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“Run away!” Hector told the reapers. He pulled himself out of the fountain, soaked and crawling.

“They won’t run,” said Desmond. “What do you think’ll happen if they abandon you here? Eventually, you’ll stop coming back to life on your own, and they won’t be able to find new servants, because they’re still bound to you. I’ll put your brains in nice little jars, and then hunt the reapers down at my leisure. And besides--” He pierced his own chest with his hand. “--I’ve got something for runners.” He pulled out his heart. Its pulsing, crimson flesh began to darken.

Mehlsanz and Garovel went underground.

“That won’t save you!” Desmond laughed, rearing his arm back.

Hector gritted his teeth and pumped his fist sideways.

Desmond’s throw had the force of a cannon. The heart did not leave his grasp, however. He looked at his hand and saw it enveloped in metal. “Aw, you fuck--!”

The metal turned to dust just before the heart exploded. Desmond’s body blew apart like a watermelon wrapped in dynamite.

Hector rolled over onto his back. ‘I got him...’

‘Really?’ Garovel poked his head out of the ground. ‘Wow, Hector... I thought we were dead for sure.’

He just took a heavy breath. The Queen’s head was regenerating, and Lynnette was still motionless.

‘Did you kill Ezmortig, though?’

‘No.’ He saw Ezmortig in the sky. ‘And I can’t reach him, either...’

‘Then we only have a few minutes,’ said Garovel. ‘We should leave while we can.’

‘Maybe that other guy can reach--’

Roman came tumbling past, bouncing across the walkway and skidding into a tree. So much of his skin and muscle was melted off that half his skeleton was visible. Green and yellow steam hissed around his body. He could still move, however, and wore a scowl on what remained of his face.