“Experts are puzzled as to why the bridge collapsed. The FBI is still investigating if this was a terrorist attack- if it is, this may be one of the biggest attacks in history-,”

“Turn it off,” Tom says, his grip tightening around my shoulders.

Dev ignores him, his eyes glued to the TV in morbid fascination. There’s a twisted horror on his face- an open-mouthed expression of disbelief. Like the scene of destruction on the screen in front of us is utterly new to him- like we weren’t scrabbling to hang onto the bridge, our hands trembling as energy flew around us.

“How the did our lives turn into this?” Dev breathes.

Tom and I are silent.

I dazedly realize that the three of us are the original Windsong anti-magic gang. Before Jin and Sofia and Jungkook, it was just us four scholarship kids, sneaking into Taehyung’s library and ordering Funny Face pancakes at IHOP.

How did things get so supremely complicated?

There’s a terse knock on the door. Tom closes his eyes, his hands pulsing with a faint orange light. His fingers snap.

Jungkook and Jin materialize into the room, their faces ashy. Jin wordlessly pulls Dev into a tight hug- uncharacteristic on both of their ends, but a reminder of the close bond they shared, their mutual pain after Meena’s death. Today was risky and traumatizing and a horrible reminder that any of our lives are liable.

“We don’t have a lot of time,” Jungkook says in a low, hurried voice. “The Kado council knows Jin, Jimin, and I are working with you guys to help Lucy escape. Jimin’s about to go through an inquisition. My mom is flipping .”

“Can this wait until tomorrow?” Tom asks quietly. “Mr. Kim did a number on Joo this afternoon-,”

“It can’t.” Jin swallows. “The only reason the two of us are able to be here right now is because the Kado is in chaos. We’re going to be put under heavy surveillance soon. All of us.”

“My mom won’t agree to any of the concessions we proposed,” Jungkook says. “The promise that Lucy would be gone, given proper compensation.”

“I know,” I say, my voice coming out a lot more choked than I would like. “I tried talking to Mr. Kim about it, too. They want her to face justice through the Kado.”

Dev scoffs. “Justice. They sentenced her to death because she wouldn’t kill my sister.”

“Jimin has a plan.”

Dev, Tom, and I look up at Jin. There’s a firm set to his jaw, an unreadable look in his eyes.

“Why do you look so scared?” Tom murmurs.

“Because if we do this... there could be no going back for Jungkook, Jimin, or I.”

A chill runs down my spine.

“The Hado can offer you refuge,” Tom says. “Absolutely. Captain Cardozo and I have already discussed it, and I have it in writing-,”

“You’re forgetting the fact that our entire lives are with the Kado,” Jungkook cuts in. “Our families. Friends. All the status we’ve built up.”

Tom lowers his head.

“We’ve made our choice. We’re willing to take the risk.” Jin says.

“And if this works out... the payoff’s going to be huge for Jimin.” Jungkook snorts. “That power-hungry little weasel.”

“Like you weren’t the same a year ago,” Jin retorts.

Jungkook grimaces.

“What is this plan?” I ask.

Jungkook and Jimin tell us.

And it feels like I’m careening down hundreds of feet into a terrifying abyss all over again.

“Lucy!” I shriek, fingers clawing at the dirt. Crickets hum violently in the background as screams tear from my throat. “Lucy, please! Help!”

She’s not going to come, I think desperately. There’s no way this could work.

Tears- real, not contrived- roll down my cheeks. My chest heaves in great, shuddering, pathetic sobs- I’m sure Jimin is sneering in contempt, wherever he is. But I don’t care- this is all one big nightmare and what I’m doing is despicable by anyone’s standards. I think about what’s going to happen next and the tears come down harder.

“,” I swear.

“You shouldn’t have been there.”

My head snaps up in a twisted combination of shock, relief, and dread. Lucy is standing in the middle of the clearing, the faint light of the crescent moon shining on her figure. She looks like a waifish faerie that emerged from the shadows of the forest. I note with a pang of comfort that her body isn’t emitting the radioactive shine of the drugs.

“What were you thinking,” I gasp.

