The SUV was barely crawling forward. It was covered with the horde. It was rocking back and forth, in danger of being overturned like a turtle on its back. Countless hands slammed against the windows. But it was made of bulletproof glass so it held. But for how long?
“That’s--that’s Jasper!” One of Landry’s brothers pointed to the squirming figure on top of the hood.
“No! NO! That’s my body!” Jasper frothed. “I was betrayed!”
Jasper’s body slammed his forehead against the windscreen. Blood spurted over the forehead. He slammed it again and again. Starbursts cracked along the glass.
“This was your fault!” Landry hit his arm hard. “You spoke poison! I listened. I was jealous and I listened. More fool me, but don’t pretend you’re a victim here!”
“It’s destroying my body! It’s destroying me!” Jasper wailed.
The SUV was truly rocking now.
“Valerius? What do we do?” Jahara asked.
He felt like he looked directly into Landry’s eyes then. Tears were streaming down her face. But it was as if she saw him.
“Do it,” she said. “Drive.”
“What? NO! That could kill us!” Jasper screamed.
He grabbed hold of Landry by the shoulders and tried to shake her. “Illarion’s right. We made our choice. We aren’t innocent. We have to pay for what we’ve done.”
“I don’t want to die!” Jasper cried.
Landry’s brothers looked crestfallen, but unsurprised as they too nodded.
“Do it,” one said.
“You gotta do it or everybody's going to die,” the other said.
“No! No! NO!” Jasper screamed.
He shoved Landry backwards. Her brothers caught her as she fell.
Before she was even fully upright, she cried, “Drive, King Valerius! NOW!”
Valerius closed his eyes, but he kept seeing Landry, her brothers and Jasper. He wondered if their bodies died here if they would always be in the lair or would they pass on to somewhere else? If they stayed or went, he would still be haunted forever.
“Valerius?” Jahara asked.
He opened his eyes. He could not see anything but seemingly demonic faces at the windows.
“We need to get through,” Valerius said finally. “Do whatever you have to.”
“Let me try something. I saw it in a movie once,” Esme said.
“We don’t need you trying things,” Illarion began.
Esme moved her hands in a circle and suddenly there were shocked cries from the horde. They stopped banging. In fact, they stopped moving altogether. And then water started streaming from their eyes, ears, noses. The very water that made them up was leaving their bodies.
That’s when the screaming began.
And the flailing.
They backed away from the car, trying to reach for the water that was streaming from them.
“Holy hell!” Illarion laughed and pounded the back of the seat. “Keep watching those movies! You can control the water in people!”
