The Pyramid Chronicles: Tyche Point (#1)

Chapter Forty-Five: There's A Lot You Don't Know

Eric only had a heartbeat to revel in the sight of the soldiers' armor melting. As soon as the flame in his hands died, the gunshot rang out.

And then Summer was bleeding.

Eric raced to her side to grab her before she could collapse. Veronica was on the other side in the same moment, grabbing Summer's arm and muttering something under her breath.

A flash of pain made Eric grimace. The fire itself hadn't hurt him, of course, but waving his hand around had reopened the gash in his palm—again. Though he doubted it had ever fully stopped spilling blood to begin with.

"Guys, I can't get the rod," Sam said, his voice a mixture of pain and panic. "I don't know—I can't even sense it—"

Adam, who'd been frozen since the gunshot, came to his senses. Eyes narrowed, he charged toward Willow. He didn't make it more than a few steps before a wall of ice rose from the wet floor to cut him off.

More ice walls and spikes surrounded the group. One of the bigger walls blocked a wide-eyed Raveena from view, just as she started running toward them.

"Summer." Eric's voice trembled. "Summer, can you hear me?"

Summer gasped in pain.

Eric reached a trembling hand toward Summer's abdomen, trying to remember any scrap of information that might be useful. "We need pressure, right?" He pressed his palm against the wound, realizing a moment too late it was his injured one. He winced.

"Lower her to the ground," Veronica ordered. "And give me your hoodie."

Eric helped her ease Summer onto the floor before quickly shrugging off his hoodie and handing it over. While Veronica pressed the cloth to Summer's stomach, Eric looked up. Through the translucent ice walls, he could see Willow's distorted figure lifting the rod. She stepped toward the fragment.

Without thinking, Eric jumped up and broke into a sprint, desperately searching for the fastest way around the walls. Adam had disappeared somewhere, undoubtedly trying to find his own way through the growing maze.

As Eric ran toward Willow, more ice spikes popped up to block his path. He stumbled around them and circled the last wall between him and her. Willow had pulled herself partway up the stone pillar. One arm held up the rod, extending it toward the fragment. The air around the fragment shimmered.

The edges of the energy field became visible.

Eric jumped and crashed into Willow. They both stumbled away from the stone tower, barely managing to keep on their feet. Eric's hands found the rod. The struggle to rip it out of each other's hands began, and Eric was immediately dismayed at how strong Willow was.

Willow finally pulled free, but the rod slipped from her grasp and sailed through the air, over one of the ice walls. In the blink of an eye, she was running after it. Eric tried to follow and quickly lost her.

Had she been this good at controlling her power the whole time?

Eric wound up circling the tower and emerging from behind an ice wall not far from where the Director stood, reading something off his tablet.

As Eric stumbled toward the Director, a wave of dizziness washed over him. He found a wall to lean on for support and held up his right hand. A small flame flickered to life in his bloodstained palm. "Step away from the fragment," he ordered, his voice weak.

The Director's head turned toward him. "You don't look well, Eric."

The world spun, and Eric was fighting back rising nausea, now. He glared at the Director. "Hey, what's with the mask, anyway?"

The Director was quiet for a long moment. Finally, instead of answering the question, he asked, "Is that Summer Lu's blood on your hand?"

"Huh?" Darkness crept into the edges of Eric's vision. He swore his flame flared brighter.

"There's a lot you don't know about yourself," the Director said. "If you came to Scorpion, I could explain everything."

It was the last thing Eric heard before the world went black.