She wasn't near reason at the moment. Couldn't be. Exhaustion made a thousand fractals in her mind; warnings and anxieties beat with a thousand pounding fists in her brain. She was still pulling the rope, still hauling against Jasper's weight.

Raine simply couldn't be heard over everything else.

Don't trust . . . can't trust anything. Can't stop, not for a second . . .

Why didn't this woman attack? Why did she keep talking -- what was she waiting for? Attack and she would have an excuse to fight. Have a chance to wrest the fear and anxiety from her mind.

With a last darted glance, Lapis pulled back. One step. Then two. "Just . . . stay away. Stay away."

Her wings blossomed around her, and she kicked upward into the wind.