“I will help you,” Rain said. “If there is a way to do this, I will help you find it. Just approach me directly.”

“If it’s even possible to, later,” Matryoshka said. “This? She’s winning. If she hasn’t outright won.”

Rain shook his head.

But he looked lost. Spooked. On the edge of panic.

Too much on a boy’s shoulders.

“Love Lost, Marcial?” Gilpatrick asked. “Can you get those two? Get them away from where they can do anything problematic? We don’t have long.”

“Two minutes at most,” Colt said. “Pretty sure.”

Love Lost and Marcial picked up the two infiltrators, who didn’t resist or pull away.

They were all going to be awake in a minute anyway.

Rain stood there, in the center of the clearing, tense.

“Rain,” Gilpatrick said. This is part of my job. Supporting them.

He prayed his words to this teenager would reach or provide an answer where Gilpatrick had once failed Lucky Break.

Rain looked at him.

One thing he’d always wanted to ask Lucky, or say to Lucky…

“Step back. Calm down. If you had a friend who was standing where you are now, what advice would you give them?”

Rain shook his head.

“Wouldn’t you tell them, at least, that there’s no time left to do anything? We got Skadi away from her peers. That’s going to save a lot of lives. Accept that.”

Rain turned his head, like he was about to shake ‘no’.

But he kept turning. His body turned—he started running, pushing past the forest of crystals with a violence that saw his hand and shoulder bloody after the moment of impact.

Gilpatrick followed.

Rain, running to the largest, most obvious crystal nearby, just past the forest.

Throwing himself at it, so he slid forward on his knees and shins, touching it while there was still time.

Gilpatrick watched as scenes were reflected. Flickering, briefly lived.

An image of a courtroom.

An image of Swansong, Rain’s departed teammate, except more animated and alive than any of the ones Gilpatrick had seen so far.

“Pass it on,” Rain said, quiet.

In the background, Colt collapsed. Others began to topple like dominoes.

They were waking up.

“What did you do?” Gilpatrick asked.

⊙

They woke, and the house was shaking.

Valentin was already on two feet, running. Natalie was pushed out of the way. Gilpatrick was still waking up, pulling himself up off the ground. The confusion of other senses slowed him down, or else he might have grabbed them.

Face split open, ‘Cox’ lay on the floor, the doll head pulling itself free, skittering along the floor on legs tipped by scissors and doll-like fingers, trailing bloody ribbons, chains, and fishing lines with hooks. ‘Valentin’ scooped her up.

“It’s not what I did,” Rain said, rubbing at his eyes. “It’s what I said. I sent a message, to the only person that Titan Fortuna can’t see.”