“Of course I did. Last! Come on!”
She stared at me, a funny gleam in her eyes. Then she laughed. It was a relieved, hysterical, spine-tingling laugh.
The walls exploded. Red, musty liquid gushed over us.
I couldn’t see Last’s hands, but she must’ve conjured, because while she laughed, we burst from the roiling floor. We were flung upward on a platform of dirt, and then, like a jack-in-the-box, we flew out from under the bed, back into the city.
92
We found the horror just past City Hall. It choked the streets, and from blocks away, rag men flocked toward it, swirling around its despairing edges.
It’d been hit with Luvic’s Silencer, but the enormity of its darkness bled down the dark city streets. The usually bustling sidewalks were deserted. Coffee and food carts were closed up. Even traffic had stopped.
Dogs, cats—even rats—knew when natural disasters were coming. Dogs barked before earthquakes. Cats hid before tornadoes. Even rats scuttled into their bolt-holes.
Could humans sense horror descending?
The clouds pressed menacingly down as Last and I sprinted toward the darkness.
“There’s Primus!” she crowed, pointing to her brother. He stood on a spire of metal, looming over the amorphous dark.
He shot a stream of black, shiny insects at Celia Bard.
“Celia!” Last gasped, spotting her at the same time as I did.
She was on her knees, desperately thrusting a wall of water at the insect swarm. She was a small woman. As a Bard, she’d always used allure and illusion over brute strength, but I’d never doubted her ability to outmaneuver, outwit, or out-style Primus Clark.
Yet anyone could see that in seconds, she’d be dead. She was shaking, bloody, and bent. Her illusion was weakening, and the water shield around her bowed. Insects leaked through, attacking.
She reached out and grasped her necklace, crying out. Was she calling for Jacob? I couldn’t hear over the horror’s scream.
Jagger had told me to help the Clarks. He’d also told me to help the Bards. Celia was a Bard.
I reached outside of myself and yanked Primus’s knots free. The insects disappeared. At the same moment, a giant, brilliant white light threw me into Last.
We rolled over each other, somersaulting across the concrete into the Silencer’s field.
Overhead, a giant, mist-shrouded stone creature reared, thrusting its hooves in the air. Then it leaped into the horror’s shadow. It kicked through the darkness, scattering it with its light.
I rolled beneath the stone creature, and Last darted after me.
It was as large as a house, made of cobbled-together brick, concrete, and stone. There were twisted bits of metal and singed rubble. It smelled like fire and rain, and sparks shot from the holes where its eyes should’ve been.
I dodged a kicking hoof.
Then I laughed, because on top of the stone menace was Luvic.
He rode on top of the creature, balanced with preternatural grace on its bulky back. It was a horse. I could see that now. The mane was long metal cords whipping in the wind. Luvic jumped as the horse bucked wildly, then he landed softly on its back when it slowed.
Then he grabbed a long metal cord, swung down, and grabbed his sister’s outstretched hand. In a split second, they’d flown back up onto the stone horse’s back.
Celia had taken advantage of my unraveling of Primus’s insects. She’d stood and shot a whirlpool at him. As she swung up onto the horse’s back, Primus fell from his metal tower.
He hit the ground, conjuring right before he did. The ground cracked, and he splashed into a pile of dust. It shot out, sticking to the red ooze covering me and Last.
He bent over, grasping his ribs, sucking in an angry breath.
Principal Clark leaped down into the horror’s shadows. He’d seen what I’d done. He knew I’d moved against his son.
