by Krista Walsh
He squeezed Gabe’s shoulder, then led him over to the machine in the middle of the room. Despite the cables, there were no plugs that Gabe could see. The entire machine was run by magic.
“Forget how it works,” Frank said, obviously catching his son’s confusion. “Pretend it’s the same as any other computer you’ve worked with. Pull the cables, break it down.”
They set to work, yanking out wires and slamming their fists into every small element they could reach beneath the metallic surface.
“What is this thing?” Gabe asked.
“An amplifier. Magic goes in and sends power through the airwaves. Radio frequencies, wind power, whatever it can latch on to.” Frank grinned at him. “But this is it. Once we destroy this, we’ve seen the end of it. The software is gone. Completely wiped.”
“You bastard,” Tyler hissed.
Gabe whipped around to find Daphne’s father facing them. Daphne lay on the ground, her eyes closed, her body unmoving. Gabe could only hope he hadn’t drained her completely.
“You’re a traitor.” Tyler moved toward them. He raised a ball of magic in his palm and launched it toward Frank.
Frank dodged, and the magic hit the machine, sending up a shower of sparks. Gabe threw himself at Tyler and smashed his fist into the man’s cheek. The warlock spat blood, but moved to return the blow. His fist was wrapped in a golden hue that Gabe was sure would have cracked his skull if it had landed, but at the last minute, Tyler doubled over, his breath hitching. The magic around his hand flared, then sputtered out. “You bitch,” he hissed at Daphne. “What is this? What did you do to me?”
Frank grabbed Gabe’s arm. “You need to take her and get out of here.”
Gabe growled at Daphne’s father. “Not while he can still hurt her.”
Frank rested his hand on Gabe’s shoulder. “Leave it to me.”
Gabe opened his mouth to argue, but then his gaze fell to where Frank’s hand was pressed against his torso. A large shard of stone protruded from between his ribs, blood oozing through his shirt. With wide-eyed horror, Gabe raised his gaze to meet his father’s. “But—how—”
“I ran into a bit of trouble upstairs,” Frank said, and only now did Gabe notice the hint of gray around his father’s lips and the slick of sweat on his brow. “Took the bastards down, but not before they got in one good strike.”
So many words bubbled up inside Gabe’s throat, but all he could muster was, “Dad, no.”
Frank offered a slight smile. “It was worth it. You gave me a chance to make up for all the shit I’ve done for these people. And the Fates gave me a chance to see the man you’ve grown into — and meet the woman you love. That’s all I could have asked for.” His fingers tightened around Gabe’s shoulder. “Now get out of here.”
He yanked Gabe in for a tight sideway embrace, then shoved him away and grabbed Tyler as the man straightened up, his hands once more wreathed in magic, although Gabe could see his fingers were trembling. Frank didn’t give him time to use it. Wrapping both hands around the warlock’s collar, he threw them both into the snake pit of live wires, and the entire machine lit up as its magically created electricity surged.
The lights brightened into a harsh vibrancy, and the floor beneath Gabe’s feet began to shake. He ran to Daphne and scooped her up, cradling her against his chest. With his head still aching, he bolted toward the door, making it around the corner just as the machine exploded, shrapnel and rubble flying through the doorway, striking holes into the wall across from it. The stone cracked and crumbled, then the entire structure wobbled as the ceiling gave way, barricading the doorway and the corridor behind them.
Their way to the underground tunnel was blocked.
Gabe bowed his head and spared a thought for his father, the man he’d spent most of his life cursing. At least he’d found his courage at the end. He’d played his part to save the world, and Gabe wouldn’t forget it. Grief tugged at his heart, but for now he shoved the emotion away. Hopefully he would have a chance to cope with it later, but for now they still had to find Vera and Zach. He’d lost track of time and his watch had been smashed, but he had to assume the Collegiate could attack at any minute.
Daphne stirred in his arms as he headed down the corridor, and she blinked her eyes open.
“What happened?” she asked.
“You’re asking me? What did you do to your father?”
“Mayes’s power. He tried to take it. It was too much for him.” A soft smile touched on her lips. “But it’s gone from me too, now. I’m my own person again.” Her brow furrowed. “What did you do?”
“I can’t even begin to explain it,” he said. He made his way down the corridor toward what he hoped would be the front entrance. With the tunnel blocked, it was their only way out, although he had no idea how they would get across the water.
Worry about that later.
He released a breath and pressed forward, focused now only on getting to Vera.
A low rumble sounded behind them. Gabe’s stomach clenched, and he drew to a halt and turned around to face the way they’d come. Daphne put her arms around his neck and sat up. “What was that?”
The sound repeated, this time louder.
Gabe had almost made it to the end of the corridor. The wall of fallen stone was far behind them, but he swore it was moving. Without thinking, he started walking backward, unable to take his gaze off the stone.
Red light started glowing between the cracks as the roar repeated.
“It can’t be,” Daphne said.
In a blast, the wall exploded outward, revealing Mayes’s wide flaming figure beyond.
