Part 79 (2/2)
”I know.”
”You can't know.”
”Dean . . .”
”Didn't go to h.e.l.l for you!”
”I'm sorry.” She scrubbed at her eyes again. ”But he didn't.”
”I know,” Claire said again, because it was pretty much the only thing Diana was willing to hear at the moment. She jerked open the steel door with her good hand. ”Let's go get Sa-” A crack opened suddenly in the concrete floor. Somewhere, not very far away, a steel reinforcing rod snapped with an almost musical tw.a.n.g. ”Not good!” Shoving Diana into the storeroom, she slammed the door shut with her shoulder and locked it.
It sounded like someone was playing a steel guitar in the access corridor. Playing it badly.
”How far do you think the destruction will come?” Diana demanded as they charged through shards of broken garden gnomes toward the store.
”It's already come farther than I thought it would.”
”Great.”
”Not really. I was wondering, last time you used the wand, it knocked you flat. This time . . .”
”I think Kris' sacrifice caused a backlash. I got, I don't know, refilled. I'm feeling . . .” Diana flashed half a pain-filled grin and straight-armed the door out into the Emporium. ”... in the pink.”
Claire managed a nearly identical smile. ”We'll get her back.”
”I know.” Easily clearing the fallen T-s.h.i.+rt rack, Diana lengthened her stride and raced for the concourse. One foot out the door, she stopped, turned, and ran back.
”Where are you going?” Claire figured she had grounds for sounding shrill. From behind them, one small room away, came the unmistakable sound of a steel door buckling.
”Promises to keep.” Dragging a wooden crate of resin frogs under the antique mirror, she climbed up, and slapped the gla.s.s. ”Jack! Hey! Time to go.”
The blue-on-blue eyes popped into view so fast they came accompanied by a faint boing. ”The whole place is falling apart!” Jack also sounded a little shrill, Claire noted. ”What did you do?”
A green gla.s.s ball fell from a shelf and shattered. Something hissed and scuttled away.
”We won. Sort of.”
”How do you sort of win?”
”I don't want to get into that right now.”
”Yeah, but . . .”
A muscle jumped in Diana's jaw. ”I said, I don't want to get into it.” She ducked her head behind the edge of the frame. ”Is this all that's holding you on?”
”How should I know?” Shrill had given way to slightly panicked. ”I don't have eyes in the back of my gla.s.s.”
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