DAVE

Balboa had no time for Dave. He was busy wondering how to regain control of the situation with the mercenary commander. “Yeah, sure,” he said. “Whatever.”

“Yes, Sir,” said Dave. “Will do.” He strutted through the smoke and confusion of the fire back to his two buddies. “OK,” he said to them. “Now it’s up to us.”

“What is?” said one of the buddies.

“We’ve been assigned to take care of the Apthorp. The Covenants, you know.”

His buddies didn’t know, having rigorously avoided study until they achieved their dream of dropping out of high school.

“Stuff like this is great,” said Dave, energized by the chaos surrounding him, “and now we’re gonna have a little fun. Grab us some fire starters. I saw them in the back of that SUV over there.”

EMILY

“What are you worried about?” said Isabella.

“It’s those men over there.” Emily pointed at Dave and his buddies, who were putting things in their pickup truck.

“Who cares about them?” said Isabella. “The mercenaries have things under control, and I think I hear fire trucks.”

Sirens sounded faintly over the noise of the fire. “You’re always worrying. Don’t be such a baby.”

Emily recoiled. This felt like more of the rebuff Isabella had just given her at the Grape & Pint, and, insecure in her feelings for Isabella, she didn’t want to be rejected any more.

She went to Mackenzie. “That man,” she said, pointing at Dave, “didn’t he attack you at the festival?”

“That’s him.”

“Katherine told me she caught him stealing at the temple.”

“He’s a piece of work, all right,” said Mackenzie.

“Isabella, she …”

“If Isabella did something,” said Mackenzie, “it’s her responsibility. Let her fix it.”

“But …” Emily stopped, because suddenly things felt very strange, as if her clothes were vibrating.

OLEMA

“I have come for you, priest,” said Olema.

Balboa looked wildly about at the burning mall and the mercenaries working nearby. “But ...”

“Spend no time on this.” Olema indicated the chaos around them with a sweeping gesture of her arm. “Such temporary events are trivial, are they not? Hmmm?”

A hardware store collapsed in a burst of flame. “You see?” She advanced on Balboa. “You are now my high priest.”

Balboa backed up. “I am?”

“You are, and as such you must attend me on a matter more, hmmm, permanent.” Olema vanished.

So did Balboa, leaving behind only the fading sound of his voice. “Ah. Ah. Aaaahhh!”

AUDREY AND F F

“I thought you were done with all that,” said Audrey.

“Atwood’s missing, so there’s only acolytes at the temple. I recruited most of them. They’re my responsibility. I’ve got to go.”

“I’m going with you,” said Audrey.

“Shouldn’t you stay here? Your friends might need you. The temple’s my business.”

“You’re my business.” Audrey kissed him. “I’m going.”

Together, they ran for F F’s car, back at the Grape & Pint.

THE APTHORP

Mackenzie looked where Emily was pointing and grimaced. “Damn it.” She went to Isabella, with Emily close behind. “Why won’t you clean up after yourself?”

“What are you talking about?” said Isabella.

“Dave and those buddies of his just left.”

“So?”

Emily gathered her courage and said to Isabella, “He knows where we live. You told him.”

“What? When? I didn’t do that.”

“When you told the priest, he was right there.”

Isabella was confused. “And?”

“Use your brain for something besides teasing,” said Mackenzie. “I humiliated the guy at the festival. Katherine got him thrown out of the temple. He’s a psychopath, and he knows where we live.”

“Oh, shit.” Isabella looked around and found Anthony. “We need your car. We’ve got to go to the Apthorp. Now.”

Anthony saw the expressions on the faces of Isabella, Mackenzie, and Emily, and didn’t ask questions. “Let’s go.”

With Mackenzie next to him in the front and Isabella and Emily in the back, Anthony accelerated away from the chaos at the mall.