The inside of Buddy’s car smelled like him: spearmint and coffee. Fuzzy blue dice hung ironically from his rearview mirror. I blinked tired, tear-blurred eyes at the small town before me. Nothing was as it seemed. I had been deceived for so long. Jagged thoughts spiraled through my heart, ripping me open further every second. Images of Buddy on a floor covered in his blood. Allison beside him. Her limp body flung over a monster’s shoulders.
I couldn’t separate the feelings of responsibility from reality. My grade school friends had been murdered for sharing my birthday. Now my boss was dead. My best friend was abducted. Allison and Buddy had been helpless against things unseen. I saw, and I’d done nothing. And the monsters wanted Justin, too.
A whimper escaped my quivering lips. I wiped tears with my blood-soaked shirt, unintentionally streaking my face like a warrior. I sobbed at my reflection in Buddy’s mirror. I’d wrung my hands in the fabric before touching Buddy’s steering wheel. I was ruining his car. Buddy had loved his car. Another sob racked my aching body. He’d loved the deli. He’d loved our town. I ran one wrist under my stinging eyes and dripping nose. Everything I touched ended with blood. With death.
The replica Civil War era streetlights did little to illuminate the night-cloaked roads. I refused to turn on my headlights, terrified of what attention they might bring. The Jetta pulled through town at a crawl, surrounded by darkened lawns and homes masked in shadows. Unless the Stians left town, I could find Allison here. Zoar was in my blood. Every hay bale, every Mail Pouch barn, every landmark for miles burned in my memory. The neighbors were my friends. I grew up with their kids. This was my home.
The ravens perched on mirroring light posts as I crept down the street in Buddy’s Jetta. As I passed, they launched in synchronized flight, landing moments later on the next set of lights, like a creepy parade route made for me. I screamed and clamped a palm over my mouth when my phone vibrated against my leg. I wiggled it free from my pocket and tears fell over the screen. Liam.
Two words. Deli Closed.
My head shook left and right as I typed one handed, navigating the narrow roads with the other. Gone.
I swallowed a brick of heartbreak. They were gone.
My phone rang. I wiped my eyes with my bloody sleeve and the screen of my phone with my fingertips. Liam.
“Hello,” I croaked. I pressed the speaker function, freeing my texting hand to clear my eyes like a human windshield wiper. The blood on my vibrating hands had thinned to pale pink, diluted by tears.
“Where are you?” His voice was salve to my broken heart.
“In Buddy’s Jetta. I’m looking for Allison. They took her.” I sucked in short breaths, unable to find composure. The road before me opened into a wide stretch of country. The speed limit increased, but I couldn’t take the chance of missing the Stians where they lurked. I fumbled one hand over the buttons and levers, searching for parking lights. The loss of streetlights slowed me to a crawl. Every second they had Allison was a second I lost to those bastards. I pounded the wheel.
“She’s hurt. She’s bleeding. She hit her head.” I pressed the gas pedal a tiny bit farther as I wound through a section of road with tree-dense hills on my left and a ravine on the right. “Buddy’s dead. They cut him in half.” Each word stood on its own.
The roar of an engine blared through my phone. “Where are you?”
“Passing the ravine outside of town.”
“Pull over.”
“No.”
“Callie, don’t be ridiculous.”
My mood changed. Fury coursed through my veins. “Where were you? I texted you. We needed you.”
“I know. I’m sorry.” The pain in his voice broke my heart again. If I survived the night physically, I’d never return emotionally. There was no coming back.
“Oliver stopped returning my texts an hour ago. When I couldn’t reach Justin either, I went to his home and his parents informed me Justin and some of his friends took the horses out.”
His friends. Oh, no. No. No. Not Justin, too. “Which friends?”
“We don’t know. Oliver is the only one of us unaccounted for. I gathered the Mahonings and went to the trails where Justin took Oliver and me riding. Reception is awful. We found no signs of Oliver or Justin, so the Mahonings and I parted ways when I got your messages. I went straight to the deli and called you when I found it closed. The Mahonings divided. Some will rally the clans at Hale Manor. Others will clean up the diner and get your friend’s body to a proper hospital. The rest will join me shortly.”
“What if they kill her?” I couldn’t lose Allison. I couldn’t. I wouldn’t. I pressed the pedal harder.
Headlights appeared in my rearview mirror, racing toward me at twice my speed.
