Out of my hazy, sleepy state, I become distinctly aware of my mattress moving.

, I curl up tighter on my side. I’ve barely been able to sleep since the night of the carnival, tossing and turning until my mind finally runs out of worst-case scenarios to play through and I pass out from exhaustion. I just fell asleep- I don’t care if Jimin is summoning me again, I’m going to ing sleep in.

A sigh of pleasure leaves my lips as a pleasant warmth envelops me. Gentle touches, so light they feel like the fluttering wings of a butterfly, slowly trail down the nape of my neck. My body snuggles closer into the heat.

“I’m sorry,” a deep, somber voice murmurs into my ear.

Taehyung.

I tense. My mind is a battleground of conflicting emotions. I should push him off my bed, tell him to get out of my room- he’s so callous and cruel and for once, I want him to be the one hurting.

But isn’t this what I wanted? I wanted him to come back to me. I wanted to be in his arms. Why can’t I just draw out this happiness for a little longer?

The arguing voices in my sleep-addled mind paralyze me with indecision. I lie still, pretending I am still asleep; however, when his firm arms encircle my waist and pull me closer to him, an involuntary gasp leaves me.

Busted.

“You haven’t talked to me for days,” I say hoarsely, my eyes closed.

“I was ashamed,” he whispers. “What I did the night of the Summer Festival...”

The memory of that night causes shame and anger to explode in my chest.

“I care about you, Joo.” Taehyung’s fingers skim over my bare thighs in soothing circles, leaving goosebumps in their wake.

I twist around to face him. The sight makes my stomach ache painfully. His ruffled brown hair sticks up on one side, like he just woke up, and the most tender frown sits on his lips. Looking into his deep brown eyes feels like getting kicked off a cliff. I know at that moment that I am thoroughly, utterly ed.

“Get away from me,” I breathe.

Something flashes in his eyes. “I don’t want to.”

My eyes narrow, and the frustration in my chest burns hotter. “You can’t just treat me like and then just- just say sorry. Are you still getting high?”

Taehyung’s chagrined grimace is enough of an answer for me. I yank my covers up to my chest.

“Talk to me when you quit drugs,” I utter, turning my back to him.

I feel his weight on my mattress for several more moments, and in that time I foolishly allow hope to creep up on me. Maybe he’ll promise to stop getting high- maybe he does care about me and he doesn’t just allow his feelings to come out whenever he’s intoxicated. The seconds tick by as I wait in anticipation.

My bed springs up as Taehyung leaves.

I am left staring at my wall in shock, sunlight filling the room faster and faster, as a voice in my head whispers that he must not care about me enough.

My phone rings at some point. Sighing, I check the caller ID.

Jungkook Jeon.

“What do you want?” I snap.

“Lucy’s trying to kill us,” Jungkook breathes, his voice shaking. His words tumble out through the phone all at once and I immediately jerk upright, my eyes wide. “The Kado’s on their way- Jin wouldn’t pick up- I don’t want her dead but-,”

“Share your location with me,” I say, scrambling to pull on my pants. “I'll call everyone else.”

“Jungkook’s mom was moving to a safehouse today,” I rapidly explain to Dev as he shoots down Interstate 287 at 120 miles an hour. “Jin said the families of the council were the only people who knew. But Lucy attacked them.”

“So Tom and Jin are already there?” Dev asks. He switches lanes so abruptly that I jerk in my seat.

“Yeah, they teleported there immediately. We have 15 minutes before the Kado mobilizes their guard and shows up to take down Lucy.”

“Is that why the highway’s so empty? Did they use magic to clear out the roads?”

I shrug. “Maybe we’re able to get onto the highway because we know about the safehouse. I don’t know. We just need to get Lucy to stop fighting and get her away.”

After a pause, I tentatively add, “Should we call Jimin?”

Dev’s grimace matches my own sentiments. “I don’t trust him for . He’s Junior Vice Captain. His loyalty will lie towards Jungkook’s mom in a fight.”

“You’re right. If he shows up and decides to help his mom kill Lucy...,”

No matter how much Jimin apparently cares about Lucy, I’m still doubtful that he would throw away his powerful position in the Kado for her.

We’re flying over the Tappan Zee bridge now, the navy blue waters of the Hudson River below. A resounding explosion rocks the bridge, causing the car to shake. My hands grip the armrest.

“Holy ,” Dev swears, peering up ahead. A violent maelstrom of lights flash through the air, an electrifying red and a glowing yellow and a deep purple all searing through the baby blue sky. Dev pulls up by the side of the bridge; when we get out, the chi in the air is so strong that I can feel it crackling by my ears, pricking at my skin like a million sharpened needles. A raggedy breath leaves my lips.

“I thought this might happen.” Dev fishes through the glove compartment of his car and tosses a handful of bracelets at me. A row of pulsing emeralds are embedded in the thick gold band.

“Chi absorbers,” he explains. “I filched these from Hado HQ the last time I went, after you said how Lucy’s power felt.”

“You’re a lifesaver,” I whisper. My discomfort immediately abates after I pull on the bracelets.

He grins. “Told you I brought back some useful stuff. Do you have your parang?”

“Yeah. You ready?”

Dev flashes his metallic chi gun. Our weapons and amulets feel like child’s toys when faced with this great, heaving mass of magic; however, they at least feel like some type of protection against this terrifying battle. “Let’s go.”

