I still see you, he thinks, imagining Vince running away with the rucksack in his hand. Whatever is happening now, whatever it leads to, I still see you, you human piece of shit. He has spent the past day and night imagining what he will do to Vince once he catches him. It has given him some bloody comfort following the apparent end of his scheme to escape.

Now, something else has happened to give him hope.

The ground shakes. One impact, two, then several more, all thumping up through his head, shoulder blades and hips. It hurts, but he welcomes the pain because it means he is still alive. He draws it in and relishes it.

In the east, the sky bursts alight with the power of a blazing sun. Somewhere else it is not midnight and the sun is shining. Grace has made a way through from here to there.

It must have taken a huge amount of energy. Her whole mind, body and soul were put into the forging of this new doorway, and Mallian can feel the pressure it put upon her. He feels it because the bonds holding him down have grown weaker. He squirms his body left and right and it moves further than it has in a long time. He flexes his legs and tries to lift them, but they are still heavy and held down against the ground.

He tenses and twists his left arm. It moves slightly, then drops back down.

Gathering his strength, focusing all his attention on his right arm, he lifts it up, pushing all his concentration through his shoulder and into his wasted muscles.

His arm rises from the ground. It’s heavier than it has ever been before, but his determination is stronger, and there is no way he will not grasp this unexpected chance.

Raising his hand directly above his face, he stretches his fingers wide to obliterate the stars.

16

16

Two years ago she’d been struck by lightning, twice, but even then she hadn’t felt as bad as she did now.

Sammi rolled onto her side and puked again. Angela was there to hold her hair out of the way, but Lilou seemed distracted, pacing back and forth and looking away from them, as if she could not bear to watch. Bone stood even further away. Strange man, Sammi thought. Like he’s living in a dream. She wasn’t sure where the idea came from. Her stomach clenched again but there wasn’t anything left to come up. Angela stroked her hair back from her forehead and over her ear, and Sammi had a flash memory of her mom doing that years ago when she was just a little girl.

Even then her mom must have known what she was destined to become. She wondered if she’d ever told her dad, and thought not.