"We gotta get in there," said Jeremy, raising his voice to be heard over the thunder and rain. They were taking shelter under cover of a half-collapsed building at the edge of Rallsburg proper, still in sight of the library. A huge open space lay between them, and every time they tried to get closer, a rifle round slammed into the pavement, forcing them back.

"How?" asked Jackie. "That bitch ain't gonna let us within a hundred yards. You think she'd give a single shit about putting one through our heads?"

"Fuck no, but we got our own backup." He cued his radio. "Ashe, Stebbins."

"This is Stebbins, send it."

"Switch channel to the same net we used in Tacoma, over."

"Copy, changing net, over."

"...The hell are you doin', Ashe?" asked Jackie, as Jeremy quickly swapped radio channels.

"Gimme your radio," he said. She handed it over, and he quickly twisted her onto the right frequency. "Gotta get off that net. Lani knew it, and probably gave it to her, and now we gotta worry about Cinza and her fuckin' people too." He clicked the button. "Radio check."

"Five by five, over."

"We gotta get in there, Stebbins. Can you keep Rook off us while we rush it? Over."

"...Think I got an idea of where she's holed up, sir, but what about you? You're goin' up against golems, over."

"The kid's in there. She won't let him kill anybody. Only chance we're gonna get, over."

"Roger that, sir. What about the other gang? Over."

"Soon as we're in, you go back to cover. Hell, radio it to Rook if you want, keep everybody else the fuck away. Just give us time to bring him in. Over."

"Copy that. Timeline? Over."

"Right fuckin' now. Out."

Jeremy tensed, even though he wouldn't be moving until Stebbins' next call out. The marksman would be shifting position inside the town, trying to get an angle on Rook's building—wherever the fuck she is. The storm and the buildings weren't giving Jeremy any sense of where her shots were coming from, apart from a general sense of "further into the town".

Jackie clapped him on the shoulder, trying to reassure him.

"We got this, Ashe."

"Been hunting this motherfucker for a long damn time," muttered Jeremy. "Ever since I saw those bodies in May, I needed two things: find you, and put him in jail for the rest of his fuckin' life."

"One down," said Jackie grimly.

A faint whistling sound in the air, high above. Jeremy looked up, squinting through the pouring rain. A flash of lightning lit up the sky—and his eyes went wide. Someone—and it really could only be one person—was flying right out of the storm, bearing down on them all.

Where the fuck did she come from?

"Heads up!" he shouted into his radio.

A huge gust of wind slammed into the town, bending trees back in every direction. She slowed as she approached, but whatever she'd been doing made a huge entrance. Jeremy almost felt like grinning, if everything else didn't feel so dire already.

Hailey turned in mid-air near the center of town, hovering near the top of a building. A gunshot cracked out, exploding a burst of concrete near her head. Hailey didn't wince, but twisted around toward a building nearby. She threw out her hand, shouting as she did.

A huge burst of fire exploded outward, flooding toward one of the structures. Steam hissed off as the rain poured in. Hailey kept it going for a moment, then swooped out of sight.

"Moving while she's distracted, over," said Stebbins.

"We should do the fuckin' same," said Jeremy. He got to his feet and bolted across the street, Jackie only a few steps behind.

They only made it two doors down before another bit of asphalt blew out nearby. Rook's rifle cracked again—and it was far closer than the previous shots.

Bitch is going for a kill now!

"Fuck, fuck, fuck," Jeremy panted as he got into cover again. He leaned against the wall, panting. Jackie did the same, heaving. She was in far worse shape than him, thanks to the workout schedule he'd resumed after Lani got shot, but he wasn't doing that much better. "Need to get in touch with Hailey."

At that moment, they heard another shout, and another huge gout of hissing flames rolled down the street.

"Jesus," muttered Jeremy as a wave of heat washed over them, completely at odds with the near-freezing temperature outside. Another huge crack of lightning, followed by a roll of thunder. The whole fuckin' world's blowin' up right now…

A ringing noise.

"...the fuck is that?"

Jackie tapped him on the shoulder. "It's your phone."

Jeremy grabbed it up and answered, without even looking. "What?"

The other end of the line sounded like it was inside a wind tunnel. "I just saw you," said Hailey. "If I can get you inside, what happens?"

"Me and Jackie arrest him. I ain't gonna kill anyone. We bring him in."

"...Okay." Hailey paused, and Jeremy heard another hissing gout of fire crash through the town. "I still don't know where those shots are coming from. I'm just firing at stuff at random here."

"Stebbins is in there somewhere," said Jeremy. "He was tryin' to get to a spot where he could keep her head down."

"So it's Rook, then, right?"

"Yeah."

"All right—oh crap!"

"What?"

"Cinza," said Hailey, and suddenly the phone cut off.

Jeremy ran for the end of the alleyway, peeking around and down the street. Far in the distance, he could see a group of greycloaks, Ruby's fiery curls and Cinza's silver-grey hair distinct even in the midst of the storm. They seemed to have had the same idea as him, and were moving closer to the town while Hailey distracted Rook.

Two gunshots rang out from separate places. Both Stebbins and Rook had fired at the group. A puff of mud exploded on either side. Cinza's group dove for cover behind the nearest building.

"Figured you'd want them kept out of the loop too, sir. Over."

"Thanks. Workin' with Hailey to get you some cover. Over." Jeremy glanced at Jackie. She was clutching her pistol, watching the rain pour in over her devastated town, breathing heavily. "You with me?"

She nodded. "Every damn step of the way, Ashe."