It was an opportunity, where she couldn’t see me clearly and she was off-balance. I fought her like I’d fight myself, grabbing another bit of concrete that broke off to be smaller than I’d hoped for, and hurling it, before changing directions.

The concrete hit one side of her bubble, and the entire thing shifted before exploding out in that direction. I grabbed her gun-hand in the moment the now-exposed mercenary wheeled around to point it at me, almost catching it between my arm and armpit.

Her hand firmly in my grip, I smashed into her, driving her into the ground. Her body rolled a short distance, her arm stayed with me.

I let it fall. Still connected, or at least partially connected. I hadn’t dismembered her, but I hadn’t ruled it out either. But it was dislocated at the very least, and I was pretty sure from the way it had bent on the impact with the ground that I’d broken the various pieces of the arm in a few places.

I took care of her like I’d taken care of Paris. I needed to know she wouldn’t be too dangerous to have at my back, but she didn’t need arms and legs. I had to knock her out, and I didn’t have a minute to spare or anything convenient to do it with.

Instead, grabbing her hair, I smashed her head against the ground twice. That was the point she was still breathing but not up to pick any fights with me anymore.

I grabbed weapons off of her, and I approached the arch.

My dad had been cut. So had one of the dogs. Moose was lying on the ground and I had no idea why, but I could assume another cut.

Harbinger Two was out and Harbinger One… when I looked, I saw that the maze of Cretan’s power had raised walls all around us. Could they climb?

Ashley looked unconscious, and she was bleeding badly. I could see where Cretan stood, a safe distance away from her, and draw conclusions there. Had she tried to beat him without killing him?

We’d gotten the sign-off on killing, but for Ashley, I could imagine a spur-of-the-moment thought where she felt it was more important not to kill the other horned guy in armor.

Fuck. Fuck fuck fuck.

Rachel was harder to spot, because she was slumped against one dog’s side, while the dog lay on the ground. Tattletale was beside her.

I saw Foil, but no Cassie.

I saw Bitter Pill, healed from her near-decapitation and leg loss, Birdbrain, and two of Bitter Pill’s capes that hadn’t been around when I’d dove into the building. There were people from the local community without costumes on, and I had no idea from the context if they were Bluestocking’s or if they were ones loyal to Cradle and Cradle’s way.