Page 94 of The Love Interest

I look where she’s looking. The Stalker is standing beside the truck. It’s bent over, its black fingers gripping the bottom. It straightens up, lifting the truck clean off the road like it weighs nothing. The Stalker pauses there for a moment, holding the truck above its head.

Then it turns and faces us.

I grab Dyl by the shirt and pull him a few steps forward. This yanks him out of his stupor and he starts running. Juliet follows us just as the Stalker throws the truck. It soars through the air toward us.

I dive forward as an orange blur rockets through the side of the barn, sending up a spray of wood chips. The truck hits the other side of the wall and crumbles, spraying glass and unleashing a pungent smell of gasoline. Orange fire spreads from the hood, spewing black smoke.

Juliet crouches beside the wreckage and unzips the backpack.

“Get away!” I call as I stand up. “It could blow!”

She ignores me and keeps ferreting around the bag. “Yes!” she says as she pulls out a black boxlike item. She places it on the ground and presses a button. A light on the side turns from red to green. Then she pulls a small black thing that’s shaped like a pen from the middle of the device. Smiling, she grabs a handful of straw and covers the object with it.

Through the smoke, the Stalker appears. Juliet scrambles away, joining us. We’re pressed against the back of the barn. I offer my hand to Dyl. He grabs it. His palm is cold and sweaty.

The detached door of the truck is embedded deep in the ground. The Stalker swipes at it. The door lifts up, spins once, then falls and digs itself deep into the ground, sending up little clods of brown earth.

Dyl lets go of my hand and steps forward. The Stalker’s head pivots to the side, staring at him.

“Take me,” says Dyl. His voice is hoarse. He pounds his fist on his chest. “Leave them, take me.” The sound of his fist hitting his flesh is the only noise in the entire barn. Or at least it seems that way.

I notice his feet are crossing, and he’s moving slowly to the left. Toward the bomb.

The Stalker moves into a sprint position.

“Now!”

The Stalker transforms into a blur of darkness, its hand stretching out to grab Dyl. Juliet presses her thumb down on the end of the pen. The hand grabs Dyl’s shirt and yanks down, slamming him into the ground.

A maelstrom of intense black and purple erupts out of the ground, swirling viciously. The air turns freezing cold, like all the warmth has been sucked out of the room. A vortex of color has enveloped the Stalker, save for its hand.

With a snap, the ball of color folds in on itself. The Stalker’s detached hand is all that remains. It drops, then lies still on the blackened, smoldering earth.

“Oh my God!” says Juliet. She jumps up and down and pulls me into a hug. “It worked! Do you know the ramifications of this, Caden? I’ve discovered a way to create a truly contained explosive. All of the destructive power, none of the risk. The potential for this…”

Dyl is still lying facedown on the ground.Oh no.The straw surrounding him is red with blood. His blood. There’s a lot of it.

I go to say something, but my throat clamps shut and I freeze.Please, please let him be okay.Juliet releases me.

She sees Dyl. “No way. Not now.”

I crouch beside him.

“Dyl?” I say softly. I touch his shoulder and roll him onto his back.

His nose is leaking blood, and his face is pale and sweaty. He opens his mouth, and his Adam’s apple bobs up and down.

“Caden?” he says.

His eyes close.

CHAPTER

THIRTY

Dyl is leaning against a tree using a rolled-up jacket as a pillow. His head lolls to the left and his eyes are closed, but he’s breathing. We’re in the middle of a grayish-blue forest, surrounded by smooth-barked white trees. I’m sitting beside him with my legs out in front of me, waiting for him to wake up. A sane person would be sitting with the others in front of the fire, where it’s warm and dry, but I wanted to be there when he woke. He stirs and I straighten up.

“Hey,” I say softly as I shift closer to him.