“Stop, stop!” Donut called as I gagged and choked. I had dead Lucienne all over my face. My teeth ached where her helmet had ricocheted off me. I’d swallowed some of her.

The camel hit the brakes, and we lurched to a stop. I continued to cough and hack, some of her bits coming out of my nose. I pulled a water bottle from my inventory, and I drank, my sinuses burning. I spent several moments just coughing and sneezing, getting red blood everywhere.

Now that the race was over, I could touch the controls again. I reached over and yanked the car into park.

“You, out,” I coughed at the camel corpse.

“Okay,” the corpse rasped, sounding dejected. He opened the door, started to step out, but faded away into dust before he could exit.

I slid into the driver’s seat and moved the truck over so it wasn’t blocking the entrance, and just a minute later, the Lady Dominators passed through, followed by Osvaldo’s team.

I sent a quick note to Jasha and Radoslav. Despite my warning, they’d gotten stuck in the basement. They’d be at least another forty minutes.

Jasha: You really think we should save him? He’s the worst one!

Donut was currently attempting to fish Lucienne’s small, cracked racing helmet from the soupy gore on the floor of the truck.

She shrugged and looked up. “I don’t want to race another team of crawlers, that’s for sure. On the other hand, if we let the unicorn live, we might regret it. He hates us. Though maybe he’ll be nice now that his girlfriend is dead. But probably not. Got it!” The gore-soaked racing helmet disappeared into her inventory. A moment later, she scoffed. “Carl, that helmet has a curse! It’s worthless! What is Michale Graves’s disease?”

I sighed and then sent a message to the bugbears as we exited the truck.

Carl: You should probably tow him in if he’ll let you. But be wary.

Lucia turned her attention to us. I stood tense, looking at the woman with the skull head. I felt a chill.

She spent a moment examining me, then Donut.

I was startled by a sudden notification.

The Scavenger’s Daughter blinks, for she does not know what she sees.

“What the hell?” I muttered.

And then she was there. Lucia had moved from the parked moped to right in front of me in a blink. She was so close, I could have kissed her.

She had no scent at all, which was somehow even more disconcerting. Her black ratty hair dangled, mixing with mine as she leaned in, as if she were sniffing me.

Donut let out a deep growl and jumped to my shoulder, tense.

“Easy, easy,” Florin said, coming up. “We’re all friends. Ain’t that right, Lucia?”

“Chalchiuhtlicue is here,” Lucia said, whispering in my ear. “She’s new to this place, but she is here. She doesn’t need Cici or Gus like the Residual and the Primal did. She keeps telling us that she is kind and that she will protect us. But she says the kindest thing may be letting us die. She says we are vessels in the river, just as you are, Carl. We are drowning together, you and me and all the others. But more are coming. The veins are open, she says. All the trapped are coming, Carl. All seek the prize on the twelfth floor. Not just her kind. The real, the imagined, and the enslaved. All gather, focused on the Ascendency. It’s not a game like they told me. But it’s not a game like they told you, either. Not anymore.”

Lucia blinked and took a step back, and her demeanor instantly changed.

This form shrank back, shoulders hunched, afraid.

The presence is gone. The Scavenger’s Daughter shudders in fear.

“Do . . . do you know my dad?” this new version of Lucia asked. She stepped forward hesitantly, and then she grabbed me by the shirt. “That lady. The shining lady, she said you know my father. She said he gave you a spell.”

“Wha . . . what?” I asked, utterly confused.

“My name is Azra. Yaz is here, too. She’s crying. That goddess. She’s talking to her now, telling her that you used a spell that our father gave you to win your races.”

“Wait,” I said, remembering the note from the Book of Boom that I’d eaten to get the Bumper spell. I reached up and put my hand against hers. It was warm and trembling. “Does your dad own a bowling alley?”

Lucia gasped “Yes! Yes! That’s him! Is he here? Can I talk to him?” She turned, searching. “Baba! Baba!”

“Hang on,” Florin said, jumping forward. “Give me all the names of those around you. I’m making a list!”

“Where is he?” the girl named Azra asked again, ignoring Florin, her voice going up in pitch.

“I’m really sorry,” I said. “But he’s safe. He wanted to me to tell you that he loves you and that he’ll see you soon.”

She started to quietly cry. “I’m so scared,” she said. “The angel lady says it might be better if we all die. She keeps talking about people coming and taking our bodies. It’s so cold.”

“Who?” Florin asked, interjecting. “Who is coming?”

The girl turned to Florin, eyes going wide, as if she were finally noticing him. The girl let out a little shriek, turned, and ran.

Florin sighed. He reached up and slung his gun over his back. “I better chase her. Lucia comes back pretty quick after they get spooked. Gotta keep her from killing our gremlin.”

“Carl,” Donut said a moment later as we watched Florin run after the girl, who’d raced toward the line of garages. Our garage was open with Hedy and Jamal standing in the doorway. Jamal gave an excited hop as Lucia passed, and the girl shrieked again and continued to run. “What the heck is happening with her?”

I was starting to form a theory, but I didn’t want to say it out loud. I was pretty sure Florin had already figured this out, as had Orren, which terrified me.

“I don’t know for sure,” I finally said. “But we really need her to take a deal. Let’s get to the garage.”

The moment I settled into the wet, gore-soaked driver’s seat, Dr. Metcalf beeped.

Limited details on the next race are now available.

Total Distance: Approximately 20 kilometers.

Track: Gasworks Screw Factory, Steel Mill, and Doll Workshop That Is Totally Not a Front for Anything Else. This track will require vertical climb, inverted racing, and gap coverage of up to 100 meters. There will be multiple paths to the exit.

Tasks required to complete: Don’t get squished. Don’t get melted. Don’t get screwed.

Environment: Extreme heat. Containment field will protect from heat and molten metal.

Hazards: Containment theft is now enabled. If your containment touches another containment for more than 5 seconds, you may lose it upon separation.

In other words, don’t bump your fellow racers.

All paths on this race are only wide enough for two at a time, and you’ll be sharing this track with 11 other heats.

Time Limit: 30 minutes.

Donut let out a little whimper. “Carl, I don’t like this.”

“One race at a time,” I said. “The good news is, I can drive again.”

I suddenly remembered the messages we’d received during the race, and I checked them now. There were dozens of them. I cringed, reading of all the crawlers who’d fallen. I focused on that message string from Tran.

Tran: If this is my last message, know that I tried to stop them from fighting Li Na. I tried.

This was followed by a message from Imani.

Imani: Tran! Are you okay?

Tran: I’m alive. We actually won. Zhang was leading their octopus, and he let me pass. They tried to stop her, and it’s the same thing that happened in Beijing. She cast a dread, and they started killing each other. It was awful. I think of all twenty-four teams that started the race with us, only five survived. Of our heat, it was just my team and them. Zhang needs help. He was sobbing. I don’t know what to do.

Heat Four. Results.

First Place: The Royal Court of Princess Donut.

Second Place: Lady Dominators and the Gimp.

Third Place: Team Flamengo.

Fourth Place: Team Free Love.

Fifth Place: Team Sparkles.

Eliminated: One Fine Pig.