Page 48 of Following Their Heart

I’m sitting under the workbench with my arms over my head like a coward, not only because I’m hiding from that chopper’s spotlight, but also because I’ve literally triedeverythingI can think of to get things working. And I’ve failed. There’s nothing more I can do.

The generators are dead, so I’ve got no power, and the back-up radio on my hip is giving me nothing but static. It’s like no one’s out there on our camp channels. To make matters worse, I can’t hear any gunfire down the mountain.

Fear has me shaking in my boots. What if they’re all dead? What if Raptor’s crew figures out Cora’s tucked away in a bomb shelter? What if I’m the last thing standing between them and getting to her? What if they kill me next, and then wait out Grim and Cora? Hell, if the radios in the bomb shelter are dead too, Grim and Cora might save them the trouble. They might leave the shelter to find out what’s going on and walk right into Raptor’s hands.

We’re losing our territory. We could lose our woman. And it’s all my fault.

I had one job, and that was to set and arm those missile trucks and fire them at the choppers. But all my equipment failed. Without power, I have no computers, no radar, no communication. I can’t even hurl pinecones at the damn choppers because I’m above the tree line.

I’m a royal fuck-up, just like my step-dad told me all those times.

The chopper moves away. The noise dies down, and I can think again.

I can’t do any more up here. Maybe I should make a run for the lodge. Maybe I can help down there, though I’m kind of doubting it, at this point. It’s like my Gift is ka-put. I can’t fix shit right now.

The door to the summit cabin bangs open, making me jump. I reach for the gun on the work surface above me but stop when I hear Cora say my name.

“Scrap!”

“Cora? The hell are you doing here?” Her hair is wild, and her eyes are crazy as Rev’s in the darkness. In her flannel shirt, she looks like the prettiest, most windblown lumberjack ever.

I’m out from under the bench in a heartbeat and pushing her down, out of sight of the windows and under the steel computer table, where heat-seeking tech won’t spot her. The chopper’s moving away, but it could turn back any second.

“Grim brought me!” She grabs me by the hoodie and drags me under the table with her. “I needed to get to you.”

“Me? What—? No. Never mind. You gotta get back to the shelter!”

“No! I need to be here. With you.” She pins me with her gaze. “Raptor’s got someone with him whose Gift is making everything go haywire. Like, we tried to drive up here, but the ATV wouldn’t start. And I don’t hear any shots coming from the camp. The radios are down. It’s all wrong. But you can fight it. Fight their Gift with yours. You can do it. It’s not too late. You can fix this.”

I blink while I process what she’s saying.

She’s telling me I’m not a fuck up. It’s not that I messed up setting up all this tech. It’s that someone on Raptor’s side is undoing everything I’ve done withtheirGift.

“How?” I’m gripping her arms now. “How do I fight this? Nothing’s working!”

“You have to focus on your Gift. Think about making things work and pushing back the bad Gift. Come on, Scrap. You can totally do this. I believe in you.”

I shake my head. “I don’t know how to do that. I just work on shit, and it, like, always does what I want. But tonight,nothing’sdoing what I want.”

“You have to be intentional about it.” I have no idea where she’s getting this information. Rev told me the Working is starting to use her. Maybe this is how. She gives me a solid shake. “What needs to happen to get the missiles up and running?”

“Gennies,” I say without missing a beat. “But I can’t start them. They’re full of gas, but they won’t start, no matter what I do.”

“Try again, and think about your Gift. I’ll go with you.” She pulls me to the door, and I’m too confused to stop her. Like an automaton, I follow her outside.

Grim is there, breathing heavy and keeping a watchful eye on the chopper as it gets farther away. With a gun in one hand and his other curled into a deadly fist, he looks like a dangerous motherfucker.

I give him a wide berth as I go to the pair of gennies. Facing the first one, I try to do what Cora said. I focus on my Gift, and on pushing back the other side’s Gift, and I flick the switches in the right order and press the start button.

Nothing happens. Because I suck.

“You can do it,” Cora says. She takes my hand and tells me to try again. I pull away to try again, but she doesn’t let go. She squeezes, and says, “I believe in you,” and unlike the first time she said it, I’m beginning to trust it. I’m beginning to believe in myself.

This time, with Cora holding my hand, the start sequence works! The gennie’s engine turns over, and, instantly, I have lights in the cabin.

“Hot damn, girl!”

Cora whoops with victory and jumps into my arms. I swing her around and plant a kiss on her smiling lips.

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