She looked at Danny and Carrie. “Together. We’ll stop him together.”

They argued back and forth for as long as they dared. Sax would report back to Colchester if he was separated from Danny for too long. In the end, they had more of a direction than a plan.

Their options were limited. Eric couldn’t move directly against Colchester. They’d have to see how Colchester’s scheme would play out. They would have to take their chances with the Followers, and risk betrayal by the people they used to know.

Alana and Eric would go to Colchester, and bind her to an agreement that would keep her from attacking him. That would allay any of his suspicions. Carrie and Danny would go on as if they didn’t know anything. Someone would come after them soon. They’d have to improvise from there.

Most important, they would have to wait until Colchester was vulnerable, Eric said. He could separate the old wizard from the boy, but they’d have to wait for the right moment.

They would definitely get hurt. They’d have to adapt to whatever came next, and use their gifts, and fight, and maybe die.

“They need to think we’re helpless. At each other’s throats. Like we can’t possibly work together,” Carrie said.

“I can sell that,” Alana said.

They all looked at her. She was taking the biggest risk. Her child was the one who’d have to bear the weight of their choice.

But Alana was the strongest of them. She knew that there was no other choice. She would fight. She’d do the right thing. Like she always had, and always would.

She nodded. She’d trust them with her daughter’s life.

“We can save Grace,” Eric said. “I promise. And we can save the kid. We screwed up last time. I screwed up. But you have to trust me. I know it’s asking a lot. We can save them.”

“No,” Danny said.

They all looked at him.

“Not just them,” he said. “No more kids get hurt. Nobody else lives with this hanging over them. Not ever again. That’s why we’re here. We save everyone.”

32

You’d Think He Would Know Better

Carrie falls, her leg unable to hold her up, and she takes her mom to the ground with her.

From there, she tries to aim her gun in Buzz’s direction. But there are too many people blocking her shot. She can’t fire without hitting someone who might not deserve it.

Seeing Carrie draw a bead on him is enough to scare Buzz. He scrambles away, disappearing into the chaos of the crowd.

Carrie tries to struggle to her feet, but she and her mom keep getting shoved back down into the mud. The gunshot wound doesn’t help.

The fucker shot her in the leg. Carrie can’t believe he shot her in the leg. What an asshole.