Then the whole lot of them hit the water in a geyser of spray, and the Harley promptly fell into the water of the lake-
-and onto sand just under its surface. The bike slowed dramatically, pushing me up against Karrin, nearly pushing her over the handlebars, but she locked her arms straight and held, drawing the bike up onto the shore of the island. She rode the brake until we'd come to a halt, about five feet short of hitting one of the big old trees on the island.
"See?" Karrin said.
"You were right," I said.
She looked back up at me, her eyes twinkling. "You are so hot right now."
I burst out into a hiccuping laugh that felt like it could have veered off into manic or depressive at any second, the pressure and terror of this entire stupid, ugly day finally getting to me-but it didn't. There were no enemy ships right on hand, and no one had launched grenades at the island since the Wild Hunt's attack had begun. There might have been Outsiders in the water, but apparently the Hunt was occupying their total attention. For the moment, we were alone, and Karrin started laughing, too. We laughed like that for several moments. We each tried to speak, to say something about the day, but it kept getting choked off by the half-hysterical laughter.
"Grenades," I said. "As if a date has to have-"
". . . look on Molly's face . . ."
". . . know he's a dog but I swear that . . ."
"Santa Claus smackdown!" Murphy gasped finally, and it set us both into gales of laughter that had no wind to support them, until finally we were just sitting with her small warm form leaning her back against my chest, in the darkness.
Then she turned her head, slowly, and looked up at me. Her eyes were very blue. Her mouth was very close.
Then I noticed something.
The second barge, whose tug Murphy had torched with her grenade, was moving.
I stood up and climbed off the bike, my eyes widening. "Oh, crap," I said.
From there, I could see that Sharkface stood calmly on the surface of the lake at the rear of the barge, his cloak twining and writhing all around him. His arms stretched forward in what was clearly a gesture of command. The waters at the rear of the barge boiled with Outsiders, most of them at least partly out of the water, and it took me only a second to work out what was happening.
They were doing an Evinrude impersonation, slamming their combined mass and preternatural strength against the rear of the barge. The burning tug was still a massive column of smoke and flame in front of the barge, but the barge was definitely moving-and it was close to shore.
Eerie green and scarlet light flashed in the depths of the lake, soundless and random. Sharkface had been smart. When the Hunt entered the water, he must have sent the lion's share of his Outsiders against them-while he and a few others cameback up to the surface to ruin the crap out of my potential romantic moment.
"Oh, stars and stones," I breathed. "If they get that boat to shore . . ."
"The Harley can't get us there," Karrin said. "Not through this terrain and brush."
"You can't keep up with me here," I said.
Murphy gritted her teeth at that, but nodded. "Go," she said. "I'll come as fast as I can."
And then I thought to myself that if I kept on waiting for things to quiet down and be more appropriate and safer before I took action, I was never going to get anywhere in life.
So I slipped a hand behind her head, leaned down, and kissed her on the mouth, hard. She didn't stiffen. She wasn't surprised. She leaned into it, and her mouth tasted like strawberries.
I gave it two heartbeats, three, four. Then we both drew away at the same time. Her eyes were slightly wide, her cheeks high with color.
"I'm not going anywhere," I told her.
Then I turned and sprinted toward the stretch of shore at which Sharkface had pointed the last barge.
Chapter Forty-five
For me, running across the island wasn't a physical effort. It was mostly a mental one.
My awareness of the place was bone-deep, a total knowledge that existed as a single, whole body in my mind-a kind of understanding that some medieval scholars had called intellectus. It came to me on the level of reflex and instinct. When I ran, I knew where every branch stood out, where every stone lay ready to turn beneath my foot. Moving happened as naturally as breathing, and every step seemed to propel me forward a little faster, like running across the surface of one of those bouncy cages at a kid's pizza place.
I didn't have to run across the island. I just had to think about it and let my body effortlessly follow my mind.
I came out of the woods on the beach above where the barge was headed, which was roughly twenty-three yards, one foot, and six and one half inches from the nearest edge of the Whatsup Dock. One of the three major pulsing ley lines ran out from the island at almost that exact point, and if the barge managed to ground itself in contact with the line, Chicagoans were going to have a really rough morning commute.
Now that the Hunt and the Outsiders had taken their fight mostly below the waves, it was quiet enough to hear the barge approaching. Someone had already begun chanting on the deck of the barge. I couldn't see them through the smoldering wreckage of the tug out in front of the barge, but voices were certainly being raised in unison in a steady chant of some language that sounded as if it were meant to be spoken while gargling Crisco.
"Whatever happened to Ia, Ia, Cthulu fhtagn?" I muttered. "No one has a sense of style anymore."
