Chapter 123: All Fall Down

My entire body jerks in time with Poppy's death even as I feel a surge from Duet. Solo rocks back on her heels as the girl dies. Mother's tearful face turns to me in the same moment as she reaches for me, only to flicker out and vanish.

The tear in the bubble behind her seals closed with a hiss.

"You fool." I choke on the words. "Now we all vanish." I almost welcome it.

But Solo looks around, down at herself, her smile returning. "Not so, sister mine." When she laughs there's an hysterical edge to it. "It worked as well as I hoped." She points at me, then at herself. "We're changed, he changed us enough."

Beckett breaks free at last, screaming, throws himself at Solo.

I can't watch when they kill him, but I force myself to, make myself watch his beautiful face, so dear to me, contort under the electric charge of one, two, finally three tasers. It takes that much to kill him, so much Solo actually looks afraid a moment before it's done.