I fall onto my knees. He’s dead. He has to be dead. It has to have been worth it.

Sarah wraps her arms around me.

“Get up, Six,” she says, her voice strained. She coughs, sucks in a breath. She’s hurt. We both are. “We have to go!”

I place my hand on top of Sarah’s and turn us invisible. This way, I don’t have to see the blood.

So much blood. Too much.

I hope it was worth it.

CHAPTER

TWENTY-FOUR

I MADE A LOT OF PROMISES BACK IN THE Elders’ Chamber. I told those new Garde that I’d lead them, that we’d help them train, that together we could save their world. It was pretty amazing, seeing them all there. Yeah, some of them looked scared, a few of them completely confused, and a couple even appeared downright angry to be roped into this. But most of the others . . . they looked ready. Nervous, yeah, but ready and willing to step up and join the fight.

Now, to keep those promises, I just have to survive one seriously pissed-off Mogasaur.

The second that I’m back in my body, I feel a hot gust of the beast’s stinky breath as it roars. It’s right behind us. I’ve still got an arm around Sam from when I grabbed him before we all briefly fainted. He’s got his wits back too, so we stumble against each other but manage to get it together and run.

“Nice speech!” Sam shouts in my ear. “Are we going to die now?”

“Hell no,” I reply.

The gathering of the Garde isn’t the only thing that stuck with me from Ella’s dream space. I’m still dwelling on watching Pittacus Lore in action. Ximic, that’s what Loridas called Pittacus Lore’s copycat Legacy. And then there was my brief meeting with Henri.

Visualize, he said. Visualize and remember.

Agent Walker pauses from screaming into her satellite phone to eyeball us. She seems just as confused by our awakening as she must have been with our sudden collapse a couple of seconds ago.

“What the hell’s happening?” she yells.

“Don’t worry about it! Get your people to cover!” I yell, waving my arms.

“How are we supposed to fight that thing?” Sam asks, glancing over his shoulder.

“I don’t know,” I reply grimly.

“We hit it a lot,” Nine barks.