“I had it under control. Then you, Dev, Tom, and Jin showed up. You could’ve all died.”

“Jungkook would’ve died, too, if we hadn’t come,” I say. “And Mrs. Kim- Lucy, you barely were a match with her, even with the stimulants-,”

“It doesn’t-,”

“The uppers are ruining you!” I exclaim. “You need to detox before they kill you. Please, we can help you-,”

“I don’t care if I die!” Lucy hollers, but her voice is so weak that it merely comes out as an angry yelp. “How many times do I have to tell you? I don’t care if the drugs kill me, as long as I kill them all first!”

I look at her with a long, frustrated glare.

And then I tell her, “I guess we have no choice, then.”

I snap my fingers. Immediately, a wave of molten-yellow chi washes over the clearing, drenching the forest in a magical cocoon that separates it from the rest of the world. Jin, Jungkook, and Tom materialize next to me.

A horrible smirk of realization unravels over Lucy’s face.

“Oh, I’m going to get you for this, Joo,” she says.

“Get back, Joo!” Jungkook roars. As the three sorcerers lunge at Lucy, she bites down on a bracelet encircling her wrist. In the next moment her body has erupted into iridescent flames. Her eyes pulse with pure energy as she gazes out at us with contempt. I don’t make it to the trees soon enough- the suffocating oppression of Lucy’s power causes me to topple to the ground, my throat wheezing as I struggle to pull in oxygen.

“You boys think you can get me?” Lucy laughs. Through my dimmed vision, I can make out disparate arcs of light slashing through the air; forest green meets electric blue meets a blood-red in violent clashes of chi. Cries of pain echo through the air. None of them are Lucy’s.

, my brain sluggishly ekes out. Need to get away. Need to move. Every inch my hand moves takes gigawatts of willpower. Despair is beginning to overtake my senses. Perhaps I should just lie down until this is all over, until Lucy inevitably wins-

It feels like I’ve been yanked back above water. Crisp, clear air abruptly fills my lungs; I gasp desperately, clutching at my racing heart.

“One of those idiots should’ve thought to give you stronger protection,” Jimin mutters. We’re sitting amidst the trees behind the clearing, where I was supposed to escape to after Lucy took her uppers.

“Thank- thank you,” I pant.

He swats me away like I’m a fly. “I’m going in,” he says, looking out at the clearing. “Tom, Jin, and Jungkook were supposed to wear her down, buy some time to let Lucy run out her uppers. But they’re going to get killed.”

“And you’re not?”

He flashes me a cocky smirk. “I’m Junior Vice Captain. Of course not.”

Jimin steps out into the clearing at a leisurely pace. There’s a smug smile tugging at his lips as he stares at Lucy.

“, you look so y when you fight,” he chuckles.

Lucy yanks her arm across her body. A powerful gust of wind violently flings Jungkook, Jin, and Tom halfway out of the clearing. Jimin steps over their bodies like they’re not worth a care in his world.

“This is the second time in one day that you’ve shown up where I don’t want you,” Lucy snarls.

“I was expecting a thank you,” Jimin laughs. Sparks dance across the surface of his skin. They begin with a few wayward particles, but soon intensify in their tempo and size. Soon it looks like lightning is crackling on his body.

Lucy snorts. “Oh, you think you saved me at the bridge? off. I would’ve survived the fall.”

The very air feels like it’s trembling. All around us, forest creatures scuttle past us into the bushes, fleeing the scene of the destruction that’s about to ensue in front of us. I gasp in shock as a pack of coyotes runs past us- there’s a primal terror in their barks, something bone-chilling that makes every nerve in my body stand on edge. I think of Dev, nervously pacing around Tom’s condo right now- thank we made him stay behind, better me than him here-

I wish I’d said goodbye to Taehyung.

“,” I swear.

Jungkook, Jin, and Tom seem to share the same sentiment. They sprint away from Jimin and Lucy towards the trees, joining me in the underbrush.

“There’s no way we’re getting near that,” Jungkook mutters. “We’ll get burned alive.”

“But he can’t take Lucy on his own-,” I protest.

Jin holds up a hand. “He can. And he will."

"This has been a long time coming," Jungkook breathes.