I scrambled out of bed and was halfway across my room when I happened to glance out the window. Though the windowpane was shaking, nothing outside the building was. The rest of the city was completely undisturbed. No other quaking buildings. Just the usual hustle and bustle and streetlights and traffic of midnight in New York.
Whatever was happening was only happening tous.
But that wasn’t the most alarming sight. A dark, red swirl of magic completely surrounded Wilde Tower, enveloping us in a sinister cloud.
As I sprinted down the hall toward the stairs, dodging falling artwork and knickknacks tumbling off shelves, I heard Henry and May shrieking. More gunshots—or whatever they were—went off somewhere close, maybe the floor just above or below us.
“Willow!” Henry’s frightened voice came from the bedrooms upstairs.
I rushed to the front door to make certain the locks were secure before charging up the stairs. I found the children huddled in May’s room. Henry had grabbed his little sister and pulled her under her bed. She was crying in shrill, frightened sobs, tears streaking her face.
“It’s okay,” I assured them as I dropped to my knees. “I’m here now. Come out from there, okay? If the bed collapses, you might get hurt. We’ll wait it out in the closet.”
The building continued to shake. When I glanced out May’s bedroom window, that strange red fog had thickened as though trying to swallow the entire tower.
Henry and May crawled out from under the bed. I grabbed their hands and pulled them with me into May’s closet, then shut the accordion door. The slats in the closet door let in stripes of light that shone on the children’s frightened faces.
“What’s happening, Willow?” May sobbed.
My mind raced. Whatwashappening? It couldn’t be an earthquake since the rest of the city wasn’t affected. Earthquakes didn’t involve gunshots, either. But I wasn’t sure the children had heard the gunshots—or whatever those sharp cracks were—and I didn’t want to scare them further, so I hugged them close and stroked their hair.
“A storm, I think,” I said, making it up on the spot. “Something from the fae realm. It’ll pass. We just have to wait it out.”
The children seemed to buy this. I wished desperately thatIhad someone to hold and reassure me; I wasn’t used to being responsible for anyone’s well-being but my own. My mind flipped through options like a deck of cards: Should I run back to my room for my phone? Could I leave the children alone? Did I dare go into the lobby to try to find Azalea or Hemlock in Penthouse “B”?
I was in the middle of deciding when the shaking stopped. It ended without warning, as suddenly as it had begun. The calm that spread through the apartment felt eerie, too good to be true. I could hear my own heart thrashing in my chest.
“Is it over?” May whispered.
“I think so—” I started.
A pounding on the apartment door cut off my words. It was heavy and menacing, like someone demanding to be let in.
May shrieked, and I pulled her close.
What do I do?
I could run to the kitchen…
Grab a knife…
“The door’s locked,” I assured them, holding them close. “I checked.”
As soon as I’d said the words, I heard the unmistakable sound of the door being kicked open. Terror coursed through me, though I tried to hide how frightened I was for the sake of Henry and May. They both shrieked, and I hugged them harder.
“They’re in the apartment!” Henry gasped.
“Shh,” I whispered fiercely. “Quiet. Don’t move. Maybe they won’t find us.”
The silence stretched painfully as we waited. I listened for the sound of footsteps or more gunshots but heard nothing. Certainly not an army storming the apartment. My heart was pounding so loud I was surprised the whole building couldn’t hear it.
Then, there was a creak on the stairs.Someone is here.They were coming upstairs.
Tears were flowing down May’s face, and she was trying to hold in her sobs but not doing a great job of it. If whoever had broken into the apartment heard her, they’d find us immediately.
Suddenly, a shadow moved on the other side of the accordion door.
They’re in the room!
