Then Gaia fled, pursued by smoke as fire took hold in the Stefano Rey National Park.

SEVENTEEN

29 HOURS, 24 MINUTES

ASTRID, DIANA, AND Orc arrived in Perdido Beach at the head of a strung-out procession of exhausted kids, an hour behind Dekka and Jack. Most collapsed upon reaching the town plaza, just dropped where they were.

Edilio had already checked with the wounded at Clifftop. Now, with barely controlled panic, he raced to each person, looking into each face.

“Have you seen Roger?”

Most didn’t answer. Edilio wasn’t sure they even heard him. But one little said, “His boat got burned up.”

“Did you see him, though? Did you see him?”

Head shake. No.

Edilio’s heart ached. No way Roger had been killed. That wasn’t fair. It wasn’t right. He and Roger had just, finally, been able to acknowledge how they felt about each other, how they had felt for secretive months.

Edilio’s searching eyes met Astrid’s.

She didn’t need to hear his question. “We didn’t see him, Edilio. Jack rowed around the boats . . . there were bodies in the water. Roger and Justin were probably both on their boat. It was cut in half, burned.”

“But you didn’t . . . Did you bury . . .” He couldn’t finish the thought.

“Listen, Brianna kept Gaia from finishing us all off, but we couldn’t stay there. We had to run. We had wounded kids. Everyone was scared; we couldn’t stay and search.”

Edilio nodded dully. He had to put this reality in a box, like he had done so many times with so many tragedies.

But this was too big: it wouldn’t go; it couldn’t be put aside for quiet grief at a more convenient time. A sound of anguish rose from Edilio. Astrid put her arms around him, and he cried into her hair.

“I should have been there,” Edilio whispered.

“You couldn’t have stopped her,” Astrid said. “Did Brianna and Dekka and the rest make it here?”

Edilio pulled away, wiping tears from his cheeks. “Brianna’s hurt bad, but she’s alive. Her and Dekka are up at Clifftop.”

“Don’t ever let me say anything bad about that girl again,” Astrid said. “Everyone who made it out alive owes their life to Brianna. Edilio, it was . . . Gaia would have . . . She was enjoying it . . . floating kids into the air and then . . .”

Edilio nodded bleakly. “What do we do now, Astrid? Did you see Sam? He should be here, but I . . . didn’t work. It’s my fault.”

“Edilio, nothing is your fault.” Astrid called Diana over. Orc had taken it upon himself to fetch water in a big five-gallon plastic tub. Kids were drinking greedily while Orc watched in satisfaction.

“Listen to me, Edilio.” Astrid took his face in her hands, forced him to see, to pay attention. “We don’t have time to grieve. There are things you need to understand.”

Edilio nodded, but he wasn’t there: he wasn’t tracking.

“Diana, tell Edilio what you know about Gaia.”

Diana did, but Edilio needed it repeated. It was impossible to focus. Mental images of Roger dead . . . floating on the lake. Or maybe only terribly injured, lying somewhere.

Had Roger even had a chance to think? Had he seen it coming? Had he seen Justin die before his eyes? That by itself would have killed him. Justin had become a little brother to Roger.

“Listen, Edilio. Gaia’s going to kill everyone,” Astrid said. “The only good news is that we took Drake down. Well, Brianna did. Again, Brianna.”

“What?” Edilio asked, confused. He hadn’t followed anything they’d told him.

Astrid and Diana exchanged a look. “Diana . . .,” Astrid said, and nodded at Edilio.

“Come with me, Edilio; we’re just going to have a seat over on the steps,” Diana said.

“What was the scream about?” Sam demanded, checking Caine for injuries. “Are you hurt?”

Caine was breathing hard, bent over, like he’d been kicked in the belly. “She got me.”

The air smelled of smoke. Something was burning.

“Where?” Sam asked. “Where did she get you?”

Caine straightened slowly. His face was grim. “Here,” he said, jabbing a finger angrily against his temple.

“What’s that supposed to mean? We had her!”

“We had nothing!” Caine yelled. To Sam’s amazement it almost seemed he had tears in his eyes.

Sam decided to take a less confrontational tack. He didn’t need a fight with Caine. “Listen, dude, whatever is going on, you need to tell me. You’re supposed to watch my back.”

Caine brushed dirt from his knees and avoided looking Sam in the eye. “The gaiaphage owned me, okay? Back a long time ago, back after our first big fight, the one in Perdido Beach. I imagine you remember.”

“Yeah, I remember,” Sam snapped. “You and Drake tried pretty hard to kill me.”

“After that I went to the mine shaft. You know all this. And the gaiaphage . . . Look, it’s not something I can explain, okay, or at least not something you can understand.”

“But you fought against the gaiaphage later.”

“It was already weakening. And it was focused on Lana and Little Pete. It’s stronger now. Much stronger.”

Sam frowned. “Why Lana? Why would it care about Lana?”

“It . . . she . . . hates Lana. Lana lost it, Lana was taken, same as me, but Lana shut it down. I don’t know if it’s because of Lana’s healing power or what, but Lana . . . the girl is tough and strong. The gaiaphage doesn’t like that.”