“I see you,” Liam said. “Now pull over.”
“No.”
“Callie. Listen to me. Pull. Over.”
“No.” I sobbed and wiped tears in a panic. If I stopped, I’d never find her. If I stopped, she’d die. If I stopped, I might never start again. My heart thundered awkwardly. I couldn’t survive this. This time the words rang true in my desperation.
I would die tonight.
“Callie? What’s happening?”
I pulled the Jetta into the grass at the ravine’s edge. Tears stopped forming. Numbness erased the pain. Liam parked beside my door and jumped out. He ripped my door open and gasped.
“You’re going to the hospital. The others can go without me.” He unbuckled the seat belt I didn’t remember buckling and lifted me into his arms.
“S’not my blood.”
He opened his passenger door and slid me inside his car. My head lolled against the seat. Eerie peace climbed over me. Liam touched my head, neck, ribs, and abdomen with careful fingers.
“Oh, praise Zeus.” He cracked open a water bottle and poured it over my head.
“Ah!”
“There you go. I can’t find any wounds. Are you certain this isn’t your blood? None of it? Are you positive?”
“Caw!” The ravens landed on the hood of Liam’s car, peering through the windshield at us. “Caw!”
“Yes. I’m not hurt.”
Liam sighed and fell to his knees beside the car. He examined the pair of enormous birds on the hood. “Fine. Change of plans. You’ll stay at Hale Manor and I’ll assign you a protective duty.”
The ravens beat their wings.
“No.”
Liam’s face twisted into an ugly scowl. “Yes.”
“If I’m going to die tonight. I’d rather be with you than a group of strangers in the house I’ve feared for my entire life.”
“What do you mean, if you die tonight?”
“Caw!”
“Shut. Up,” he snapped at the birds.
“Please, take me with you to find Allison. I want her to know I tried. You can save her. You can help her forget.”
“Why do you think you will die?”
I shook my head. How could I explain it? I knew this was my last night as surely as I knew I loved him. It didn’t matter how either came to pass, only that both were true. How I spent my final hours would say so much more than words ever could. I wanted people to remember I’d fought for what was right. I’d stood by my friends. I’d loved.
Liam closed my door and got behind the wheel. “Are you sure the Stians went this way?”
“No. They started this way, but it took me too long to get moving. They could be anywhere.”
The ravens lifted off the hood, flying a few yards away from the headlights.
The car moved swiftly over dark country roads, hugging curves and sailing over mountainsides. My phone buzzed and Liam snagged it from my hand. My fingers ached from the grip I had on it. I stretched and curled them in my lap.
He pulled over. “Allison?”
I sat straighter.
“Very well.” He tossed the phone in my lap and retrieved his from the cup holder. “They have them at the Dover Dam. We’re about three minutes away. She’s with me. Alive.” He peered at me from the corner of his eye. The muscles in his jaw ticked.
Our car swerved onto the road, tossing gravel behind us. “You will stay in the car when we arrive at the dam. The Stians don’t know your importance to me. If they did, you’d be with Allison right now. Don’t think for a moment about leaving the car. Putting yourself in harm’s way won’t help her and it will distract me.”
I couldn’t agree or disagree. My harried mind slid over horrid memories of Buddy in pieces and worse possibilities in my immediate future.
“Tell me you’ll stay.” Liam turned his face to mine, ignoring the road.
I stared ahead blindly.
Liam growled. “Your involvement will cost lives, Callie. Guaranteed. Do you understand? Stay in the car.” He parked alongside the dam and kissed my cheek. “I’ll return with your friends.”
I shook my head. His words were lies.
“I assure you. There is a plan here. We’re old and wise. Don’t be afraid.” He kissed my temple. Tears squeezed free from the corner of his eyes. “Your love has strengthened me, as Allison’s has strengthened Oliver. We owe you, and we’ll right this imbalance as we were called to do. You must trust.”
I nodded.
Liam hesitated before shutting his door and jogging into the night.
The roar of water from the dam penetrated the window between us. Liam’s car sat alone on the roadside, cooling in the cold autumn night. The moon was a sliver of white beneath a blanket of grey. Clouds sped across the sky on harsh autumn wind.
My phone buzzed. Allison’s face appeared on the screen. A text. On the dam.
