend ould happen if you were to kill one of us?"

"Maybe I’un clicked as Ander cocked it But then, instead of pointing the gun at Albion, Ander turned it on himself He held its barrel to his chest He closed his eyes

"What are you doing?" Eureka shouted

Ander turned to face her, the gun still at his chest In that moment he looked more suicidal than she knew she had ever been "Seedbearer breath is controlled by a single higher wind It is called the Zephyr, and each of us is bound by it If one of us is killed, all of us die" He glanced at the twins and sed hard "But maybe it’s better that way"

31

TEARDROP

Eureka didn’t think She charged Ander and knocked the gun frorass, which had been dampened by Rhoda’s pocket of open rain The other Seedbearers lunged for the gun, but Eureka wanted it rip in her hands She nearly dropped it Soed to hold on

Her heart thundered She had never held a gun before, had never wanted to Her finger found its way around the trigger She pointed it at the Seedbearers to keep the taunted "It’s wonderful You wouldn’t dare shoot us and lose your boyfriend"