I put my phone away and closed my eyes. I wanted Malcolm to be safe, but even more I wanted the comfort of knowing a named Neutrality had been restored. I couldn’t keep him safe if it meant losing that.
I did a handful of auguries before ten o’clock. The Nicolliens kept me busy until almost noon, by which time I was hungry from having eaten breakfast before 5:30 and tired from having woken half an hour before that. When the last Nicollien was gone, I said, “I forgot to bring lunch.”
“I’ll run to the market,” Judy said. “Do you want anything in particular?”
“Something substantial. A roast beef sandwich. And a pickle. And more Diet Coke. It’s going to be—”
I felt dizziness pass over me. They fall, the oracle said. Its voice reverberated through me.
“Another attack,” I managed. My tongue felt thick and choked my words. “I need to go.” I turned and ran for the oracle. If the Sanctuary was under attack, I needed to be close to the oracle even if it was capable of communicating from anywhere.
The dizziness passed the moment I stepped into the oracle’s space. “Who is it?” I demanded. “Is it the Sanctuary?”
He falls. It is gone. Danger. Seal the cracks.
I pulled out my phone, remembered there were no bars in the oracle, and shoved it back into my pocket. “Can we save Samudra the way we did Claude?”
Gone. He falls. See, the oracle said—
—and instantly I was elsewhere. The air was frigid and smelled of dust that made me sneeze. Tremors shook the earth, not little shivers but full-on quakes, and after the second one I fell to the ground, which was hard stone and not the cream linoleum of Abernathy’s. Screams filled the air, the ground tilted, and I was falling, flailing to stop myself and not catching hold of anything. Through the dust, I saw other falling figures. I rotated helplessly in the air, saw the ground rushing toward me at a frightening speed—
I blinked. I was back in Abernathy’s, on my knees and leaning against a bookcase for support. My throat felt as raw as if I’d screamed, but the air was clear of dust and smelled like raspberries. I sucked in air desperately until my heart rate slowed. “Was that…was I there?” I asked.
He falls. Helena falls. Five are gone, one remains.
I pressed my face against the smooth yellow wood of the bookcase and wept.
26
Eventually my tears ran dry, and I dragged myself to my feet, then clung to the bookcase to keep myself upright. My knees wobbled and I ached as if I’d been pummeled by the rocks in my vision, if that’s what it was. I couldn’t stop seeing the ground accelerating toward me at a terrifying rate. It made me wonder if I’d been in Samudra’s head, right up until just before the end. The thought sickened me, and I clenched my teeth hard and swallowed to keep from vomiting.
When my legs felt less like cooked pasta, I walked slowly through the aisles until I emerged from the oracle’s space. Judy waited there, her eyes wide and her phone in her hand. “What happened?”
“The Sanctuary is gone,” I said, and found I was trying to shed more tears. “I think they…I don’t know. It was physically destroyed, like by a bomb or something. They fell…fell off the side of the mountain. I saw it at the end.”
Judy closed her eyes and bowed her head. Then she looked at me with the bleakest expression I’d ever seen on her. “And now it’s just Abernathy’s,” she said. “What are we going to do? The invaders keep getting cleverer.”
“I don’t know. If they can restore the Well—”
“Mike texted me about the explosion. How likely is restoring it now?”
“I don’t know,” I repeated. “Judy, I’ve never felt this discouraged in my life.”
Judy let out a deep breath. “I’m getting lunch,” she said. “We need food before we face whatever disaster strikes next. Go get a Diet Coke and sit for a while. It’s already been a long day.”
I nodded. “Thanks.”
When Judy was gone, I did as she’d suggested and went to the break room for a drink. I sat at the little table and sipped my Diet Coke and let my mind wander. Positive things: Viv was alive and looked likely to stay that way. The magi had gone into the Well and come back out unharmed. Claude hadn’t been killed. I clung to those thoughts and refused to dwell on anything else.
My phone rang. It was Lucia. “What happened to the Sanctuary?” I asked before she could speak.
“Don’t know yet,” Lucia said. She didn’t sound fazed by my abruptness. “That is, we know the outcropping it was built on cracked and fell off the mountain. No survivors—unless you pulled off another miracle?”
“No.” I wiped my eyes. “Not this time.”
“At any rate, we don’t know how the invaders got past the wards, but my theory is that they tunneled through the outcropping outside the wards and let gravity do the rest. Which is a sickening thought, and I’ve got stone magi reevaluating Abernathy’s wards so it doesn’t collapse into a sinkhole.”
That frightened me, but in a distant way, something I was already too overwhelmed to worry about. “So the Sanctuary is gone.”
“Sort of. Reports from Chowdhury say the node is still there, but it’s hovering about a mile off the ground and is no use to anyone. But the invaders may have drained it by the time Chowdhury can get a team in place. So I’m not counting on that.”
It was like the universe was conspiring against me. One piece of bad news after another. “Please tell me everything is all right with Khalil al-Hussein’s team?”
Lucia sighed. “Still no word, but I’m not worried. Al-Hussein is the independent type who’s likely not to call until he knows every last detail of the solution to his problem. Look, are you going to be all right? This is a lot to take in.”
“I’m not all right, but I refuse to be afraid. I’m sure the oracle will warn me if anything else happens.”
“That sounds like bravado, but I’ll take it.” Lucia sighed again. “Don’t hesitate to call if something else comes up. Henry left here about five minutes ago, so expect him soon.”
I said goodbye and hung up. The bells over the front door jingled, and shortly Judy appeared with a plastic bag. “Roast beef, pickle, and a slab of carrot cake,” she said. “Not as good as homemade, but it smelled good enough, and you could use the carbs.”
“I’m not sure that’s true, but thanks.” I took a bite of my sandwich and inhaled deeply the mingled scents of rich meat, sharp pickle, and sweet and tangy cream cheese frosting.
Judy divided her attention between her pastrami sandwich and her phone. “Mike again,” she said. “We’re making plans for when I move in tonight. I don’t have any furniture except that cabinet in the bathroom, so it won’t take long. Unless…would you mind if I took the dishes? You paid for them, after all.”
“I don’t mind. I’d rather someone used them.” I took a bite of my pickle, which was crisp and sour and delicious. “I’m a little sad thinking of Silas’s apartment not being occupied anymore. It’s so beautiful.”