“Shit,” Gabe said. He set Daphne down and grabbed her hand, not even thinking about whether she would be able to carry her own weight, just knowing he’d never move fast enough carrying her. “Run!”
37
Molly let Emmett lead the way as they approached the ferry.
Never in a million years would she have guessed that the first thing she’d do once she escaped her prison was attempt to return, but what other choice did she have?
Her body ached, her head throbbed, and what she really wanted to do was curl up under some blankets and cry, but for now she set her pain aside, knowing it would become so much worse if the others died trying to save her.
Emmett hadn’t argued with her when she’d voiced her plan. Instead, he’d asked permission to take her hand and guided her out of the silent neighborhood to the road that would take them to the sea.
Soon, the salt in the air was thick enough to settle on her taste buds, and the cry of the gulls heralded the nearness of the coast. Her heartbeat sped up as her mind dragged her back to her attempted escape, but she dug her nails into her palms to ground herself in the present. She was free now. Lozak wouldn’t get his hands on her again.
“I still can’t believe you’re all here,” she said. Her throat felt thick with emotion, but she swallowed her tears.
“You didn’t think we’d leave you to rot in prison, did you?” Emmett asked. He took her other hand, stabilizing her on the salt-slick surface, and helped her down a rocky incline.
“I mean all of you. I didn’t think they kept in contact.” It was taking everything she had not to start bawling.
Maybe it had been a mistake coming out here on their own. She could have pleaded with Allegra and the man with her to do something to help. She could have proposed her idea and let them go, while she and Emmett stayed in safety and she finally got some sleep. But turning back now would waste time they didn’t have.
She swallowed her fear and steeled her spine. “But there’s more to it than just rescuing me, isn’t there.” She frowned. “I heard what that man was saying. They’re all still fighting, and they’re not doing well.”
Emmett’s silence answered her question, but she needed more. She didn’t want to make her own guesses. Frank had shown her enough illusions that now all she wanted was something real.
“Tell me.”
Molly’s stomach heaved, and she swallowed hard to keep herself from being sick. Obviously things were even worse than she’d thought. She was glad she’d already made the move to do something to help. Allegra would probably be pissed at her for leaving, but how could they expect her to wait around? For that matter, why were they waiting around? Why hadn’t they already planned something to get their friends out? Why did it all have to come down to her?
She didn’t want to go back to the prison. Even the thought of returning within reach of her captors made her want to heave onto the rocks under her feet. But she knew she wouldn’t feel any better for staying behind.
You don’t need to go in, she told herself. You just need to be ready to help them. You just need to give them a chance.
And if the demons came for them? She wasn’t alone. Emmett was smart and quick — they’d find somewhere to hide.
If not, there’s always the sea. Better to jump in and either swim or drown than be back in their clutches. She wouldn’t let that happen, no matter the cost.
“The ferry’s just up ahead,” Emmett said. “Although I have no idea what we’re supposed to do once we reach it. I don’t know how to drive it, or what we’re going to do if someone’s guarding it.”
Molly stopped. She hadn’t thought of that. “Then I guess it’s a good thing you remembered to give me this,” she said, setting her bow case on the ground. Moving with years of familiarity, losing herself in the meditation of getting her gear ready, she strung her bow and strapped her quiver to her thigh. Once she set her arrows into it, she pulled the case over her shoulder so it wouldn’t get in her way.
“You are so badass,” Emmett said, and despite everything, Molly’s cheeks flushed.
“At least now we stand a chance if someone comes our way,” she said.
As though her bow were a magical relic itself, new strength and courage flooded her limbs. She wasn’t helpless anymore. If anyone tried to take her, they would meet with a nasty surprise.
“Walk forward,” Emmett said, and Molly obeyed. She directed her concentration toward the ground as the path became a slope that she guessed led down to the water. Casting out her mind, she sensed the point where the rocks gave way to a cliff, and she edged a few extra feet away from it.
“Is the place as awful on the outside as it seemed inside?” she asked.
“It actually looks kind of cool. Like a place that Dracula would live or something. Not the kind of place I’d want to take a girl for a weekend vacation or anything, but it has a certain Gothic charm. Shame those creepy old women are going to destroy it.”
A chill hugged the skin around Molly’s spine. Their window for rescuing the people who had come to save her was so small. She wasn’t sure how she’d cope if they made it to the island only to have the fortress collapse before they had a chance to save the others.
No point freaking out yet, Harris, she told herself. She had to stay focused on the possibility that they would still win. However unlikely.
“Uh, oh,” Emmett said.
Molly tensed and tightened her fingers around her bow.
“You children are worse than models, do you realize?” Allegra snapped. “I turn my back for one moment, and you slip away. As though you do not owe me the courtesy of obeying my orders after I saved you in that tunnel.”
Molly squared her jaw and turned in the direction the voice had come from. “You might be satisfied with waiting from a distance, but I’m not.”
“Watch out,” an unfamiliar voice cried out. “They’ve seen us.”
