Page 131 of The Divide that Binds Us

“So, wanna go hunt some cult members with me?”he asks.“We make a great team.”

Ha!As if.

“Will you stop ‘recruiting’ Elite members?If not, then screw your teamwork.”

“Teamwork is essential for success, Alice.”

I narrow my eyes.“Do you rehearse that to yourself in the mirror every morning or something?”

His mouth twitches.“Maybe.”

“You didn’t answer my other question.Will you stop?If not, then kick rocks, dude.”I’m a little antsy because I’m hungry and my bladder is gonna burst.

Before Rio responds, another dragon jets by and stops near us.It’s Poppy.She lands and folds her wings, buffeting us with a gust of wind.

“Alice!”Fae’s squeal surprises me when she slides down from Poppy’s tail and rushes over.I brace for her forceful embrace and almost fall over from the impact.“Poppy said she saw you guys free them!”

I groan, relaxing my constricted muscles.Fae pulls back and cheeses at me with a radiant smile.

“We did, but Mildred got away.What’re your plans?And what’s gonna happen with the dragons?”I suppress a yawn, hoping for more sleep.

Fae scratches her cheek.“Well, most likely these guys will fly to the closest forest.Nothing we can do.I’ll figure out how to get some of them back to their families.I saw the warehouse clearing out with loads of Guards.”

I swallow the guilt and cross my arms.“There’s...something you should know about the dragons.”

“The forgotten history, right?You both look how I felt when I learned about it a year ago.”Brilliance disappears from her smile as it carries the forlorn weight of reality at the corners of her mouth.“I was worried I’d sound odd going around telling people about it.”

“You’re not.We witnessed it ourselves.”I look over at Rio scratching Poppy’s chin.He’s so distracted it’s strange.I thought he would’ve started attacking by now since he wanted to capture me so bad like the true obsessed fool he is.

“It’s magical, isn’t it?”Fae asks, lime eyes gleaming under the flickering streetlight.“Anyway, are we finishing our stay at the hotel or going our separate ways?”

“Come with me, you need somewhere to stay,” I offer, but my eye twitches, stopping me from saying the next wild thing about her safety.I’m not that absurd to expose my concern.

Fae shakes her head.“I’ll be fine.I promise.”

I’m not surprised, but my heart sinks low in displeasure anyway.

I have to get back to Elite.My phone is dead, and I don’t want anyone to worry.I trust Fae will deal with Mildred and her cult, but I have a feeling we may need to help her.

“I’ll check the room out for us.”Rio gives one parting look in my direction and nods.He’ll surely come after me again when he’s not drooling over a dragon, or maybe come after all of us.But that’s okay because he should know he isn’t safe either.

“Stay outta trouble,” I say to Fae, patting her shoulder.

She squeezes my hand.“Thank you for everything.”

The sun is rising, and I’m relieved to grab food on my walk to the station, but there’s disappointment again—my burger is dry and chewy.

I sit on the train, eager and edgy to return home.I’m not sure how I feel about partnering with Rio, but I’m happy to help Fae.Sadly, who knows how much of Mildred’s operation we slowed down, but I hope it was enough for the world to recover the balance.Nicholas’s fate is still in question.Rebecca’s, too.

Mildred may have killed them, and I let her go.She—

My body aches and throbs from the fight.I hope my powers recover quickly.I quiver while coping with the high speed of the train making a slight curve probably from a mountain.

Now that the end-of-the-world shenanigans have come to a halt, it’s time to return to my regular schedule of tearing down Ultima and laughing maniacally after.I guess I should see if I have a job to return to first and if Guards are waiting for me.

As I step off the train, I notice most of the blood rain has washed away and more Guards posted, so I boldly walk up to one who’s practically auditioning to become a statue.He’s staring up at the sky, not paying any attention to me.This is probably dangerous, considering they’re searching for me, but curiosity is truly the thief of my wellbeing, and I can’t hide forever.

“Yes, ma’am?”he says, still not looking at me.

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