I leaned my forehead against the glass for a better view. The monstrous cement dam stood tall over pounding waters. Trees loomed at the river’s frothy edge. A small set of stairs wound down from the road to a narrow walkway where a metal guardrail separated tourists and fishermen from their deaths. A second set of stairs led up. Those stairs gave access to a small maintenance building on the dam and stopped at a ladder. The ladder rungs led to a thin cement walkway atop the structure. The ladder had haunted me as a child. I’d worried for the workers on duty and people who ventured out for a dangerous thrill. Mom had assured me no one ever climbed the ladder unless completely necessary. I hadn’t believed her. Tiny movements on the sky-high walkway caught my attention. Tonight the ladder was necessary.
The ravens flew in wide circles overhead.
I texted Liam. On the dam. Then I climbed from his car, covered in Buddy’s blood and gooseflesh as the wind ripped through my wet clothes. Allison’s scream pierced the night. I moved toward the ominous metal ladder on silent feet, pulled by destiny, broken by imminent loss. Recognition dawned. Hers was the scream that woke me every night. Somehow, I’d known this night was coming for us.
My eyes and ears strained against the darkness and roaring waters. A blink of green ignited over the dam. Thunder rolled. This was it. Rain pelted the ground, burning my frozen skin with each icy torpedo. Clouds thickened in the sky like smoke, masking the sliver of moon. I slid on gravel, stumbling and falling before hitting the concrete path around the dam. A sign with information for tourists stood before me. The maintenance building was protected by a chain link fence. The gate swung open in the wind. A large padlock lay broken on the ground. Wind whipped hair into my eyes.
“Release them.” Liam’s voice carried in the air.
“Nice of you to show up, Watcher.” The voice from the diner, Calder, stung my ears.
I stayed in the shadows on the deck below the maintenance catwalk, where the men spoke. Leaning over the edge provided a view of the gathering above me. Liam wasn’t in sight, but a knot of large silhouettes stood near the railing over my head.
“It is my duty,” Liam responded. “Release the humans. Return my brother. Do this and avoid war.”
The group chuckled.
I edged to a stop directly beneath them. The water twenty feet below was deep and angry.
“In case you haven’t noticed,” the first voice boomed, “the Stians are in charge now. The Hales are no more. Zeus has removed his favor from you and we have grown in number. We came to stop the prophecy, but this is better. With no more Hales, the prophecy means nothing. We’ll meet each new Viking. They’ll join us and I’ll rule them. Your balance is over.”
The group raised their arms to heaven.
“Show us your favor,” their spokesman called.
Lightning struck the metal beam above me. The clansmen roared in approval.
“Release the humans and I’ll come with you.” Liam shouted against the thunder.
They laughed.
“You won’t surrender. I’ll take your life with my hands and be rewarded with great victory!” White light flashed overhead. “We battle.”
“I won’t.” Liam’s voice was steady and calm. “Release the humans.”
“As you wish.” The crowd parted and a man, two heads taller than the rest, lifted something over the edge of the little wall. My stomach churned.
The sky blinked in small silver strikes over the water. Justin dangled in the air, unresponsive. I pressed both hands to my mouth. The Viking grabbed his wrists in one hand, waiting for the order. I was Justin’s only hope. I swung trembling legs over the guardrail beside me, keeping my eyes on Justin. I couldn’t afford to look down. Twenty feet wouldn’t kill us. The pounding water would drown Justin. He was knocked out cold, or worse. He couldn’t survive. My last hope was that the Hales were right and if I failed, he’d still rise and lead them.
“Stop,” Liam called.
“Tell us what he and the girl mean to you. She’s not a nymph. We’ve checked her body for the mark.”
I leaned forward, gripping the icy metal rail in my palms. Forcing away thoughts of Vikings checking Allison’s body for my rune.
I focused on Justin. The minute he dropped, I’d go after him.
The ravens circled in the flashing sky.
“You’re weak before us because you don’t partake of the Viking life. You deserve no honor. Your brothers deserve no honor. Tonight, Stians change destiny.”
The crowd roared.
Justin fell.
“No!” I flung myself from the railing, pushing off with strong legs toward the dark waters below. White foam spit and swirled at the base of the dam. There was no splash, only the angry roaring of water and pounding thunder of the sky. Justin disappeared a moment before my hands broke the surface behind him. Angry water cut my skin like a thousand blades of ice.
