“Come and get me.” I brandished my shadow sword and stepped backward.
A low growl behind me made me stop in my tracks.
I forgot there weretwoof them.
“Okay. This is not good,” I muttered as both beasts converged on me from either side.
Out of nowhere, a streak of darkness sailed through the air and landed on the one behind me.
I gasped as the black-and-tan jaguar the size of a horse tore into the two-headed dog’s throat, teeth digging in and ripping.
The beast went still.
The other creature hesitated. The jaguar faced it with blood spraying from her mouth, letting out an earth-shattering roar.
Claws skittered on stone as it tucked its tails and ran the opposite direction.
In the blink of an eye, the jaguar leaned onto its hind legs as its body shortened and limbs withdrew into the familiar form of Tessa.
“I had them right where I wanted them, you know,” I said through gasping breaths.
“Sure you did.” She picked at her tooth with a fingernail and shot me a wink. “Just thought you could use some help.”
70
Devora
“I’ve never been happier to see you,” Arowyn said.
“I get that a lot. Is this all of them?” Tessa took in the dozen people behind us.
Elynor stepped forward. “Should be. The only hallway left leads to Mortep’s laboratory.”
Mae and the boy ran back up to me and clutched my waist. I patted their backs as I said, “Tessa, can you get them to safety? Arowyn and I should check out the main lab.”
Mae clung to me, looking up with wide, scared eyes. “It’s okay, sweet girl,” I said, smoothing her hair. “Tessa will take care of you, and I’ll see you soon. I promise.”
Her gray eyes shifted to orange again, and her body heated with her lightbending powers before she blinked it away and extricated herself from me. I hated leaving them when they were still so traumatized, but the important thing was getting them out of the Hollow.
Tessa, Theo, and Elynor took the lead and helped the younger ones back down the way we came. I watched until their footsteps receded and Arowyn and I were left alone.
“This way,” I said, following the directions Elynor gave us to the final tunnel with Mortep’s lab. It was eerily silent without theheavy breaths and footsteps of the others. I could hear every tiny creature scurrying along the tunnels, every echo of dripping water, every distant rumble.
We turned down the last hallway. Torches lit the path, showing a few empty cells along the walls. All the way down the long, narrow tunnel, I could see the faint pinprick of light coming from Mortep’s laboratory.
As we walked, there was a slight shift in the air. My breath caught, awareness prickling at my skin. Everything felt…heavier. Darker. Thicker. My shadows responded, but they were slower than usual. It was like they were trying to wade through molasses. They moved in lazy circles inside my chest and around my hands, instead of their usual lively dance.
“Do you feel that?” I whispered.
Arowyn nodded solemnly. We kept walking, my shadows resting across the tips of my fingers.
But as we got closer to the door, they flickered. Gone one moment and back the next.
I could feel my magic straining, pushing against some invisible force attempting to snuff it out. Alarm flooded me. I tried to send my shadows ahead of us, but they barely moved. Only a faint wisp stretched its little fingers into the darkness beyond.
We were almost at the door. I shuddered as thewrongnessof the air got even heavier. Dark energy rolled over us, and no matter how hard I tried to summon my shadows, they were a fraction of their normal strength. I met resistance with every step forward, as if the tunnel itself was exhaling and pushing us back.
The torch at the end of the hall hissed and sputtered low, casting strange, flickering shadows over the floor. I grabbed the handle to the lab’s door and twisted.
