Nick placed one hand on the wheel, the other was buried in his hair. He stared ahead at the world he could only see through the headlights of the car. He tried not to think of anything. It was easier that way. He didn’t have his phone, but it turned out to be a blessing.

  There was a good chance he’d never attend another battle until April. Also a good chance Walt would force him to stop working at his job. Nick really doubted Walt would give him another chance after getting angry at him right before leaving, then driving around in Evelyn’s car for another hour or so. But this had to happen, or else the apocalypse would happen in April.

  Nick checked his watch. This was the longest five minutes he’d ever experienced. And he needed to stay out here for who knows how long.

  Nick stopped at a light, feeling nothing. Forcing himself to feel nothing. If he thought about his future, he was filled with dread. But he had to do this. The deadline already dropped to June. He couldn’t let it drop anymore.

  He drove through streets, avoiding his house entirely. It took him a minute to realize that he was expecting his phone to blow up, but he forgot he tossed it at his dad right before they left. At first, he was happy to drive in peace, but that also meant this would undoubtably end with Walt ordering the entire police force to hunt for him. That alone might be the reason he lose both CCNC and his job in one go.

  Behind him, someone flashed their car lights at him. He frowned, not expecting a regular car. He saw someone in the passenger side leaning out the window, trying to get his attention, and he realized, in the glimmer of red light, it was Evelyn.

  “Shit,” Nick mumbled, feeling the numbness shake off. They must have seen him leave and decided to follow him. He did not expect this.

  “What did you expect?” Chaos said.

  Nick jumped, then noticed Chaos sitting cross legged on the ceiling. He was dressed for war, metal plate clinking, with a huge fish on his back. Chaos chuckled, unstrapping the fish. “Like it? It’s a pike.” He chuckled again, dropping it. The fish plopped on his seat. “Dad jokes give just the right amount of chaos to something that should be ordered. Don’t you agree?”

  The light turned green, and Nick pressed on the gas to keep moving. He refused to acknowledge Chaos, mainly because it hurt his brain to see someone casually sitting on the ceiling. Chaos’s clothes weren’t hanging to the ground, either. It was like gravity itself had shifted so that Chaos was sitting on the ceiling like Nick was sitting in a chair.

  “You need to lose them,” Chaos said, gesturing over his shoulder at Tyler and Evelyn. “They’re bringing Order to what I’m doing.”

  “I’m trying,” Nick said, making a sudden turn onto another street before making another one. “Not many cars are out right now.”

  Chaos shrugged, grabbing the pike again and petting it like it was a dog. “Keep trying. I don’t want Evelyn giving an excuse to your father for you. If she does, you’ll have to do something else this week.”

  Nick’s lips pressed into a thin line. “I don’t want to do anything else. This was supposed to be the last thing I do for you. Ever.”

  “Hmmm,” Chaos said, stroking the fish. “Perhaps.”

  “All Grizzizzik needs is the sword. He’s going back to leveling his rogue skills,” Nick said.

  “Undoubtably, but Thanksgiving is tomorrow. You didn’t get many experience points this time. You still have two thousand, two hundred and twenty experience points before I create the sword.”

  Nick turned the car a few more times, but Tyler and Evelyn followed behind him closely. There was another red light, so Nick went to the right turn lane and plowed forward. Late night traffic was nonexistent in Elmwood, especially near Thanksgiving. People rarely came here, they left for Phoenix or Tucson. It would be impossible to shake these two off.

  “Evelyn’s thinking it.” Chaos turned around to watch the car. “Invoking my sister as she considers calling Walt to extend the curfew to buy them more time to catch you. This won’t work. Not at all.”

  “I refuse to do another thing. They caught me. That’s that. The chaos is done,” Nick said, turning the car to only come up against another red light. He groaned, strangling the steering wheel. He needed to stay on the main road. They all had green lights. But that would mean Tyler and Evelyn would more easily catch up to him. He could already see Evelyn getting out of the car to run and talk to him.

  “He is right, brother.”

  Every muscle in Nick’s body stiffened. That was a female voice, coming from the back seat. He closed his eyes, taking a deep breath. He didn’t dare look behind him to see. Order. Was she here to stop Chaos?

  “I’m not satisfied,” Chaos said.

