“Nox is making his move, today.”
Andrew stopped fishing his backpack out of his mom’s Volkswagen. This was the last thing he needed on this nice spring day. He’d like to say Xelan’s appearance had startled him, but the Icarus had been doing this a lot lately.
Andrew said, “Good morning to you, too,” as he retrieved his bag. Only five minutes until the late bell. He wouldn’t make it.
Xelan pulled the backpack from Andrew’s grip with a sharp tug, panic written all over his Icarean features. “This isn’t a drill.”
“Look, dude, you’re making me regret parking in the shade. All I have to do is walk one meter that way, and you’ll have to harass someone else. While I’m glad Lucas is letting you out of your cage, I’m tired of The Brethren’s false alarms. Every day last week, you told me Nox was coming with all of Cinder to tear our planet apart, and nothing came of it except a lot of marks on my truancy record.”
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The Icarean fighter hauled Andrew up off his feet and slammed him onto his mom’s car, leaving a huge dent on the roof. Xelan stood over him. “I can’t be there to warn Rayne, and The Brethren picked you to do it.” He emphasized ‘you’ by jabbing his finger into Andrew’s chest.
Xelan leaned over Andrew, on the verge of a breakdown. His voice shook with it as he said, “If anything happens to her because you weren’t there to help the others, we all lose. If you don’t go, Nox might take Rayne.” As quickly as he’d thrown Andrew onto the car, Xelan leapt to the ground and straightened his coat.
As Andrew lay in the crater of the VW’s exterior, he felt torn. On the one hand, he really wanted to blow Xelan off and go about his day. On the other, he’d never seen the Icarus’ eyes filled with such unadulterated terror before. Clearly, this was it, and Andrew wasn’t about to fail Rayne.
With a groan, he rolled himself off the top of the sedan and asked, “Do you know which plan they’re going with?”
After Xelan explained, Andrew felt light-headed. He raced to a tree and lost his breakfast all over the roots. The Icarus, for all his earlier animosity, spared Andrew the shit-talking for once.
In a soft voice, Xelan said, “I’d offer to hold your hair, but I can’t get to you.”
It was a small comfort, but still appreciated. After a hard swallow and a gasp for air, Andrew choked out, “Will anyone survive?”