THIRTY-FOUR
HER AMBER-BROWN EYES CAUGHT the candlelight and flickered, allowing me to witness the moment life left her body. Blood flowed down the front of her shirt. Sil abruptly let her go, and she crumpled to the floor. He wiped the knife on his pant leg.
“Wouldn’t want her trying to help you at the worst moment,” he muttered, nudging her body with his toe.
Somewhere below us came a chorus of animal howling followed by a muffled explosion. In the far corner of the room, part of the dance floor caved in, crashing downward.
Sil’s eyes brightened with anger. “Explosives or not, they will never win. When Rita failed to capture you, we made other plans.”
Fear encased my heart, burbling up like acid in my throat. He knew I wasn’t alone. He wasn’t even surprised by it. “I wouldn’t underestimate them. We could go down and join the fun if you want.”
His eyes narrowed. “You are a stupid girl. Don’t make me damage you.”
“You’re going to have to. Unless you’re going to stand there and let me kill you.”
I feinted to the right, and then to the left, herding him backward toward the jagged, yawning mouths of the empty window frames. I kept my arms close to my sides, but loose. My newly healed wrist felt stronger than ever. I felt like I could snap him in half.
He held up his knife and laughed nervously. “I should have brought something bigger, probably.” He tossed the knife out the open window, ruining my hopes of stripping it from him and gutting him with it. His fingers curled into claws, revealing his filthy, serrated nails.
My phone buzzed again.
Sil’s gaze zipped straight down to the bulge in my jeans pocket. “You should check that. It might be important.”
“It can wait.” And then I attacked.
Sil was fast as ever and took off running. He dove onto all fours, and then bounded up on the bar, grabbing one of the few remaining light fixtures and throwing it at me in an effort to slow me down. I skirted the bar and ended up by the table with the ropes, the place they’d planned to tie me up and sacrifice me. Sil watched me with half-lidded eyes, waiting for me to attack again. I dipped a toe in one of the pots and stirred quickly, sending a thick haze up around me. I took a few steps back and did it again, hiding behind the thick fog, and then pulled my phone from my pocket and held it close to my face to check the newest text.
I have Tegan
It was from Jim. My knees nearly buckled with my relief. My head jerked up as Sil roared and charged, flying from the bar to the tabletop in a single wild leap. He didn’t slow down as he crashed into me, curling his steely fingers around my arms and trying to flip me onto the table. I brought my knee up, driving the breath from him with a blow to the stomach, and then leaned back and slammed my fist into his weaselly, dirt-smeared face.
The floor shook with another tremor from below, throwing Sil and me both off balance. If Malachi and Henry kept this up, the place was going to collapse. Sil took advantage of the moment to wrap one of the ends of the rope around my wrist, catching it in the noose-like loop and tethering me to the table.
“One down, three to go,” he whispered, and then cackled like he’d made a hilarious joke.
I clawed at the rope around my wrist, but had to give it up as he charged again. I ducked to the side and then used the rope to clothesline him as he spun around, knocking him back onto the table. Then I crouched and flung myself over him, flattening him back onto the table as I straddled him, pinning his skinny shoulders with my knees. All rage and fear, I jerked my hand down and around, drawing the rope tight around his neck. With my free hand, I held his forehead to the table, and with my other, I pulled.
And pulled.
And pulled.
Until spots flashed in my vision. Until they coalesced and became my mother’s eyes, staring at me from beyond, condemning me, loving me, forgiving me, I had no idea.
Fierce animalistic howls from below yanked me out of my trance. I looked down at Sil. His eyes, bright red with burst blood vessels, were half-closed. His face was frozen in an eerie smile. I leaned forward and put my fingers on his sweaty throat. Nothing.
I rolled away from him, untied my wrist, and climbed off the table, wiping my hands on my pants. I’d done it. It had been easier than I’d thought. Now I needed to figure out what the hell was happening below. I checked my phone and read the text that had come first. From Malachi.
Freeing prisoners now will be up soon
But that text had come in several minutes ago, and none of my Guards had come up. With my pulse pounding in my temples, I jogged over to the window and climbed carefully onto the collapsed deck to retrieve Sil’s discarded knife. Even though I’d killed Sil, I still couldn’t shake the bad feeling I’d had when I came in here. With the knife in my hand, I reentered the club and crept across the dance floor, which was unstable and soft beneath my boots, rotten nearly all the way through. As I neared the caved-in area, I heard a sound that made my stomach knot with fear: chanting.
The Mazikin weren’t supposed to be chanting. They were supposed to be running for their lives.
I got down on hands and knees and crawled toward the collapsed section. Dusty light was filtering up from the lower level, revealing the smoky swirls of incense floating and breaking apart just above the hole. I inched forward on my belly, not wanting to fall through the floor and land right in the middle of them. Finally, I hooked my fingers over the edge and looked down, squinting through the haze and trying not to cough as I inhaled the sickly sweet fumes.
About fifteen feet below me, through the crisscross of splintered floorboards, I could see one end of another altar. Pots of incense at the corners. A group of Mazikin massed, leaning over a struggling figure tied to the table. I could see his chest and shoulders straining against the ropes. And when one of the Mazikin dropped to her knees to stir the incense, their victim’s face was revealed.
Malachi.