Chapter 99

A dread thick as the smoke barreling toward us took the place of my next few breaths. I choked under the pressure. What if this didn't work? If Ica or One killed the other, then Darby would still be Two. But how could I prevent them from tearing each other apart?

I glanced down at my tattoo. Freeing One hadn't changed it any. Not like I expected it to. But where was One's tattoo? What did hers say?

She had her back to me, facing Ica's approach with skeletal fingers splayed like claws at her sides. Dark smoke twisted past her pale arms and legs and hovered above the dead playground grass. In front of her, an emaciated figure crept from the shadows and stared with unseeing eyes. Ica's tattoo was still the same - a one. But they couldn't both be One. Could they?

Ica's lolling black mouth peeled back into a grin that raced shivers over my back.

"Herman," I whispered. "Run."