My hands hit something solid and I fisted my fingers around the thing, kicking against the current before the waters tossed us into the dam and killed us both. My right arm was weak against the rushing water. The undercurrent pulled me down, forcing what I had hoped was Justin out of my grasp.
I turned in all directions, seeking the surface. Darkness enveloped me. Every direction looked the same. Striking out for the surface, I knocked into a wide mass and grabbed tight. Pounding water shoved the remaining air from my lungs and a rock or limb caught in the flow blasted me in the face. Kicking with fervor reserved for saving a life, my face found air. Talons ripped into my shoulders.
“Caw!”
Justin’s lifeless body bounced beside me in the foam. A raven towed me to shore, as I pulled Justin behind. The moment my knees hit grass, I went to work. Years of lifeguard training kicked in and I breathed for him, counted, pressed and breathed. Muscle memory kept me on course. Mindless CPR.
Water dribbled from his mouth, but he didn’t move.
“Justin!” I pounded weak fists against his unmoving chest and the ravens swooped between us, forcing me back. They formed a barrier with their great ebony wings and opened their beaks in protest.
“Caw!” They beat a menacing rhythm.
I stumbled in the wet grass, sobbing and wishing for something to throw at the infuriating mythical birds.
“Caw! Caw!”
Between their shiny wings, Justin’s hand lay still as stone. Between their ugly complaints, I heard heartbreaking silence. Unable to penetrate their inhuman protest, I climbed the muddied bank to the walkway I’d visited with friends, parents, and on field trips. I prayed the ravens protected Justin now, though it was unclear what two birds could do. If he wasn’t breathing… I stifled a sob. If he wasn’t breathing, then he’d rise again soon. He wouldn’t die the way I would. Justin was more than I would ever be. I nodded to comfort myself. The ravens were guarding him, but Allison was still lost. I pulled myself together, embracing the icy wind on my skin, allowing the cold to snap my mind into focus.
I inched through the swinging gate at the maintenance building and wrapped shaking fingers around the metal ladder once more. I couldn’t pull her from the water if they dropped her. I was spent. My muscles ached and shook, unwilling to carry me farther, but without an option. A bolt of lightning struck the trees beside the water, splitting the great timbers. My feet pushed me upward. Rung by rung, I moved toward my destiny. My final breath. Thunder shook the world, rattling the ladder. I held tight and hurried to the walkway above.
Electrocuted on a metal ladder wouldn’t be a valiant way to die, but I wondered. If warriors went to Valhalla, could I join them? Did nymphs have the same right as Vikings? Would I one day see the Hales, and later, Justin, if I made it to Valhalla and waited for them?
I crawled along the walkway, hidden in the shadow of a stout wall three blocks high. The barrier was probably meant as a guide to keep workers from falling over the edge. The drop from this point was eighty-five feet, according to the sign on the ground. I’d read the dam’s details a dozen times in my life. Below, raging waters churned and beat against the dam. Lightning struck and the world glowed, illuminating a line of Vikings I recognized from the deli tonight, plus Adam and his henchmen from earlier this week. The Stians were less than twenty feet away with Liam just outside their reach, staring defiantly back at them. If I waved, I might draw his attention, but he’d warned me distraction would mean death.
Through the crowd’s legs, Allison sat propped against the wall. I hurried closer, sticking close to the wall, praying she was alive and I might go unnoticed. Liam growled and I froze.
“Who’s this?” Calder moved toward me in slow calculated steps, as if I might explode.
“I don’t know.” Liam turned away, disgusted.
“And yet, she’s here.” The monster who’d dropped Justin erased the space between us and pulled me by my hair to my feet. “Why are you here?”
Tears welled in my eyes and lodged in my throat. “You took my friend.”
“Hmph.” He rubbed his chin. “Now we have two women to share.”
The men laughed.
Liam stared at the leader with indifference. “No more humans, Stian. I warned you.”
“You don’t warn me.”
The man tossed me into the air. I hit the ground with a sickening thud. Wind rushed from my lungs and I gasped for breath. My arms and legs stung where cement ripped through my clothes and flesh. Allison stared, unmoving.
“Allison.” I scrambled onto my knees and crawled to her side. I checked for new injuries. Her skin was as pale as the moon and blood coated her neck and shoulders from her fall at the deli. “Can you hear me?” I pressed my icy cheek to hers, listening for breath. “Your breathing’s too shallow. Stay awake. Can you speak?”
