Tay’s breath rattled in his chest. My knees almost buckled under his weight as I headed for the back door, but we kept moving. Where could we go? Not the magic shop; Orx wouldn’t open those doors, and I was grateful for it. What buildings would be open?
Ander cut in front of us before we could reach the doorway. I glanced back over my shoulder; Ana followed behind me with the old woman hobbling with her. I wasn’t sure which pair of us was in worse shape.
Ander looked outside carefully, then gestured us out. We stepped into the alleyway, and he moved swiftly down it, his sword ready.
Beyond, the main street was a battlefield. The shifterswere everywhere, tearing into burrowers with a hunger that was almost joyful. The sounds were panic-inducing: the roaring of the dragons, the shrieks of dying burrowers, the chaos of collapsing stone.
The ground heaved beneath our feet. I stumbled to one knee, barely keeping my grip on Tay’s waist, and he let out a gasp of pain he tried to smother. It was harder to get him up now, and I almost fell again, the ground shaking.
Then the burrower exploded out of the upheaved ground. I stutter-stepped back in my terror, yanking Tay up with strength I didn’t know I had. He groaned in pain and tightened his arm around my shoulders, reeling with me.
“Keep moving.” Ander moved steadily toward the burrower that writhed across the ground toward us, its mouth gaping eagerly. “I’ll be right behind you.”
I looked around desperately. Ana and the old woman were already gone, and I wasn’t sure where. The world was a blur around me as I sought refuge.
Behind me echoed the sound of blows, the screech of a dying burrower.
Then Ander was back at our side. “Where are we going, Cara?”
He sounded so calm and confident that some of my terror cleared. I pointed toward one of the buildings on the square, the three-story mayor’s hall. “If we can get in there, it’s built for emergencies.”
“Good plan.” His gaze cut toward me just as I started to stumble under Tay’s weight. Before I could react, he caught Tay out of my grip and threw him over his shoulder, gripping him with his left arm.
“Don’t worry,” Ander promised me, holding the sword out in front of us steadily. “I can still fight.”
“I don’t doubt it,” I said, after seeing him in battle.
When we reached the mayor’s hall, there was a fight raging across the rooftops across from us. A burrower slid down one roof, pursued by a dragon; the building’s rooftop buckled under the weight of their combat. There was a terrible groan from the building.
One of the dragons rose in the air, carrying a burrower with it. But there were so many of them.
“Ander!” someone shouted in the distance. “Burrower got me—can’t shift?—”
Ander kicked the door of the building in. “Go. All the way to the top. Close every door between us to slow them down in case they get past me. I’ll seal you in.”
He eased Tay to his feet inside the doorway. I slid my arm underneath Tay’s shoulder, feeling his weight fall on me.
Ander studied me briefly. “You’re tough, Cara. You’ll make it.”
Then he was gone. But his words lingered. My heart was beating a little more calmly, despite the chaos outside.
My knees buckled, but I kept Tay and me upright as we staggered up row after row of stairs, sealing every door between us and the monsters.
Fourteen
The floor trembled under my feet, dust sifting from the rafters. Tay and I collapsed together, practically melting into the floor.
He rolled onto his side, curling up as another coughing fit took him. I ran back to bolt the door behind us.
“You all right?” he managed, his voice raspy and sore.
“Fine,” I promised as I crossed to the window of the tower, heart hammering. From here, I had a clear view of the square below and of Orx’s shop across the way, where I’d left Lidi safe.
But maybe nothing was safe anymore.
A massive burrower tore free from the earth in the middle of the square, its armored hide glistening.
Dairen ran toward it, his blade flashing. Which one of them had lost his ability to shift? Was it Dairen, Anayla, Maura,Fieran? Someone had screamed for Ander’s help.