The closer we approach, the more visibly we are able to make out the scene in front of us. Violent, raging magic emanates from Lucy as she dances across the road, throwing deadly attack after attack. Her eyes are wild with that animalistic glee characteristic of the magical amphetamines she's been pumping into her body.

A slender, hard-faced woman who must be Mrs. Jeon retaliates in kind. Her movements are fluid, effortless. When Lucy summons a monstrous lion-headed creature from the magic that I’ve only seen in books, Mrs. Jeon gracefully dances out of its path and slices it open in a single motion. Where Lucy blazes with deep scarlet and blinding gold, Mrs. Jeon shines with icy blues and purples.

For a moment, I can only watch in wonder at these two immensely powerful sorcerers unleashing the full extent of their power upon each other.

“There!” Dev grabs my hand and sprints over to Tom and Jungkook. Their faces are contorted in effort as they hold their hands against the barrier of the bridge.

“Hey,” Tom pants, his chest heaving. “You guys made it here fast.”

“What’s happening? What are you guys doing?” I question.

“We’re trying to keep the bridge up. There’s so much power in this fight that we’re all going to go toppling into the water if we let up,” Jungkook responds. Sweat trickles down his temple. “Jin’s on the other side of the bridge, doing the same thing.”

“Okay, but who’s going to help Lucy?” Dev asks.

“What are we supposed to do?” Jungkook says helplessly. “Look at them. They’re so powerful- we’re like flies compared to them. We won’t be able to make a dent.”

“The Kado are going to be here in ten minutes,” I say. “We have to do something.”

“Okay, then what?”

“I don’t know!” I exclaim. My eyes dart around the scene. Jungkook’s car sits abandoned by the barrier, the metal on its hood crushed. All intra-road barriers and traffic cones have been eviscerated. And looming below us, its dark, undulating waves an ominous presence, is the Hudson River.

Wait. My eyes dart back to Jungkook’s car.

“Jungkook. Or Tom. One of you throw the car into the fight. That should distract them for a second, and then immediately go for Lucy. Just teleport her away.”

The three of them immediately burst out in dissent-

“The car’s going to be incinerated, it won’t affect the magic-,”

“Lucy’s going to kill whoever teleports her-,”

“It’s too risky-,”

“What other choice do we have?!” I exclaim. “Also, the car will be incinerated, but from a molecular level it’ll cause a disruption in the chi mass. It should be a split-second distraction. And just teleport Lucy somewhere and then immediately teleport away-,”

“Did you call Jimin?” Jungkook asks.

“No.”

“Then call him! He’s way more powerful than any of us-,”

“There’s no time!” I shriek. “Are we doing this or not? Lucy’s going to get wasted by the Kado Guard if we don’t move now!”

Dev, Tom, and Jungkook exchange desperate looks.

And then Tom says, “I’ll teleport Lucy away. Jungkook, you throw the car.”

Jungkook swallows. “Fine.”

“Are we seriously doing this?” Dev says, his voice rising.

“Get back,” I say.

“On the count of three,” Jungkook says. His car slowly rises up in the air; Mrs. Jeon and Lucy don’t seem to notice the large fixture hanging above them. “One... two... three!”

The car whips into the flaming cloud of chi, causing sparks to fly everywhere. I wince away- if I wasn’t decked out in protective amulets I

undoubtedly would’ve gotten seared by flyaway strands of magic- but Tom doesn’t hesitate a second when he whips at Lucy so quickly that a sheet of wind pushes me back. Jungkook lets out a grunt as he takes on the bridge weight that Tom was supporting.

Lucy pauses and glances at Tom, a confused look on her face. But before he can reach her, an arc of periwinkle slashes through the air. The momentum causes Tom and Lucy to fly through the air. Tom skids through the lanes of the highway, rolling over until he slams into the barrier.

Lucy, however, is flung over the edge of the barrier. A scream tears from my lips as she hurtles towards the water

“Tom, get her!” Jungkook roars, his hands on the bridge.

“What do you think you’re doing, Jungkook?” his mom yells.

And then all of a sudden a black shadow flashes past her. Mrs. Jeon’s eyes roll to the back of her head; she crumples to the ground.

“Mom!” Jungkook screams. He sprints over to her, leaving the bridge’s barrier. The sudden loss of support causes the right side of the bridge to precariously tip sideways, sending me, Dev, and Tom careening to the barrier. My heart is racing as I shriek in panic. Dev clutches onto the barrier as he dangles over the edge; with every second that passes, the cement of the bridge tips further and further to the right- at any moment, it’ll give out completely and send all of us flying into the water-

And then a beam of light encircles my waist. I peer up. Tom has used his chi to hook onto the other side of the bridge. Dev and I are hoisted into the air and thrown onto stable ground right as the right part of the bridge completely falls into the river.

“Thank you,” I tell Tom, clutching onto him.

But his eyes are focused on something below us.

“Look,” he says.

We peer over the edge. An indiscernible figure is levitating between the air and water, an unconscious Lucy in their arms. I realize who it is with a shock.

“Jimin,” I choke out.

He looks up at us, gives us a long look. And then he disappears.

Suddenly, a figure materializes next to me.

“Jungkook, take your mom,” Jin shouts, wrapping his arm around me. Jungkook, who is crouched on the cement next to his mother, nods and disappears in the next moment.

“Jin- the bridge-,” I say, but in the next moment I fade into nothingness, too.