  “The contract is,” Order said.

  Nick closed his eyes.

  “No good. No good. Wait…” A slow smirk crossed Chaos’s face. “Spontaneous ideas are the best.”

  The gas pedal slammed to the ground and the car speed forward squealing into the intersection. Nick’s eyes flew open, gasping as the red light still flooded the car.

  “Brother! No!” Order shouted.

  Chaos ignored her. “You got your wish, Nick Larsen. You won’t have to do another thing,” Chaos said.

  “Shit!” Nick shouted. Nick turned to Chaos, who disappeared. It gave Nick a nanosecond of time to realize headlights coming straight for him. Nick had no other choice but to gun it. He tried to ram his foot against the gas, but the pedal was already to the floor. He had little time to react, just to close his eyes and brace for impact.

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  “Brother, no!” Order shouted.

  ***

  Evelyn screamed. Screamed like the sound, pitch, and length could change time. Could alter the choices made, and somehow not make that second car hit Nick’s.

  She ran, still screaming. The cacophony of noise changed to words. The only words she could think of in that moment.

  “Oh my god! Oh my god! Oh my god! Oh my god! NICK!”

  “Evelyn! Wait!” Tyler shouted, trying to catch up with her. The light on their side was still read. Cars were slamming on brakes, but she wasn’t focused on that. She ran over broken glass, past scrunched up metal. Hearing the hiss of the motor as her feet crunched over broken glass. She found the driver’s side door of her car, trying to yank it open. Nick was trapped inside. Nick was hurt. He had to be hurt. That other car t-boned their car. She had to make sure Nick was okay. He needed to be okay.

  “Oh my god! Oh my god! Oh my god!” she kept screaming, yanking the door open.

  The door swung open and she heard Nick groaning.

  “Nick? Nick! Oh my god! Oh my god!” Evelyn shouted as Tyler came to her side.

  Nick unbuckled his seat belt. “Fine. I’m fine.” His words were slurred. His face was covered in blood. Evelyn’s knees trembled as Nick stumbled out of the car. “Fine. I’m fine.”

  He wasn’t fine. She saw the wound near his hairline almost immediately. It was pumping blood down his face, and his eyes weren’t focused. Evelyn grabbed his shoulders, his face. Tried to see. Tried to know for herself he was as fine as he pretended to be. Hot tears streamed down her cheeks as Tyler talked to someone on the phone. Had Tyler called someone? Yes, calling someone was important. Ambulance. Nick needed an ambulance. Now.

  His cheek. It was such a deep cut as blood poured down his chin and neck, soaking his shirt.

  “Oh my god. Oh my god. Oh my god,” Evelyn whispered.

  “Fine,” Nick mumbled, his eyes unfocused as he staggered from the car. “Fine. Fine.”

  Nick collapsed to his hands and knees on broken glass and vomited. Evelyn didn’t think about the dangers of kneeling on broken glass as she knelt next to her brother, her arms around his middle. He wasn’t okay. Something was wrong. Something bad.

  Tyler grabbed Nick’s arm and helped him to his feet. “Come on. Away from the glass. Over on the sidewalk.”

  Evelyn took Nick’s other arm as her older brother stumbled to the sidewalk. An ambulance was there before Evelyn registered she had been hearing sirens. Did Tyler call the second he saw the accident? She’d been screaming. She didn’t notice. They were close to the hospital, that had to be a good thing. Nick needed it. He needed a hospital. He needed all the help he could get.

  Tyler had a blanket. When did Tyler get a blanket? She pieced together how quickly Tyler went to the trunk of his car and pulled out the blanket while he talked on the phone. He had remained calm and gotten help. Evelyn had panicked.

  Was still panicking.

  Tyler placed the blanket around Nick before stepping back and letting the paramedics do their job. Paramedics were here. Evelyn’s legs trembled as Tyler gently grabbed her shoulders, searching her face. “Evelyn?”

  Evelyn said nothing. She simply looked at Tyler’s face, knowing her own was a mess. She didn’t realize how horribly her entire body was trembling until she felt his steady hands on her shoulders.

