“What was that?” Tor asked.
“Nothing good,” Alek said, as the ground beneath our feet began to tremble, which turned to a rattle.
“Fuck, let’s go,” I said, beelining back the way we came.
They were right on my heels as we sprinted up the stairs. A sharp cry from behind me had me turning just as Pan fell into me. But he hadn’t simply tripped. No, the stairs weredisintegrating under our feet, and I was just far enough ahead that the destruction hadn’t caught up to me.
“Quick!” I shouted. “The tomb is caving in on itself.”
The four of us picked up speed as we did our best to navigate the shifting landscape.
“It’s like a bloody black hole,” Pan complained. “Can’t you just pop us out of here and save the dramatic escape?”
I didn’t have time to shoot him the glare his words deserved. “Don’t you think I would have done so were it possible?”
“So we have to go all the way back to the entrance?” Alek asked.
“And through all the traps we might have missed.”
“Fuck.”
“Stop complaining and run.” I bolted, sending up a prayer we could avoid any booby traps we may not have found.
Thankfully, the spider’s gargantuan body had tripped the remaining traps, and the ground beneath our feet stabilized as we got closer to the town. Unfortunately, the empty streets were not so empty anymore.
“Are those—” Alek started, his voice holding the hint of a quaver.
“Ghosts,” Tor confirmed.
“I guess we found those sacrifices you were so curious about,” Pan said, breathing heavily.
Alek had gone pale at the mention of ghosts.
“This is not the time for you to fall apart,” Tor said, grabbing him by the shirt and giving a shake.
“I hate ghosts. You wouldn’t be giving me such grief if they were all in haunted dolls.”
“Save it,” I barked, shoving them both back into a loping run. “We need to keep going.”
“You’ve gotten used to Kiki,” Tor pointed out, still attempting to give his twin a pep talk.
“Kiki has proven herself safe. Or at the very least, well behaved.” Alek gestured at the swelling number of spectral figures heading our way. “They have weapons and do not appear remotely friendly.”
A war cry rang out from the ranks of the specters, loud and rage-filled.
“Definitely not friendly,” I agreed.
“How are we supposed to fight them?” Pan asked, his voice tight and expression pained as he forced himself to keep pace with us.
“We don’t. They can’t leave the town’s border. We have to run.”
Pan’s throat bobbed as he swallowed, but he did his best to charge forward. The damage inflicted by his bite was growing worse by the second. He might not make it out of here on his own two feet.
As we made headway, hope bloomed in my heart at the glimmer of the rift where the exit was. We were nearly there, just a little further. The spirits were on our heels, but we’d managed to outrun them this far.
“Fuck, Pan!” Alek shouted, stopping as the demon fell to the ground.
I saw it happen in slow motion. As he bent to help our fallen teammate, a nearby ghost came at him from behind, rushing through his body. Alek went rigid, his body freezing much like Grim’s when he’d been turned into a statue.
