“He’s right.” Daniel said. “We’re out of time.”
“I cannot leave.” Joseph’s voice was weak, but his words were fierce. “If we go, this door will break, and these Hungry will overrun the city. I cannot let that happen.” He turned to us. “You all must leave while there’s still time.”
“Hell if I’m leavin’.” Daniel spat on the floor and, fingers flying, began to reload each of his pistols. “I can fire four shots, then you attack.”
Hinges squealed, filling the room with their high-pitched keening. The door was coming free.
“I’m staying too,” I said hoarsely. “But I cannot stop more than one corpse at a time—”
“And you’re exhausted,” Oliver cut in, glaring at Joseph. “There’s no way the four of us can stop all those Hungry.”
“I can.” Joseph fixed his gaze on me. “I can magnify your power. Remember the library in
Philadelphia? I stopped Marcus because I used your magic. We can do that again.”
I nodded slowly. “Will it be enough?”
“I do not know, but I must try.” His jaw clenched, and a fresh trail of blood slid down his neck. If
Joseph could still fight, then so could I.
“I’ll squeeze the crystal clamp, then.” I hurried to him and took the gleaming device from his hand. Wrapping my fingers around the clamp, I shot a glance at Oliver. “You could also magnify—”
“No.”
“Please.” I had to yell to be heard over the pummeling corpses.
“No.” Oliver’s eyes thinned to slits. “I can fight the Dead on my own.”
“Please.” I grabbed his hands. “We can stop these Hungry—”
“Yes, we can. You use your magic, and I use mine. I will not let that electricity touch me. We can fight these Dead without it. Or, better yet, we can leave before that damned door breaks!”
“I will not leave! Joseph can lay all the Dead to rest—at once—so if you—”
“No!”
A hinge broke free and pinged across the cellar.
“You will help me,” I shrieked. “Squeeze the clamp, Oliver. Sum veritas.”
Betrayal and fury flashed in his yellow eyes, quickly replaced by blinding blue. He snatched the clamp from me, his face contorted with rage, and his fingers gripped mine with bone-breaking strength.
For a brief flash I connected to Oliver—his anger seethed through my veins; his pain lanced into my chest. He hated me. Elijah would never have done this to him. I would pay for my cruelty.
Abruptly the connection ended, and if not for the roaring groan of the wood, I would have clawed at Oliver and begged his forgiveness.
But I did not. I threw out my free hand and screamed, “Joseph!”
Joseph hesitated—only a breath, but it was a breath too long.
In a deafening explosion of splinters, the door smashed inward. The Hungry toppled in.
Pop! Pop! Daniel’s pistols fired, and the first wave of Dead fell to the floor.
Joseph lunged for me, and the instant he had hold, Oliver squeezed the clamp. Electricity pierced through Oliver’s hand into mine. Up my arm, rippling beneath my skin until I boiled with power.
The pistols rang out again. Again. Yet for each corpse felled, ten scuttled in to replace it. Yellow skulls, shattered teeth, empty eyes.
My muscles twitched uncontrollably, and my heart raced. Why wasn’t Joseph using the power? I wanted to shout for him to attack, but my body was locked in place. I could do nothing but twitch. And watch as the Hungry clambered in. Daniel had to reload, and with each agonizing second, the chomping jaws closed in.
Why didn’t Joseph attack?
My heart galloped faster, pumping the hot oil through me and ballooning into my head. Black closed in on the edges of my vision. I was going to die, going to explode—
Blue light snaked from Joseph’s fingers. Thunder boomed.
Like a wind through grass, the Dead gusted backward. Flattened and lifeless for as far as I could see—all the way into the black tunnel and beyond.
But again the blue lightning struck out. This time it sizzled into the tunnel, a thousand veins of electricity flowing down, down.
Blue power laced through the air and boiled through my body. Then screams filled the air— my screams! Oliver’s screams, Joseph’s screams! Our heads rolled back, our throats burned raw with the inhuman shrieks. . . .
Until, all at once, it stopped. The hot crawling beneath my skin, our screams, the electricity . . . and the Dead. Everything stopped.
And as one, Joseph, Oliver, and I tumbled to the ground.