Finn drew his sword in one fluid motion. “That thing can walk on the ceiling now?”
Before he could lunge, a second figure stepped from inside the safe room. Quinn’s eyes glowed like burning coals, and blood seeped from her palms, swirling into twisted, pulsing threads as she gripped the Bloodstone. “Oops, was this room supposed to be secured?”
“Move!” Cade shouted, shoving Bridget backwards. He dropped Nylah beside her and raised his palms. His eyes crackled with glowing silver as he turned to face Quinn.
The Wraith let out a piercing shriek, an inhuman wail that rattled the walls. It launched again, this time at Stellan, who barely ducked, trying to knock Marin out of the way. His blue tattoos glowed as he summoned anember and launched it at the Wraith. With a flick of his wrist, Cade did the same. The Wraith shrieked as the fire collided with its form, staggering it midair. But it didn’t fall. It crawled along the wall with spider-like limbs, eyes glowing like coals.
“Hello, friends,” Quinn said. Suddenly, the Witch raised her bleeding hands and sent a wave of magic down the hall. It slammed into them, knocking them all off their feet. Glass and torches shattered around them.
Again, Quinn raised a bleeding hand, the Bloodstone pulsing in her grip. With a flick of her fingers, a jagged line of fire ripped down the hallway, splitting the floor between the group and sealing off their path to the safe room. Bridget stumbled back, nearly falling into Nylah as Cade threw up a shield just in time to block the blaze. Heat radiated from the wall of fire, forcing them into a tightening circle.
“Stay behind me!” Cade shouted, dragging Nylah behind him as the flames roared.
Quinn stepped through the smoke unfazed, the Bloodstone pulsing with dark light in her grip. With a sharp flick of her wrist, she drew a bleeding line down her forearm, feeding her power. Another line of fire erupted in a jagged streak across the hallway.
“She’s trying to box us in,” Stellan growled, sweat beading at his temple as he tried to reflect the heat from their bodies. Marin stepped forward, her own magic humming. She launched a swirl of icy wind and sharp shards that shattered against the Wraith’s form.
Through the flames, Quinn smirked and stepped through her own fire as if it were nothing. She moved inhumanly fast, darting past Cade and Stellan in a blur. Before Finn could react, she was in front of him, hand raised.
“Finn!” Bridget cried, lunging forward, but Cassia pulled her back.
Quinn reached him in a blink. Her jagged and black as obsidian nails sliced clean across Finn’s neck.
He stumbled, a strangled cry ripping from his throat as blood streamed through his fingers. “You—” he gasped.
Quinn tilted her head. “Still breathing? Pity.”
Archer charged her with a roar. “Get away from him!”
But Quinn turned and flicked her hand. A blast of energy slammed into Archer, throwing him across the hall. He hit the stone with a sickening crack and slumped to the ground, unmoving.
Bridget gasped and turned to Nylah. The girl trembled against her side, eyes wide with fear.
“It’s okay,” Bridget whispered, even though her voice shook. “I’ve got you. I won’t let anything happen to you.”
“Bridget—run!” Cade shouted, fire roaring from his palms as the Wraith launched toward him again. Stellan flanked him, casting another glowing barrier to hold it back.
The Wraith screamed, then dove at Cade and Stellan, its claws raking through the air as they countered with bursts of magic. Marin summoned a tempest of ice, swirling it around the Wraith to slow its deadly strike.
But Quinn’s magic surged again, slamming into the floor beneath their feet with a violent crack. The marble shattered, a chasm tearing open between Bridget and Cassia and the others.
Dust and rubble exploded as the ceiling groaned, then crashed down in a deafening roar, sealing off the side corridor.
“No!” Bridget screamed, pounding on the stone wall.
A sob tore through Nylah’s chest. “What happened to Archer?”
Gripping Bridget’s arm, Cassia urged, “That won’t do any good. We have to keep moving and find another way around to help them. Or we need to find my father. We can’t just stand here and idiotically pound at the rubble.”
Bridget’s heart hammered as she clutched Nylah tighter. The flames flickered behind them, the Wraith’s shrieks echoing in the distance. She was right. The stones were too heavy to move. There had to be another waythrough the palace. Gripping Nylah’s hand, Bridget grabbed the sword from the floor and chased after Cassia’s already retreating form.
Bridget stumbled through the narrow hallway, sword whooshing through the air as she led Nylah along the twisting, shadowed passage. Dust choked the air, and the distant roar of collapsing stone faded behind them, swallowed by the heavy silence.
“Where are we going?” Bridget breathed. “Stellan said he neededyou. We’re moving further away from them.”
“The west courtyard,” Cassia said without hesitation. “I know this palace better than you. There’s another path we can take that will lead us back to them.”
Lightning cracked overhead as they pushed open the heavy iron doors, rain lashing like cold knives against their skin. Thunder rolled low and deep, vibrating through the stone beneath their feet.
