Page 110 of Land of Shadow

We wait, and I finally know what having ‘bated breath’ means, because I’m scared to even exhale for fear the generator won’t start up.

“Any second now.” Wyatt drums his fingers on his thigh. “Any second?—”

“Shh!” Evie snaps.

“Okay,” he whispers.

We wait.

Panic sets in. It’s not going to start. Something’s wrong. We’ll have lost the one lead we have.

The first stuttering coughs of the generator make it to my ears just as the lights flicker on.

“Yes!” Wyatt punches the air. “That’s what I’m talking about!”

Evie hugs me hard, and I hug her right back.

“Wyatt, get to it!” I yelp.

“On it.” He dashes to the HCL.

“Is this it? This could be it,” Evie stammers, her grip still tight.

“I hope so.” I pull back. “It’s going to take Wyatt at least an hour to get it ready.”

“Yeah. Right. Yep, though he may cut that down to 45 minutes. Record lab time for the cure.” She smiles.

“Let’s hope so. We don’t need any more power blips.” I take a full breath, my body buzzing, my mind a whirlwind of ‘what ifs’.

“We should check on Aang.” Evie stands.

“Okay, but maybe we shouldn’t mention?—”

“No.” She shakes her head emphatically. “Not until we know something for sure.”

“Let’s go.” I follow her out and to the elevator, my laptop under my arm just in case the soldiers get a little too frisky with the things they’re packing up.

When the elevator opens, Gretchen is already there.

“Hey, is Aang?—”

“He’s gone!” Gretchen looks around the atrium. “Is he here? Did you see him?”

“No, we were in the lab. How long has he been gone?”

“I don’t know. I was sitting with him, but I dozed off. It was still dark. But now—what time is it?”

“About eleven?”

“Hours.” Gretchen, looking stricken, rolls from the elevator and scours the room, looking everywhere for Aang. “He’s been gone for maybe hours. Where would he go?” Gretchen puts a shaking hand to her cheek, her eyes meeting mine. “He was talking crazy. He-he said he wanted to kill the person responsible. But then he fell asleep. I thought he was going to sleep it off. He would never hurt anyone, you know? He?—”

“Juno. He said he wanted to kill Juno?” I already know the answer.

Gretchen nods, misery in her eyes. “But then he fell asleep. I didn’t mean to doze off. Oh, god, you don’t think he went to the White House?”

“He won’t be able to get close to her,” I reassure them. “They won’t let him in the building.”

Evie plucks her ID from the lanyard around her neck. “This will get him in, won’t it?”

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