“Who?” I dared to ask.
“Our enemies,” Romy said before a shuddering explosion rocked the world, followed by the thundering of many boots on the ground, and the demanding shouts full of command and warning.
“Need me yet?”
I ignored the demon as I moved towards the bedroom door. With my ash-smeared fingers I began to paint runes upon the wood. I hoped my trembling fingers calmed enough for me to draw the correct symbols. They were the same I’d used to barricade our door during the Witch Trials. If it worked, there was no getting inside the room unless I willed it.
I completed the runes in good time. As I traced out the final stroke, it was as if something heavy slammed into the other side of the door.
“Open this fucking door now!”
“Shit-balls,” Romy swore, backing slowly away from the door. I could see in her moments of silence that she was calculating a way out of this mess. Her eyes settled on the large window behind us, her thick brows lifting in an ‘I’ve got an idea’ kinda way.
“Don’t even think about it,” I hissed.
“Jump, jump, jump,”Emon sang.“Put me out of this misery.”
“The only way out is through the window. You got back here, you can get us out the same way, right?”
She was right.
I looked around the room… my safe haven. It was a shrine to everything I’d worked on, and I found the concept of leaving it close to impossible.
“Hector. Say something! Can you get us out?”
Romy’s panic snapped me out of my thoughts.
“Yes,” I said, trying to bury the sheer amount of pain my body was in. “Gather as much of my stuff as you can. Then we are getting out of here.”
Romy didn’t ask questions as we both raced around the room. I grabbed the Witch Hunter’s backpack, thrusting as many items into it as I could. Except for Eleanor’s grimoire, there wasn’t anything else important to me. Not enough to take. But that didn’t stop me from aimlessly throwing as much as I could into the bag, including my handfuls of snacks from my draw, and a half-drunk bottle of water that was likely stale considering it had been left for close to a week.
“I’m waiting,”the demon sang, reading my intentions.“You truly could not stay away from me for long, could you?”
“Shut up,” I snapped.
Romy’s panicked gaze landed on me. “Harsh. I didn’t say anything.”
Another hefty bang. The door shook. Wood splintered, but the spell was holding strong only if I allowed it. And frankly, my energy was fading. “Romy, what’s happening out there?”
“Perhaps we can talk about it when we get out of here,” she replied, already working with the lock on the window as if she was literally prepared to throw herself out of it. “No time.”
Fair point.
“I need a safe place for us to go. Know of one?” I asked.
The demon had brought me back here, but that was only because he sensed my desire. If I didn’t give him another place to go, we would be left to fester in the shadows of this room.
“Considering witches are going to be hunted in every corner of the world, I don’t really have an answer for that right now.”
“Think!” I snapped aloud, more so for myself, but I caught the offence Romy took as if I meant it to her.
Romy’s scowl deepened the more the banging on the door grew. “The witches who escaped the White Tower are seeking refuge in the forgotten undergrounds. Safe for me, but not for you, that’s why I didn’t mention it.”
She was trying to protect me, even now.
“Underground?”
“Once again we are being driven into the shadows, so there is no better place to go until this all blows over…”