-and onto sand just under its surface. The bike slowed dramatically, pushing me up against Karrin, nearly pushing her over the handlebars, but she locked her arms straight and held, drawing the bike up onto the shore of the island. She rode the brake until we'd come to a halt, about five feet short of hitting one of the big old trees on the island.
"See?" Karrin said.
"You were right," I said.
She looked back up at me, her eyes twinkling. "You are so hot right now."
I burst out into a hiccuping laugh that felt like it could have veered off into manic or depressive at any second, the pressure and terror of this entire stupid, ugly day finally getting to me-but it didn't. There were no enemy ships right on hand, and no one had launched grenades at the island since the Wild Hunt's attack had begun. There might have been Outsiders in the water, but apparently the Hunt was occupying their total attention. For the moment, we were alone, and Karrin started laughing, too. We laughed like that for several moments. We each tried to speak, to say something about the day, but it kept getting choked off by the half-hysterical laughter.
"Grenades," I said. "As if a date has to have-"
". . . look on Molly's face . . ."
". . . know he's a dog but I swear that . . ."
"Santa Claus smackdown!" Murphy gasped finally, and it set us both into gales of laughter that had no wind to support them, until finally we were just sitting with her small warm form leaning her back against my chest, in the darkness.
Then she turned her head, slowly, and looked up at me. Her eyes were very blue. Her mouth was very close.
Then I noticed something.
The second barge, whose tug Murphy had torched with her grenade, was moving.
I stood up and climbed off the bike, my eyes widening. "Oh, crap," I said.
From there, I could see that Sharkface stood calmly on the surface of the lake at the rear of the barge, his cloak twining and writhing all around him. His arms stretched forward in what was clearly a gesture of command. The waters at the rear of the barge boiled with Outsiders, most of them at least partly out of the water, and it took me only a second to work out what was happening.
They were doing an Evinrude impersonation, slamming their combined mass and preternatural strength against the rear of the barge. The burning tug was still a massive column of smoke and flame in front of the barge, but the barge was definitely moving-and it was close to shore.
Eerie green and scarlet light flashed in the depths of the lake, soundless and random. Sharkface had been smart. When the Hunt entered the water, he must have sent the lion's share of his Outsiders against them-while he and a few others cameback up to the surface to ruin the crap out of my potential romantic moment.
"Oh, stars and stones," I breathed. "If they get that boat to shore . . ."
"The Harley can't get us there," Karrin said. "Not through this terrain and brush."
"You can't keep up with me here," I said.
Murphy gritted her teeth at that, but nodded. "Go," she said. "I'll come as fast as I can."
And then I thought to myself that if I kept on waiting for things to quiet down and be more appropriate and safer before I took action, I was never going to get anywhere in life.
So I slipped a hand behind her head, leaned down, and kissed her on the mouth, hard. She didn't stiffen. She wasn't surprised. She leaned into it, and her mouth tasted like strawberries.
I gave it two heartbeats, three, four. Then we both drew away at the same time. Her eyes were slightly wide, her cheeks high with color.
"I'm not going anywhere," I told her.
Then I turned and sprinted toward the stretch of shore at which Sharkface had pointed the last barge.
Chapter Forty-five
For me, running across the island wasn't a physical effort. It was mostly a mental one.
My awareness of the place was bone-deep, a total knowledge that existed as a single, whole body in my mind-a kind of understanding that some medieval scholars had called intellectus. It came to me on the level of reflex and instinct. When I ran, I knew where every branch stood out, where every stone lay ready to turn beneath my foot. Moving happened as naturally as breathing, and every step seemed to propel me forward a little faster, like running across the surface of one of those bouncy cages at a kid's pizza place.
I didn't have to run across the island. I just had to think about it and let my body effortlessly follow my mind.
I came out of the woods on the beach above where the barge was headed, which was roughly twenty-three yards, one foot, and six and one half inches from the nearest edge of the Whatsup Dock. One of the three major pulsing ley lines ran out from the island at almost that exact point, and if the barge managed to ground itself in contact with the line, Chicagoans were going to have a really rough morning commute.
Now that the Hunt and the Outsiders had taken their fight mostly below the waves, it was quiet enough to hear the barge approaching. Someone had already begun chanting on the deck of the barge. I couldn't see them through the smoldering wreckage of the tug out in front of the barge, but voices were certainly being raised in unison in a steady chant of some language that sounded as if it were meant to be spoken while gargling Crisco.
"Whatever happened to Ia, Ia, Cthulu fhtagn?" I muttered. "No one has a sense of style anymore."
