Page 115 - DivineSparkRisingFinal

Nicholas Boothman
Another pulse.
Jinji stood silent, arms crossed. Then she
touched the dripping wall, tasting a drop of salt,
and whispered, almost to herself: “I thought if I
showed my feelings, I’d lose everything.”
The cave answered with a final, deeper thrum.
The glyphs dimmed, as if an ancient hand had
unclenched.
They climbed back up into wind and storm. The
token hummed in Jinji’s palm. Fragment Ten was
alive.
Engines roared up the village road. Two black
SUVs. A drone rose into the salt wind.
“Run,” Henry snapped.
They darted through fishermen’s alleys, slick
with spray. Jinji hurled an EMP flare; the drone
crackled and fell into the sea.
Rounding a corner, they froze. A man stood
alone in the narrow lane. Suited. Armed.
Henry lunged, but stopped short. The eyes. The
jaw. Recognition hit: the same man from Rossio,
from Praça das Flores. The Calador.
His weapon never lowered, but his stance
shifted. A pause. A choice.
“Go,” he said.
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