“Was she maybe a Gorgon?” Will muses. I’m still amazed at how calm he portrays himself. “Oh, wait. We didn’t turn to stone when she looked at us. Pity, as she was an ugly thing.”
Apparently insulting one’s mama serves as their breaking point, because all four charge us, lightning fast. Karl swings an arm out, his fist colliding hard with an Elder. What I can only describe as a sonic boom detonates in the warehouse, breaking the last bits of glass that hadn’t already shattered from their screaming. Will and I both stumble to our knees, but we’re right back on our feet in time for what’s coming at us.
Thwang. Reload. Thwang. Reload. Two are charging me, which, I get. Big catch apparently and all, but they’re lithe like Cailleache and able to dodge most of my shots. Out of the corner of my eye I see Will kick an Elder right in the middle of its so-called chest, sending it sprawling.
Karl shouts, “Ten seconds!”
I fire another arrow. It streaks against an Elder’s arm; the monster streaks high into the air above us, momentarily losing its shape as it howls in mixed rage and agony.
Ten seconds. Karl unleashes a sonic boom against these things and they’re only down for ten effing seconds.
Thwang. Thwang. I want to check in on Will and Karl, but I have to trust they’re holding their own. The two hunting me charge at once, and the next thing I know, I’m on my ass in the dirt, my shooting arm bleeding like a geyser set free.
I bandage it up immediately. But the attack served its purpose—our triangle has widened.
A shriek comes from my right—Will’s blade made contact. I scramble over to where he’s got the Elder pinned to the ground. “Do it!” he yells. The Elder thrashes against the sword, ready to rip its body right off.
One of its knife-hands slashes me as I approach. My breath sucks in at the pain, but I’ve got to get close.
“DO IT!”
Two sonic booms go off behind us, rattling me down on my hands in the dirt. But it’s enough of a jolt to get me close enough. I stretch out my fingers and make contact, even as it slashes frantically at both Will and me.
It feels cold and hot at the same time. Like . . . cotton balls with splinters. It’s a disgusting sensation. I want to jerk my hand back, but Will yells once more, as another sonic boom sounds, “FUCKING KILL THE THING, WILL YOU?”
When I will it out of existence, I collapse, my chin hitting dirt. Will immediately yanks his sword out of the ground and hauls me up. “Karl’s got one down. Go!”
His blade swings out in an arc at an approaching Elder. Boom. It’s hard to stay on my feet, but I dart over to where an Elder lies, unconscious. And . . . I spoke too soon, because its pseudo-eyes open the moment my hand touches its chest.
I go flying through the air, landing right on my quiver, sending a sharp spike of pain straight up behind my eyelids. Holy effing hell.
BOOM.
“Chloe!” Karl yells. His swinging fist makes no contact this time. He’s bleeding heavily, his dominant arm slashed to ribbons. “They’re adapting! Eight seconds!”
I scramble over to where the Elder who just fell is, trying desperately to ignore that lightning pain threatening to consume me. For insurance’s sake, I ram an arrow straight through its chest, pinning it to the ground just as surely as Will’s sword can. It’s surprisingly difficult, considering I can see the floor through its body. It comes to, but—for the first time, even with the stars dancing in my eyes, I see something other than hate reflected back to me.
I see fear.
Good. It fights desperately, driving one of its dagger-like hands right into my shoulder and the other into my upper thigh. The pain is so intense I nearly black out, but then I remember that there is a bunch of people out there counting on me to get this job done. Plus, there’s Jonah—I need to get back to Jonah and apologize and let him know how much I love and need him. So I gather everything in me and pray it’s enough before willing this monstrosity out of existence. Within a split second, its body disappears; I collapse once more into the dirt. My chin hits the ground hard, making my already spinning head whirl even faster.
Piercing howls fills the warehouse and then, the next thing I know, Karl, Will and I are left alone in stunned silence.
We’re all bleeding. We’re filthy. But more importantly, we’re all alive while two of the Elders aren’t.
Karl’s arm dangles uselessly next to his side. Will’s having a tough time standing, which makes sense as both legs are cut up pretty bad. As for me, I’m still in the dirt with no doubt huge holes in my shoulder and leg.
“Open the office door, Chloe,” Karl grunts. He wipes his good arm across his forehead, streaking dirt through blood and sweat. I’ve never seen him more exhausted.