I fought with my flight. She held me firm. I activated the Wretch, then deactivated it as soon as I saw that Lookout was too close, just below me.

One by one, she plucked up the members of Breakthrough.

Her head turned. Dirt and mud sprayed sky-high as she used her power. Dealing with another attacker. Someone I’d given candy to?

The dirt and mud hadn’t even finished raining down when she used her power again. I saw the shape of him, leaping to one side. He was more visible in the cloud of dirt, rain and mud than he was ordinarily.

Black feathers on black background.

I could feel the dim impulse that she pushed out. The punctuation mark. The power to control.

He moved faster.

I felt it again. This time, he dropped to all fours.

“Harder!” Crock o’ Shit shouted, from the sidelines. “You almost had him!”

The Lady in Blue used her power again, more forcefully than before.

Cryptid leaped.

I saw the moment of hesitation, the moment of realization that there was nothing inorganic on him to grab. She ripped up the earth instead. He was thrown into the air, lost in the flurry of mud.

I used my power, hard. To distract, to break her focus.

Appearing sooner than should have been possible, Cryptid was right next to her. The ground broke under his feet, point blank this time.

It didn’t go any further than the cracking of ground. Cryptid’s talons found the Lady in Blue’s midsection. He tore her open, sternum to pelvis, and his talons hooked into vital organs. He pulled them free, and all of the strength went out of her.

For how much damage had been done, it took four or five surprising seconds before her power canceled out. We dropped out of the air, and I flew to catch Lookout before she could land too awkwardly.

All around us, people were shuffling closer.

Amy was among them.

Cryptid was at the center, his broken neck twisted around, his head dangling. His beak was like a curved blade, gleaming in the rain, pointed at the small of his back.

I could see what that was supposed to mean, now.

Crock o’ Shit hadn’t been telling the truth. Goddess’s power hadn’t almost worked. Crock had been among the people I’d given candy to, just before I’d reunited with the group.

Fitting.

I couldn’t bring myself to enjoy the irony.

“Chris,” Lookout said.

Cryptid looked at her, then seized his head. He moved it side to side. Shaking it in a ‘no’.

“Did Amy do this?” I asked.

“I didn’t do anything,” Amy’s voice cut through the dark and the patter of rain. “Organized. Struck a deal.”

I swallowed hard. “Deal?”

She wouldn’t look me in the eyes. “Everyone!”

I couldn’t remember her shouting. She’d never been one to do it.