Lightning flashed on the heels of thunder and she winced. Good. She wasn’t completely knocked out. Mom would say a concussion. A purple welt lined her forehead where it had hit the counter. I touched my head on instinct. I’d had a similar mark not long ago. The back of Allison’s head rounded with a goose egg.
Men argued behind me. The Stian leader demanded a battle. Liam demanded they release the humans. No one paid attention to us. I pulled Allison against my chest. Looping my arms under hers, I scooted down the walkway above the dam, away from the danger and begged the gods to intervene. Send the other clans to help Liam.
A whisper came in the night, sweeping past my ears. “Calypso.”
The nymphs huddled at the end of the walkway, motioning me to keep moving in their direction. I worked harder, praying Allison had a chance. Praying Justin would rise again. Promising, if he did, I’d lead with him. I’d fulfill the prophecy and accept a broken heart for the sake of saving the others. I’d rule with Justin if it saved Liam’s life and returned the balance. I’d do anything. Give anything.
“Stop!” A clansman pointed in my direction and marched toward me.
“No!” Liam screamed. He moved faster than I could follow, appearing before the man. Liam hoisted the Viking over the dam’s edge and released him.
Screams rose from the Stians and they barreled down on Liam. Allison grew heavy in my arms. I pressed my eyelids together in prayer. A boulder rolled onto the walkway, knocking men into the small wall and crumbling the barrier into pieces where it hit. A hundred screams joined the thunder. Vikings climbed over the railing and onto the walkway’s edge, scaling ropes nearly transparent in the shadows. They crept free from cement crevices and between girders, all swinging heavy weaponry and tearing into the Stians. They’d been hiding beneath us, waiting for the right moment to attack. My heart soared with hope and thanks.
“Hurry.” A blond nymph appeared at my side, lifting Allison’s feet. “I’m Isla. Let’s go.”
We struggled with Allison’s weight, dodging shards of metal and chunks of battle debris on the walkway as we moved in hurricane-force winds. Thunder and lightning transformed the sky. Trees snapped with electricity. The heavens opened and a storm poured out in a deluge of hail and rain, pummeling the earth.
I gasped in horror as the Mahonings captured a Stian and lifted him to the edge of the wall. How many would go over the dam tonight? How many would live? Would they come out of the water and find Justin alive? A Viking ran for the Mahonings, swinging his great light sword. The allied clans fell at a frightening rate. The Stians were far more powerful than the Hales’ army. The Hales needed a leader.
Oliver ran to my side, tall and strong. He lifted Allison into his arms. “Thank you. You’re brave, Callie Ingram. I am indebted.”
“Look out!” A scream ripped through Isla and she fell at my feet, cut across the middle like Buddy. Blood pooled from her torso. Blank eyes stared at me. My limbs shook.
Oliver presented his sword and fought Isla’s killer with Allison in one arm. Lars Mahoning caught the opponent at his knees and the two tumbled.
Oliver lay Allison at my feet. “Stay with her. I’m sorry. I’ll be back.” He gave her one last look and cut through Isla’s killer before the fight moved closer, enveloping him in the mix.
I grabbed Allison again and dragged her with me, sliding, and falling in Isla’s blood before finding a steady footing in the wind. Allison groaned.
“Are you awake?” I yelled into her ear.
“I hurt.”
“Can you walk?”
She nodded weakly.
“Okay. Stay with me. Walk.” She put weight on her feet and I supported her body.
A great roar behind us sent fear through my bones. The sound was so near I didn’t dare turn around for fear it would swallow us whole. Allison’s knees buckled and we fell. I scrambled to lift her in another way.
“You.” Adam glared down the end of a long lighted sword.
I blocked his view of Allison, widening my arms at my sides. “What do you want with her?”
“You’re the center of this, not her. I saw you with Liam at the deli, and you’re Justin’s friend.” An evil smile slid over his lips. “Were Justin’s friend.” He tapped the light sword on my chest.
“Gah!” It sizzled, cutting through the material and burning the skin beneath my shirt.
“You found us here tonight. You had Tony killed. And Canin.”
I didn’t know Canin. Was he the one who attacked me outside my home?
“The ravens follow you.” He dug his blade into my sternum.
My hands wrapped around it on instinct, burning and slicing my palms.
“I will lead the Stians now. I see what they missed. You’re the nymph who’ll rule with the Viking. When I carry your dead body to them on my sword, they’ll bow to me. I’ll end the prophecy by ending you.”