Emmett cursed, grabbed Molly’s arm, and tugged her to the left. She turned to face the direction of the downward slope, to where she thought the ferry waited, and sensed the slight pressure changes in the air as something moved up ahead, coming toward her, rapidly closing the distance. Based on the reactions of the people around her, she guessed their company wasn’t friendly, so she grabbed an arrow and set it against the string of her bow. Drawing in a deep breath, she focused her concentration on the movement before her, drew, and released. A loud grunt echoed at the impact of her arrow striking home.
“Yes!” Emmett smacked her arm. “That was amazing.”
Allegra growled, her voice now close to Molly’s right side. “Very impressive, but do you think you are able to do the same another four times?”
Molly gritted her teeth as the succubus darted forward. Cold air fluttered against her cheek as something else followed behind her. With so much movement ahead, she couldn’t make sense of who she should be aiming at.
“If anyone breaks ranks, you tell me.” She pulled another arrow and prepared to nock it.
Screams and noises she couldn’t decipher drifted toward her on the wind, and the muscles between her shoulders tightened. She hated being useless.
“What’s happening?” she asked.
“Allegra’s just thrown one demon overboard,” Emmett described. “And Matthew — he’s a ghost — he just reached into some guy’s chest and pulled out…his soul, I guess? So awesome. Oh, and the wolfhound spirit is going nuts. He just sank his teeth into one of their legs, trapping him for Allegra. Crap, one of them made it out, he’s coming toward us, about ten feet to your left.”
He didn’t need to be any more specific than that. Molly sensed the change around her and drew back her arm. As soon as the figure was in range, the pressure of the air around his form pushing back against her, she released the arrow. There was a sound of something heavy hitting the ground.
“Amazing!” Emmett said. “You could make millions doing things like this online. Without all the dead bodies, of course.”
Molly grinned and her cheeks warmed under his praise. Although in the scheme of things her help meant little, it felt good to be doing something to defend herself, getting back at the people who had hurt her.
A minute later, Allegra returned, cursing, along with the cold presence of Matthew, whoever he was.
A ghost?
So much had happened that Molly didn’t understand.
“If you insist on pursuing this ridiculous idea, you should accept how unlikely it is that you will succeed,” Allegra said. “You have just enough time to get the ferry to the prison, but not enough to return if you have to wait for them to escape.”
Despite the anger in her tone, Molly thought she detected another emotion under her discouraging remarks. Fear? Worry that they would make it so far only to fail? Even from the little she knew of the succubus, it seemed bizarre to associate the woman with anything other than pure confidence, but Molly wasn’t about to let her own fears stop her.
She crossed her arms. “I’m not going to leave them stranded over there. The odds might be garbage, but they’re higher than standing here hoping they’ll find their own way across. You can either come with us and do something useful, or you can wait here for us to get back. I really don’t care. Come on, Emmett.”
She started down the path with the same determination she’d shown when she’d walked away from the RV, and sensed someone falling into step beside her. No other sound or movement followed them.
Molly had just accepted that Allegra and Matthew would choose to stay behind when the succubus released a frustrated groan and started after her. “You are insufferable. Are all human females your age this foolish and rash, or is it simply your arrogance thanks to Jermaine adding you to his list?”
Molly grinned without turning around, and allowed Emmett to help her on to the ferry.
“I don’t know,” she said to Allegra. “I guess we’re about to find out whether my arrogance is merited.”
&nbs
p; The boat shook beneath her as Emmett started the engine, and soon she sensed movement as they floated forward across the water.
The sea wind caught her hair and pulled at what was left of her shirt. She hugged her arms tighter against her chest and turned her face away from the worst of it. The burn on her lower back and arm ached, and the patch of skin Rega had removed was pulsing. Her stomach churned with queasiness. But at the moment, none of it mattered. She was free and her friends were inside. It was only right that she put in the same effort as they had.
“Percy,” Allegra said, “we are on the ferry heading toward the prison. Have you heard anything from the others? Percy? Seven hells, the connection has been lost again. They could all be dead inside, and you have decided to sail straight to them.”
Molly clenched her teeth and focused only on their mission. She refused to accept they’d all been lost. As far as she was concerned, it wasn’t over until the prison collapsed, and even then she’d hold out hope that she’d come across Zach and the others treading water.
The four on the boat lapsed into silence as the ferry took them farther over the sea. The wind picked up, and Molly shivered where she stood. When this was all over, she would bundle up in her bed for a week. Her parents probably wouldn’t make her go back to school right away — not if she had to explain the bruises that no doubt decorated her face.
She’d spend time at Zach’s new place and play with Dusty. And she’d sleep, though she already dreaded the nightmares that would chase her.
As the boat rocked and Allegra’s friend Percy remained silent about the fates of the others, Molly focused on the joy she would feel on getting home and hanging out in an hour-long shower. Every time the weight of her situation pressed on the edges of her mind, she pushed it away.
Despite her best efforts, though, her stomach wouldn’t untangle the knots that had formed inside her. She tapped the palms of her hands against the railing and wished the boat would move faster.
“I thought Percy said there were guards on both sides of the ferry,” Emmett said.