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.Haley looked at Orin.His face was creased even in unconsciousness.The Queen hadn’t even been close and he’d been pushed under.She said, “Something tells me there probably aren't enough Alchemists in the entire state to stop her.”Deshi.Haley’s RHage stirred.The sensation inside her chest like something alive.“Take Orin.” She looked at Maze.“Get him to a hospital.Make sure they keep him warm.” She got up and his hand closed on her arm.“Where are you going?” His eyes were still calculating and shrewd, but he’d lost some of the color in his cheeks and smelled of fear.“Nidia is not going to stop.” Haley looked back at the cops, then Maze.“Do you understand what I’m telling you? She’s going to kill everyone in the Dens, then she’s going to come topside.”“How do you know?”It was a really good question.A superb one, in fact.Thing was, Haley had no idea.Then her RHage rolled and the force of it made her catch her breath.“Trust me.Get them out of here.” She nodded toward the crowd of cops.At least the ambulance she called for was still here.It arrived five minutes after she called Maze and ten before the cops.Sarah Drew still sat on the tail gate nodding her head and answering questions.She was shocky, but considering the circumstances, very lucky to be alive.Maze made a sound and his eyes peeled wide.Behind him some of the cops froze with their mouths open, faces drawn with fear.Not wanting to look but powerless to stop herself, Haley turned.The main entrance of the Athens’ Hive was a real honest to God cave, and a big one to boot.Whether or not the thing had been artificially constructed through metaphysics or pushed from the ground by nature was something to be argued by geologists.If they were brave enough to get that close.While the mound of rock wasn’t all that tall, the width of the mouth could have served as a hanger for Boeing’s best.And the inkwell of blackness beyond the opening surged as a form broke through the pooling darkness, illuminated in faint lines of red and blue from the light bars on the police cruisers.“Jesus Christ.” The sentiment was echoed over and over by everyone there as Nidia filled the opening.A deep rumble shook the ground and sent sleeping animals fleeing into the dark.Even in the heavy shadows Haley could see there was something wrong with the way her head looked.The scales were gone on the right, and so was most of the muscle.Thick cords of scar tissue folded down her jaw and covered most of the eye.Which explained why she kept her head tilted, so there was no blind spot.Just looking at the Queen sent any hope of stopping her right out Haley’s mental window.Nidia’s one silvery eye glowed so bright it cast its own shadows.She said, “Haley….” And her lips drew back, flashing long serrated teeth.They looked like something belonging to a sawzall, made for tearing flesh with the most amount of pain.Haley stood her ground only because her body was totally numb.Nidia came forward, the darkness of the cave breaking over her massive neck and folding down around her shoulders.Then she stopped.Thank God she stopped.One wing was almost completely gone, the same with the right front leg.Haley was pretty sure the mass of scars would go all the way down her side, and maybe that was the only reason Nidia wasn’t lunging into an attack.“Come here, Child.I have something for you…something you value…” The ragged remains of the Queen’s right leg came down and somehow supported her massive size.Her good arm extended and she opened her taloned hand.A pale and tattered shape lay crumpled in her palm.“Give me the RHage and I will spare your life, the life of these Chetrah, and you can have him…” Her palm tipped forward and in a flash of gray Baroni suit and blond hair, Deshi spilled into the grass.But living things didn’t move in such a fluid state.The pain in Haley’s chest stripped the air out of her lungs.Nidia’s massive head came forward and even though she was still at the mouth of the Hive, she might as well be inches away.Her presence was a palpable force making the air as thick and real as flesh.“Haley…” Her silver eye glowed red.“Give me what I want, and you have my word: your life and all of Athens will go untouched.” But she didn’t promise Deshi’s.Because there was nothing left to promise.“Deny me and I will turn this city into a burnt-out shell.”Haley blinked while she stared at the crumpled form in the thick grass.She went forward, not because she was brave or because she thought she could save the Jersey City Prince, but because she had to do what it was going to take to stop the killing.If the stupid Queen wanted the RHage she could have it.All this tragedy wasn’t worth something so trivial.A thrum kicked up in Nidia’s chest, shaking the air.She flicked her claw and sent Deshi rolling down the hill.He pooled at the bottom.The black across his body wasn’t shadow but ichor.Bits of skin and gaping wounds flashed beneath tattered remains of his expensive clothes.Haley was supposed to keep going, but when she got to Prince she fell next to him, her knees soaking up the blood he leaked into the grass.Deshi.Beautiful Deshi.His chest rose ever so slightly, but most of his breath just bubbled out his side.Haley touched his face, his lips, and his eyes fluttered open [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]