Adam reared his arm back and thrust the sword through the air between us. Searing pain punched through me. My heart gave an awkward thud. Something snapped and I lost feeling in my legs. Fierce lightning illuminated my world. Liam’s face in the distance confirmed my intuition. I wouldn’t recover from this. Anguish marred his beautiful features. Fear widened his eyes and panic twisted his regal mouth in heartrending ways. These were clearly not emotions he had regular use for, unlike me. I knew fear too well. Fear of failure. Fear of loss. Fear of betrayal and in that moment, fear I’d never again feel the warmth of his breath on my skin. Behind me, Allison gurgled. A sound I’d heard twice more tonight. Once when Buddy had defended me with his sword and once when Isla had come to my rescue. My stomach knotted. Not Allison, too. Numbness weighted my face, chest and hands.
She’d die because I knelt before her. Killed by a sword meant for me.
* * * *
Darkness overcame me. The thunder subsided. Only the irregular thumps of my stuttering heart remained. A moment later, there was silence. I pulled in a breath too deep to be real. Feeling returned in my toes. The pain through my chest dissolved. The black sky split open, emitting light brighter than the sun. I squinted against it. My body rose to its feet without my intent.
“Calypso.” A great voice boomed over me. “You were chosen in your mother’s womb to lead these men. Her love for you has blessed your path. It is your destiny.”
My mind snapped to attention. “Zeus,” I whispered.
“I promised to care for Nike’s people when she and her brothers came to stay with me. I am the god of gods. I am bound by honor to keep my promise. These Vikings are offspring of Nike’s brethren. They are mine to protect. They are yours to manage. May you lead them to Valhalla.”
What? “I can’t lead Vikings!” I screamed into the light.
“You can do all things.”
“Nike said the nymph will rule with the Viking. Will Justin rise to help me?”
“You are both; child of Calypso, daughter of Hermes.”
“Does that mean no? Is he dead?” My knees buckled. “Will you help me?”
“I will give you what you need.”
A line of light glowed at my feet. The hilt of the sword swirled with silver and gold. Runes illuminated the blade. I extended a hand in awe of its glory and the sword rose to meet my fingers.
The ravens waddled at my feet, wings spread, beaks wide.
“You will unite the clans and make honorable warriors of these leagues. Create Vikings who are worthy to feast at Odin’s table in Valhalla,” Zeus thundered.
Wind whipped violently at my skin. I wielded the sword with both hands, for fear of losing it over the dam’s edge.
“Yes, sir.”
Great light poured through the night. In a sweeping arch, it settled above me before dropping like a stone, bursting against my head, shimmering over my skin until I glowed from the bath of glory. My skin responded, tingling and snapping as the luminescence seeped inside, filling my bones and core until I was certain I glowed. At once, my lungs filled anew. My heartbeat returned, heavy and strong. Hair whipped around me, long and wild like the nymphs who shared my bloodline.
Night closed over, blackening the world. The great light was gone, along with Zeus’ voice in the sky. I rubbed my eyes as they adjusted to the change. My hands were clean. My bloodied clothes had been replaced with a shimmering gown of white. Before me knelt a hundred Vikings, some I recognized as Stians, all in various degrees of injury. Liam lay at my feet.
“Liam.” I dropped to his side.
He turned his face to me in shock. “You are the Viking and the nymph.”
I nodded. “I don’t know what to do.”
“You do.” He tipped his head to the men on the walkway. “Tell them.”
I stood tall, squaring my shoulders in the relentless wind. “The battle here is over. If you want to leave, go peacefully now, but I hope you’ll choose to stay.”
Several men stood, scowling. They walked through clumps of fallen warriors. A few rose and followed the first. Many stayed.
A round of soft clapping erupted behind me. Nymphs approached with wide eyes and reverent postures. Hope played over their features.
“You aren’t bound to serve them anymore.” I spoke with fervor. “You choose your path.” Feminism roared through me.
The ladies sat at my feet.
A single sword rose over a head with ginger hair. A man I recognized from Hale Manor spoke the first word from the battleground. “Calypso.”
“Calypso,” the crowd answered.
“Calypso.” Liam smiled.
I embraced Liam with renewed hope. If this was possible, maybe all things were. Two dire prayers burned in my heart. “Justin and Allison need a hospital.”