Awakening - The Last Science #1

Chapter 19 - Wolves at the Gates - IV

  Rallsburg was draped in eerie silence as they emerged from the forest onto one of the side roads. They still had a few blocks to go until they reached Boris', but Rachel was glad they were finally in open ground, where she wouldn't be imagining terrible golems emerging from behind every tree trunk. The silence was almost comforting to her, in the logical cold parts of her brain. She could conclude that if they heard nothing, the mob must have already moved on out of the town. They should have a clear path all the way to the bookshop.

  She said as much to Natalie, and the girl rode her wolf out of the shadows to lead the way into town. Rachel and Lily followed, while Josh brought up the rear. Ryan had left them at the edge of the forest, muttering about suicide missions. Rachel had asked him to go to Cinza's aid if he wasn't willing to face Omega, but she doubted he would be so magnanimous. Ryan was typically uncooperative, stubborn and selfish. They'd only managed to work together in the past due to their shared connections with Rika, but with how frayed and broken that relationship had become, Rachel doubted they'd ever repair it.

  Then again, Rachel hadn't expected him to take such an active role in the Summit. He'd been to all three of the brief meetings they'd held since the town hall, and even actively participated. Perhaps she judged him too harshly.

  The wolf started growling as they approached the street of Boris' shop. "Something's wrong," Natalie said, glancing over her shoulder at them. "Gwen's afraid."

  Rachel took a few steps forward around the corner, straining her eyes.

  The door to Boris' shop had been smashed to splinters. The windows were shattered into tiny shards, and even the frame looked buckled in and broken. Rachel crept forward ahead of Natalie, trying to peer inside. She needn't have bothered.

  The upstairs window blew outward in a shower of glass. A body was hurled out, tumbling through the air like a ragdoll. Rachel leapt back in fear and looked away. She didn't need to have another death burned into her memory forever—but to her surprise, there was no sickening impact on the pavement.

  Grey-eyes appeared in the street below the falling body. Her arms and shoulders bulged out with thick-corded muscles, and she gracefully caught the falling boy before he hit pavement. She let him down gently, and to Rachel's further shock he was alive, albeit winded and dazed. He collapsed a moment later. Grey-eyes' body quickly returned to her normal proportions.

  Omega appeared at the blasted out window, his dark complexion against the lit room and dark night sky making it impossible to see his face properly. Grey-eyes was glaring up at him with fury, which was enough to strike fear in Rachel's heart. Of the three, Grey-eyes had never involved herself in a real fight. If she stooped to their level, Rachel feared the entire town would be a pile of rubble in minutes.

  Rachel stepped forward, against all rational thought. "Stop this immediately," she called.

  Omega laughed bitterly. "I didn't start it."

  "Who did, Jackson?" Grey-eyes cried, moving in front of Zack and raising her fists. "Because it wasn't me."

  "We all did, and I'm ending it." He twisted a hand in a semi-circle, splaying his fingers wide. Another one of his terrifying golems grew out of the floorboards of the shop, like a plant on fast-forward bursting from the soil. It began to advance toward them, but after a few moments it halted—as if it were struggling against an invisible force.

  Omega looked over at Rachel's group with surprise. At Lily, Rachel realized with a shock, turning to her fiery-haired companion at her side. Lily's eyes were screwed up in exertion. She was muttering rapidly under her breath. Her hand shot out and pointed up at Omega. The golem turned and began to move back into the shop, knocking piles of books over heedlessly as it went.