I couldn’t drop Rain, or risk losing him, which meant I had to use me. I kicked out, hard, my foot meeting the silver line. It flared, bright, and the Simurgh’s wings spread out around us, until they were ninety percent of what I could see. The pain of the jolt reaching my ribs and collarbone made my vision split. I couldn’t see straight.

I stopped descending. I could feel the forcefield break, as rubble hit it, and groped out for Rain.

“It’s okay,” Rain said.

I blinked, struggling to get my focus back, as darkness creeped in around the edges.

There was a crash far below us.

I managed to focus my vision on a distant point, feeling like a baby trying to focus her eyes for the first time.

Below us, more than half of the Simurgh’s body, including one arm, some smaller wings, and both legs, lay on the basement level of the facility. The accumulated damage from the Wardens, Rain, the beams, and the temperature shifts had added up enough for it to break away entirely. It lay there, limp and still.

The rest of her had slipped away.

Couldn’t pursue. Rain was using his power to remain suspended in the air. I let the Fragile One return, and got a firm grip on him, before floating up.

That was it. That was the damage we could do.

I floated up, slow and unsteady, wanting to be ready to let Rain catch me if I passed out and lost my flight and forcefield.

Capes were standing at the edge, looking down. Avoiding certain sections—not because the cracked ground was unsteady, but because Sveta was still there at one edge of the hole, back by the wall.

“Is that going to be enough?” Legend asked.

“No,” Narwhal said.

Legend flew down one floor, then out the hole in the exterior wall.

“It may have to be good enough,” ReSound said.

“It’s not,” Narwhal said. She looked haggard, ground down.

The screaming in our heads was fading, now. This time, I was pretty sure, it was because she was leaving. Escaping.

“There’s an option,” I said. “Tilt the balance.”

“Committing wholesale to your idea?” Chevalier asked.

“If your enemy steps forward to throw a punch, pull them further forward. If they retreat, drive them back,” I said. “Give them what they want. Too much of it.”

“I think this is just giving them what they want,” Chevalier said. Narwhal nodded.

“What is this giving them?” ReSound asked.

“Fume Hood and Dauntless,” I said. “We ask them to join the Fortuna network.”

“Putting us precariously close to the Titans completing their network,” Chevalier said. “Which makes it critical that one of our contingency plans works.”

“But it gives Fortuna a chance of fighting the Simurgh off,” I said. I swayed a little, even though I was flying.