FIFTY

Something cold and wet sniffed at her face. Rachel opened her eyes. “Hello, Caesar.” The black wolf blinked great yellow eyes. His jaw opened in a canine grin.

“Hey, goat.” Captain Lewis squatted down. “How you feeling?”

“Goat?” Rachel squinted against the dull sun as she propped up onto her elbows. They were in the middle of trees. Rachel recognized the needles of several cedar of Lebanon saplings, standing about her height. We must be in The Weatherman’s territory. Close to home. How’d I get here?

“Yeah. It’s what we call people who faint when they see blood or freak out during combat. Still,” he said with a grin, “you did alright for your first encounter.” He held up a finger. “Sorry, the moose. So, your second.”

“Right.” Her head pounded like a hangover. She didn’t feel like explaining that she’d saved Dido by using an enormous amount of etemmu. He’d never believe her. “And you’re not hurt?” He had scabs along his neck, but long sleeves covered any marks on his arms.

“Nah. Just something to add to my other scars.” He shrugged as if it didn’t mean anything. “I did a tour in the Middle East, caught frag from a landmine. Also tore my shoulder open during a training exercise. Now I’ve been attacked by angry lab rats.”

Rachel looked around. Caesar stood by a tree to the right. “Where are Adam and Dido?”

“They went ahead.”

Rachel struggled to her feet. “You let him go alone?”

“It’s not far to your homestead and we weren’t sure how long you’d be out.” He tilted his head. “I carried you here. Figured we should leave before those—what did you call them?”

“Energy vultures.” Muscles ached. Sweat broke out on her forehead. “They aren’t bad, you know. They clean up the psychic debris. The etemmu.”

He snorted, put his hands on his hips. “Ah, your ‘good mutation’ theory.”

“Yes, Captain. Believe me that it wasn’t an easy theory to accept.” Rachel swallowed. Should she tell him how Adam died? He refused to believe her before, so what was the point? “Let’s walk.”

Caesar bounded ahead through the trees. Captain Lewis slowed his pace to match hers. Rachel felt better with each step, but so tired. As soon as I get home I’m falling into bed for three days straight.

“I’ll listen.”

“What?” Rachel turned to look at him in surprise.

“In a few minutes we’ll never see each other again. Go ahead and lay your theory on me. I won’t interrupt.”

“My theory,” she said. “The firestorm released a tremendous amount of energy. That energy can be harnessed in ways never imagined, or at least not by modern society, so it looks like magic. Instead of being curious, New Babylon dictates—black and white—that anything nonhuman is a mutation. And then wants to destroy it.”

He shook his head. “That’s not what New Babylon is about. We’re building a successful civilization.” He held up his hand and ticked off the list. “You need competition, science, the right to property, modern medicine, consumerism, and a dedicated work ethic.”

She sighed. “Maybe that’s what New Babylon thinks human society needs, but we aren’t the only ones on Earth anymore. Ancient beings called Nephilim—half-gods—were here and now they’re back. They manipulate etemmu. They’re creating individual territories, forming a chessboard for war.” Pieces of information spun in her mind as they walked, but Rachel needed time to think. She wanted to sit down with chalk and paper and sort it out until she could see the pattern.

Captain Lewis scoffed. “Come on. This isn’t a religious thing. It’s about the human race surviving a natural disaster.”

“New Babylon is a military regime full of harsh judgments. The only thing I’ve seen is their leader’s drive to get everyone exactly alike and kill anything or anyone that is different.”

She watched his jaw clench. “And, since we’re being honest, I know why you’re walking me home. Why you’re so grateful.”

“I’m repaying—”

“Whatever.” Rachel stopped walking and shook a finger in his face. “You’re repaying the fact that your beloved Consularis Sharma would have killed you on sight if you’d shown up with that black-moose-mutation crap on your face. That’s why you were so relieved to be healed. So you can go home, too.”

“You’re blaming me for being happy to be healed?”

