Only Hard Problems: A Galactic Bonds book by Jennifer Estep

Author:Jennifer Estep [Estep, Jennifer]
Language: eng
Format: azw3
Publisher: anonymous
Published: 2024-02-20T00:00:00+00:00

The explosion had decimated this part of the library, which was on the castle’s second level, and created a gigantic pile of rubble that stretched all the way down to the ground some twenty feet below. I hopped from one chunk of stone to another, as though I was surfing down a rippling wave of rocks. The pieces of stone slipped, slid, and shattered under my boots, but I made it down the rubble pile without falling and breaking my neck.

The instant my feet were on solid ground, I sprinted forward, rounding a corner of the castle and heading toward the back lawn where the solstice celebration was taking place. Up ahead, the tall honeysuckle bushes loomed into view, the bulbs still glowing in the thick branches. Hope sparked inside me. Perhaps I was wrong, and Silas had slipped out of the castle another way, without targeting the guests—

Pew! Pew! Pew!

Bright red blaster fire erupted, several of the bulbs shattered, and more shouts and screams sounded. I blocked out my cracked ribs, along with all my other aches and pains, once again shoving them all into that permaglass box buried deep inside my mind. Then I sucked in a breath and forced myself to run faster.

My boots churned up grass, along with the rich earth underneath. I didn’t have time to skirt around the honeysuckle bushes, so I plunged straight into the closest one. The rough branches scraped across my hands and face, while the sticky blossoms clutched at my clothes like pink leeches, but I hacked them all away with my stormsword.

I burst through to the other side and had to stop short to keep from tripping over a House Rojillo guard. He was lying face up on the ground, his mouth gaping in surprise, his body still convulsing from the violent electric shock he’d received. The poor man hadn’t even had a chance to draw his blaster to defend himself. Neither had any of the other guards scattered on the ground nearby like twitching oversize pink petals.

My gut twisted with fresh dread. Silas and the Black Scarabs had already neutralized the perimeter guards, which meant there was no one left to stop them from attacking the solstice guests.

I couldn’t help any of the fallen guards, so I skirted around them and hacked my way through another honeysuckle bush. Then another one . . . then another . . .

Slowly but surely, the lawn came into view, and each new glimpse of the chaos and destruction sent another arrow of worry shooting straight through my heart.

Overturned game booths with props and prizes spilling out of their busted sides. Splintered tables and shattered chairs. Platters of food littering the ground like colorful mush. Broken bulbs spewing sparks. Smashed sun- and moon-shaped crystals glinting like jagged diamond shards in the trampled grass. Fires burning around the drinks table, fueled by the alcoholic punches that had soaked the grass.

I gritted my teeth and worked harder and faster, hacking through another honeysuckle bush .

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