  “Help is here. These are trained professionals. Nick is out and walking. It means his legs aren’t broken. I don’t think he’s broken any bones. This is good. Really, really good, considering the accident we just saw.” He kept his hands on her shoulders, his eyes searching hers. “Are you going to be alright?”

  Evelyn let out a shuddering breath. “I’m… a mess.”

  Tyler placed his arms around her, hugging her tight. Evelyn was still frightened. She didn’t want to be hugged. She needed to be by Nick’s side. Needed to hear everything the paramedics said. Hear from them that Nick was fine. He was fine. He had to be fine.

  “It’s okay to be a mess,” Tyler whispered.

  ***

  Rafael chuckled as Hazel finished up her story. “Your cousin sounds hilarious,” Rafael said.

  “I wish you could have come,” Hazel said.

  “I know. But… now’s not a good time,” Rafael said.

  Hazel and her family had flown to California to be with her mother’s side, who they didn’t get to see often. Hazel invited him, but it was too much travel. And until they figured out how the deadline got shortened, Rafael didn’t dare leave the bubble, let alone the state. In fact, he didn’t let Hazel leave until he learned a group was stationed in Northern California taking care of some creatures there, and promised to stay until Hazel was back in Arizona. She also texted pictures of herself or of herself and a cousin every hour near a clock just to put Rafael’s mind at ease. The nightly call was mandatory for Rafael’s own peace of mind.

  His phone started buzzing, and Rafael glanced at it. “Oh, hey, Hazel? Can I call you back? Tyler’s calling.”

  “Of course. Keep me updated,” Hazel said.

  “I will. Because this still isn’t a long enough call.” She laughed before saying goodbye. Rafael said his goodbye before switching the call. “Hey, Tyler. What’s up?”

  “Nick got in a crash,” Tyler said.

  Rafael froze, feeling a sense of deja vu. A series of bad choices that ended in Nick getting in a crash “He… what? Is he okay?”

  Alejandra glanced up from her book. Rafael dropped his phone and put it on speakerphone so she could hear.

  “Yes, thank god. Just wanted to spread the word, as Nick can’t be contacted right now. He’s got a few nasty cuts and bruises. He’s also got a concussion. He’s got to rest for a few weeks, especially these first few days.”

  “Nick got in a car crash,” Rafael whispered to Alejandra.

  Alejandra’s mouth dropped open before she struggled to put it back in place. “I… is everyone else okay?” She stared at the phone.

  “Nick was in the car all by himself, so Evelyn and I are fine.”

  Alejandra’s brows furrowed. “Why was Nick by himself?”

  Tyler gave a sigh, long and exhausted. “He slipped away from us during the battle. It seemed like he was going somewhere, and when we followed him, he tried to shake us off. I… don’t know what he was planning to do. But whatever it was, he got in a crash before he could get there.”

  Alejandra didn’t stop her mouth from dropping open this time.

  “None of this makes sense,” Rafael said.

  “No, it doesn’t. Tell Alejandra not to teleport Hraktar just yet. I ordered him to keep an eye on Grizzizzik.”

  “I won’t,” Alejandra said.

  “Great. I’ll… keep the group chat updated. I just wanted to tell everyone personally since… since there was a lot of information to give. I’ve got to call Derek, now.”

  “Okay, we’ll wait for the updates,” Rafael said.

  He hung up the phone, staring at his sister, who stared back at him. They were silent for some time.

  Rafael scratched his forehead with his phone. “What’s going on with him?”

  Alejandra shook her head. “Don’t pretend he hasn’t done this before.”

  “Alejandra-” Rafael started to say.

  “Acting out. Doing things he shouldn’t. The stress is getting to him, and he’s being stupid. If he doesn’t want to come to us, that’s his problem,” Alejandra said.

  “Alejandra!”

  She placed her hands on her hips. “Stop getting angry at me.”

  “He got in a crash. He could have died.”

  “We’ve already been here before,” Alejandra said, turning around. “The first time I had sympathy. The second time I’m too exhausted. I’m done, Rafael. I can’t do this again.”

  She entered her room and closed the door. Rafael was left in the living room, sinking back into the couch as he covered his face. He pulled out his phone and called Hazel back. He needed someone who wouldn’t get angry at Nick, because for whatever reason, Rafael was far more concerned than anything. What was going on with his old friend?