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thin, steady
stream.
    As the sand hits the painted blue
surface, a weird thing happens. The globe begins to disintegrate.
Whatever the grains of sand touch becomes sand itself, until the
entire globe has fallen apart. The only sign it was ever there at
all is the heap between our feet, with the thin rod still
protruding from its center.
    “ Well, shit.” I bend down
and touch the heap. The warm granules slide under my fingertips.
“This can’t be good.”
    “ No,” Gabriel agrees,
kneeling down so we are eye-level.
    “ So how do we save Earth?”
I search his face for answers.
    Gabriel extends his wings. “That is
what you must decide.”

Chapter 7
     
    Ally
     
    “W hat do you mean you’re keeping her sedated? It’s been nearly
twelve hours.”
    The sedative would’ve been out of her
system a mere hour after she was drugged. The sweat collecting on
her brow, which I sponge off every so often with a damp cloth, is
proof that her body is working hard to throw off the
drugs.
    “ Jeremiah’s orders.” The
nurse shrugs and moves to the next bed, to a young man with a
broken arm.
    “ Why would he want to keep
her sedated?” As soon as the question leaves my mouth I feel
stupid. I know exactly why. A calm incapacitated Jesse is better
than a living breathing one who would no doubt make high demands to
save her pug.
    I pull my phone from my pocket and
consider texting Jeremiah. He won’t answer. I consider texting
Nikki next, but I can’t ask her to side with me against him. She’s
been loyal to Jeremiah and his cause long before I came along. With
a sigh, I slip my phone back into my pocket unused.
    What can I do for Jesse right now?
Nothing. Not without help.
    I imagine Nikki in bed, her arms
around me and her soft lips on my face. She cares about me and I
like her back but there’s this wide chasm between us. I don’t know
how to cross that gulf. Not as long as Caldwell is alive and the
danger is real. The same work that brought us together, keeps us
apart.
    I can’t think about that now. Yes, I
could use her help, but I don’t need it. I just need a plan. A plan
for getting Jesse out of here before she wakes up, furious. And a
plan that will keep her from doing anything rash—like waging a solo
mission against Caldwell. I suppose one good benefit of her
sedation will be the few moments I’ll have to conjure such a
plan.
    The automatic door swishes open, and I
prepare myself for Jeremiah or Nikki. Gloria limps into the room
wearing a cast over her broken fibula.
    “ Gloria?” My heart hammers
at the sight of her. Gloria doesn’t live in Jeremiah’s tower,
having refused his offer for personal living quarters. She came
here for a reason.
    She stops just short of the bed.
“They’re keeping her sedated.”
    “ The nurse just told
me . What’s going
on?”
    “ We have to get her out of
here.” She plops her sketchbook on top of Jesse’s legs. Jesse
doesn’t stir.
    “ This building is the
safest place for her. Jeremiah is a bit of a control freak, but I
believe his intentions are good. He wants to protect his people,
that’s all. He doesn’t know Jesse like we do.”
    “ It’s more than
that,” Gloria flips a page and points at
a detailed pencil sketch.
    Jesse is standing in the aftermath of
an apocalypse. A city has collapsed around her and the sky is gray
with fallout. It takes me a minute to recognize the Chicago skyline
despite all the rubble. But in the distance, the Sears tower stands
untouched and half of Wrigley Field. Where Tate Tower should stand,
shows only a stretch of vacant sky.
    “ We need to get away from
this building.” Gloria reaches up and yanks The Needle out of
Jesse’s arms.
    “ Hey!” I blot at the blood
on Jesse’s arm with the white sheet stretched over her. “Be gentle.
You don’t know that the building will be bombed right this second.
When is that supposed to happen?”
    She frowns. “We’ll stay with her until
she wakes up, and then we have to