Page 179 of Shatter the Earth (Cassandra Palmer 10)

“And let the line do the rest. It will tear them apart!”

“And again, how do you expect us to do that?”

I didn’t say anything. I just stood there, looking at Pritkin. After a moment, I crossed my arms.

“No,” he said emphatically.

“Why not?”

“I just told you why not! You don’t know a damned thing about elemental magic! It’s dangerous—”

“All magic is dangerous—”

“Not like this!”

“Well, if you have a better idea—”

“I bloody well have a better idea!”

I waited.

“All right, I don’t have a better idea, but we’re not doing that!”

The shield overhead started to crack.

“Can I drive one?” Caleb asked me.

“Can you see?” I asked him back.

“No, but it can see for me, right?”

“I have no idea—”

“That’s the bloody point!” Pritkin snarled. “Neither of you knows a damned thing about elemental magic!”

“Lucky we have you to help us, then, isn’t it?” I asked him.

Pritkin cursed a lot.

Chapter Forty-Five

There were a lot of wounded mixed in with the Corpsmen—more than I’d realized. I guessed that was why so many had been clustered together, using some fallen colossi as a makeshift fortress—to try to protect their comrades. But that left us with a serious shortage of riders.

All together, we had maybe sixty who were hale and hearty enough to have a current of elemental magic shot through them, binding their wills to a bunch of rock monsters. And even fewer who seemed to think that this was a good idea. But, as Pritkin had admitted, we didn’t have a better one.

“On a count of three,” I said. “Okay?”

The healthy Corpsmen looked at me. They were bunched under Caleb’s expanded silence spell, so I knew they’d heard me. But not a single one answered back.

“Are you fucking deaf?” Pritkin snarled. “Answer her!”

“Yes, Lady!”

Okay, mayb

e I just wasn’t swearing enough, I thought. “Okay, on a fucking count of three, we’re going to fucking do this, all right?”

“Yes, Lady!”