Rachel’s shoulders slumped in exasperation. “No. And I hope you’re not blaming me for being happy that you killed the two-headed moose mutation. I’m not claiming all changes are good or all changes are bad because I’ve seen both since I left Hiraeth. What I am claiming is that the changes aren’t random, just because we don’t understand.” Her stomach clenched. By her logic, the rats weren’t random. Waking up to hoofbeats. The tank. The energy vultures. “Why did the rats attack us?”

“Because they’re mutants.” He made a face like he thought she was stupid.

“So, you acknowledge that something weird is going on?”

“Yes, there are mutations in plants and animals.”

She pointed to his face. “This wasn’t a virus, Captain Lewis. You know that.”

The moment stretched. “Yes,” he admitted.

“You became a mutation.” Rachel pressed. “Etemmu is a real thing. Mr. Lee, that man with the whip, was collecting it. Did you see the blue lightning?”

“Yes.” It was a whisper.

“I think the rats were sent to kill us for a very specific reason.” Rachel swallowed. “The Consularis hates me. And you’d been infected with an imbalance of etemmu. And Adam, well, Adam is special. We were bait. All of us would die, the energy vultures would come.” She swallowed. How would the rats collect their etemmu? Was Mr. Lee nearby?

Rachel faced Captain Lewis. “There weren’t any jars. There didn’t have to be. Because Ba’al was right there. That’s what woke me up before the attack.” Rachel ran a hand through her auburn hair. Yes, there had been a definite plan. She remembered Tamaki’s story about the New Babylon soldiers who’d come to her hometown. How they’d responded to her refusal to join them by saying, “You’ll be food for the Bull.” She’d been thinking that Ba’al and New Babylon and Mr. Lee were all separate threats, but they weren’t. Could Consularis Sharma really be that much of a hypocrite? To work for a god while denouncing mutations? Rachel shivered. She’d seen his true face at her table. He was a monster hiding in plain sight. “Other people know about Ba’al too. I’m not making this up.” Rachel reached forward to tap his chest. “But here’s the kicker. Your beloved consularis didn’t care if you died.”

Color rushed into Captain’s Lewis’s cheeks. “I’m the consularis’ second. Hell, I’m engaged to his daughter.”

Caesar stopped walking and pricked up his ears. Soon Rachel could hear it too. Something was running toward them. She reached for her knife.

“Hey guys,” Adam said, bursting through the trees. He grinned. “You’re taking forever.” Dido stood by Adam’s knee with her pink tongue hanging out. “Come on. There’s this old guy waiting at our house. He says slugs could walk faster than you.”

Rachel frowned. She only knew of only one old man in the area who talked like that. It wouldn’t do to keep him waiting. “You heard my son. Let’s go, Captain.”

As they crossed the clearing, Rachel saw Scott’s backpack hanging from a tree. “Tamaki?” Rachel said. She looked around as if she might see the Asian girl. “Go ahead,” she said to the captain, “I’ll be right there.”

When he was farther up the path, Rachel unzipped the backpack and pulled out the letter stuffed in. Written on a torn out piece of Rachel’s sketchbook was a message from Tamaki: Something happened and I have to leave. Thank you for taking care of me. I owe you so much, but I need one more favor. Please take care of what’s in here until we see each other again. WHATEVER YOU DO, DON’T TRUST NEW BABYLON.

Tamaki had left. Sadness swept through Rachel and she leaned against Scott’s tree. It felt like every time she started to make a home, it was disrupted. Rachel reached into the backpack and her hand touched something smooth. What could make Tamaki leave Saki? And how long has the poor turtle-penguin been in here with no food? She pulled the smooth object out. “Ohhh,” Rachel breathed, realizing that what she’d thought was the turtle shell was an egg the size of a softball. “Saki’s a mom.” She cradled the egg close to her heart. Tamaki had taken Saki as a companion, but left the special egg for safekeeping.

“Are you coming?” Captain Lewis asked. He’d returned along the path and was tapping his foot.

“Yes.” Rachel hid the egg back in the backpack and zipped it shut before slinging it over her shoulder.

They hurried up the worn, familiar path to the house, Rachel edging in front.

The front door swung open. The Weatherman stood there—finger pointing right at them. “Oh no. Not him.”