Rain tapped away at the tin roof over our head. The brakeman’s hut smelled of oil and stale tobacco, but it was dry. Ash lay with her head in my lap. We held hands. Our teeth chattered.
I thought, I could really go for a cup of Radha’s hot milk tea right now.
And then I thought, My gods. Radha.
Connor.
“What?” Ash asked, when I sat up with a start.
I leaned forward, pressed my hands to my temples.
Thirty whole minutes had gone by, and I hadn’t thought about him once.
They took him. This beautiful kid, this boy with an incredible gift. They were going to take it away from him. If they didn’t do something way, way worse.
“What’s the matter?” Ash asked, sitting up, rubbing my back.
“It’s Connor,” I whispered, hating how much it hurt to say his name. “And Niv.”
I told her everything. The rhythm of the rain slowed down, in the time it took me to tell her. And then we just sat there. Something huge and heavy moved through the night outside our little hut—maybe a titanosaur, maybe a land dragon. Then it stopped, and let loose the most heart-rending wail. Like a foghorn on the edge of forever, crying out for ships that never come.
Ash stood.
“This is my fault,” she said. “Those Destroyers came looking for me.”
I took her hand, started to say, No, don’t say that, you couldn’t have known, it wasn’t even your choice to come to the Underbridge.
“We’ll get them,” she said, before I could get out a single word. “I promise you that.”
I believed her. I had no reason to, but I did. Something in her voice was unshakeable. I should have known right then and there what she was planning. What she was willing to do.
I wasn’t scared. I should have been, but I wasn’t. Ash and I were together, and together we were unstoppable.