He screamed in pain, or maybe relief, and slumped down—shaking, tears pouring from his eyes. "I'm free. I'm finally free." He surprised Lucy by pulling her into a giant bear hug and crushing her to his chest. "Thank you. Now, we must destroy Steele and save the children he seeks to use."
Lucy looked at Hunter and Luke, both of them injured and exhausted.
Beleth noticed, and gestured for the sphere. With it, he healed them both without drawing on their energy like it had when Lucy tried.
If they had more time, she would ask him more about how he did that when she couldn't, but they needed to hurry if they had any chance of stopping Steele.
Her thighs burned as she clenched them together to stay straddled on Buzz—Lucy decided her friend needed a name. Luke and Hunter rolled their eyes at her, but she stuck with Buzz, and the beetle seemed to like it.
Hunter's arm wrapped around her as Buzz followed Beleth in the bright blue sky. They must have made quite a view to anyone who could see them from land—three people riding a giant beetle, and a tattoo-covered man with black wings sprouting from his back like a bat, carrying a reluctant Simmons, who still played a big role in their plans.
They should have just left the bitch.
Diamond Head had become a fire pit, gray cliffs jutting from the earth like sticks smothered in ash, smoke roaring from the crevices in between. The sky above rippled with heat, and islands of stone floated amongst the lava below, their edges glowing like embers. Grunts, like ants, ran from the crater and massed near a wall of stone to the south. The others, military and civilians, could not see the welling flames, and so they stayed nearby and surrounded the burning mountain. Poor creatures. They gleaned what they could from their phones and TVs.
***
Lucy descended a path near the cliff, still running toward Drake and Sam. She turned, slipping and almost falling over the edge and into the lava. Hunter caught her by the waist, his hands slick with sweat from heat and probably nerves. She spotted Drake and called to him, but he didn't turn, didn't hear her.
They were too far away. A chasm of magma separated them, with no way across.
No sign of Sam yet, either. Drake must have been chasing her. He ran away from Lucy, and soon he'd turn a corner and be out of sight.
She had to get him the sphere, if she could just get close enough she could throw it. "Drake!"
Still nothing.
Luke stopped behind them. "Guys, there's a Grunt behind us. A big red one."
Lucy turned and saw the beast. The red muscles on its arms pulsed, obsidian rock covering nearly half its body, crimson armor covering the rest. She looked into the Grunt's eyes, and gasped, shocked by the familiar gaze. "Adam?"
The Grunt flared its nostrils and stampeded forward.
Was she imagining it, or was that really Adam? If it was, Steele had altered him, turned him into another pawn, and that enraged her in a whole new way.
Hunter turned and pulled his sword. "The Grunt is mine."
"Don't kill him." Lucy gripped Hunter's shoulder. He nodded, and she turned back to the gap of lava.
"Luke, make a bridge."
"What?"
"Make a bridge over the lava."
Hunter looked to where she pointed and shook his head. "That's crazy."
Lucy ignored him and pleaded with Luke. "Do it."
He nodded, focused, and created a shield that would act as a bridge. It was nearly translucent save a slight shift in the air, like a rainbow one could almost see.
She placed one foot in front of the other, carefully finding her way over the bridge.
The shield wavered beneath her feet. "Drake!"
This time he heard her and turned. "Lucy!"
She moved forward as Hunter fought Adam behind her, and as Luke struggled to hold the bridge up. "You need to use the sphere. Hold it against Sam, and it'll reverse Steele's mind control."
"Lucy!" Luke's voice strained with tension. "You need to get off the bridge now. I can't hold it any longer."
She turned to see Adam moving past Hunter and coming for Luke. She couldn't turn back, not until she'd gotten Drake the sphere. She ran forward, even as the bridge cracked under her feet, and tossed the sphere at Drake, then fell through the hole and straight toward the bubbling pool of magma.
Her breathe came out in jagged hiccups as she tried to scream, then a stone slab flew under her feet. She fell hard on it, and rolled onto her back.
Adam stood above, looking down at her. A tear fell from his eye. "You gave me freedom." He flexed and pushed the earth up around him, imprisoning himself in that spot. "I won't let myself hurt you."
Adam, you're not lost—not yet. She still couldn't see Drake, but hoped he'd caught the sphere. She yelled to him, "Go get our Sam back!"