Zodiac (Zodiac, #1)(63)

He closes his eyes. “Return trip is . . . press magenta three times.”

I frown at the colored diodes. “Magenta’s like purple, right?”

Hysan doesn’t answer. He’s passed out.

My fingertip circles over all the purplish lights. Lavender, fuchsia, burgundy, until finally I just pick one. When the hover-car lifts out of the port and sails down the needle’s face, we’re engulfed in pitch-black smoke. Mathias puts on his field glasses, and as he scans the scene, his square shoulders begin to sag. After a moment, he takes the glasses off.

“Can I see?” I ask.

“You might not want to.”

I put on the glasses, and their enhanced optics reveal a sky transformed into a smoldering cauldron. Moira’s grain fields have been reduced to charcoal, and the needle city is listing to one side. “It’s going to fall,” I whisper.

“Yes,” says Mathias. “How did this happen?”

“Moira turned on her Ephemeris, and Ophiuchus saw us.”

Mathias doesn’t have a response.

We zoom over the grain fields, parting a path through dense flying ash, but apparently I picked the right shade of magenta because we’re heading back the way we came. In the distance, ships are rising from the spaceport. Everyone’s trying to escape. I wonder what will happen when we all fly through the burning atmosphere overhead.

Caasy.

Just as I turn to ask Mathias about him, I see the needle city collapsing. It falls straight down to the earth, and clouds of debris mushroom out from its base. I scream a sob.

Mathias takes the glasses and looks. He scans for a long time, but I don’t want to see anymore. All I can do is cry.

“Ochus followed me here. Moira saw him right before the storm. I didn’t imagine it. He blasted Moira’s city using Psynergy.”

“We don’t know who’s behind this,” says Mathias, “but you were right about the attack on Virgo. You were right about the omen.”

I rub my face. “I don’t want to be right,” I mumble, gazing up at the darkening sky. “Moira told me to go to the Plenum.”

He wrinkles his forehead. “I’m not sure you’ll be safe there. From what my parents tell me, the place is full of criminals and spies, and Guardians try to stay away.”

Our car dodges through heavy traffic, and its onboard cooling system can’t keep up with the rising heat. Hysan’s head lolls from side to side.

“Then we better watch our backs.”

Mathias lowers his head. “We have to assume this enemy will try to assassinate you again. We’ll need to take better safety precautions on Aries—physically and metaphysically.”

The traffic grows thicker, and we chug to a halt, hovering over coal-black embers that were once stalks of grain. It feels like we’re slow-poaching.

I can’t look at Hysan. I’m worried he’s lost too much blood. Every passing second seems to steal more things from him. One less breath, one less heartbeat, one less smile.

Mathias keeps checking the wound, releasing the tourniquet a bit, then retightening it. Ahead, more ships are launching. “We should help these people,” I say.

“We will.” He wipes sweat from his face. “Equinox has enough air for about ten more passengers.”

When we reach the spaceport and find Hysan’s ship, the smell outside is nauseating. Nobody’s in sight at this end of the field, so we’ll have to go to the main terminal to find our ten passengers. The question neither of us asks is how we’re supposed to only help ten when there are so many who won’t make it.

The bodies floating on Elara flash before my eyes. Only this time, it’s Virgo’s children who’ve been attacked.

Ophiuchus is a plague, and he won’t stop spreading. Our only chance of survival is for the Houses of the Zodiac to come together. I have to plead my case to the Plenum. After what’s happened here, the other Guardians have to believe me.

The launch pad radiates heat like a griddle as we carry Hysan’s unconscious body from the car to the ship. At least the air in Equinox is cooler.

“Caasy!” I call out as we enter, but he doesn’t reply.

“I’ll try to locate him on his Tattoo once we have control of the ship,” says Mathias.

We lay Hysan on the deck, and Mathias races to the galley to get the ship’s healing kit. I keep checking the tourniquet. Hysan’s skin is losing its golden color. I cushion his head on my lap and stroke his cheek. “Please hang on, Hysan. . . .”

When Mathias comes back, I ask, “Where’s the life-support pod?”

“We’ll find it later,” he says, digging through the kit. “First, we have to wake up your Libran and get him to unlock his ship.”

Mathias snaps an ampoule of wake-up gas under Hysan’s nostrils, but he doesn’t rouse. Outside, we hear another thundering explosion, and I readjust Hysan’s head and run to the glass nose to see what’s happening. “Our car just caught fire!” I yell. “The whole launch pad is melting!”

Mathias snaps a second ampoule, and Hysan opens his eyes with a groan. “Unlock your ship,” says Mathias.

Hysan squints and blinks. He seems to be in a fog, so I kneel beside him and take his hand. “Please, Hysan. Please unlock Equinox’s controls.”