The copper crushers realized that they were about to lose their midnight snack, and they surged forward, moving faster. I scrambled up and tried to run away from them, but one of my feet got tangled in the ropes and I fell back down onto my knees.
My head snapped up and the ruby-red glow of the nearest crusher’s eyes filled my vision. I instinctively raised my arm, trying to protect myself, and the crusher lashed out, sinking its fangs deep into my left hand. I screamed at the sharp sting of the bite, even as something cold spurted into my veins—the copper crusher’s venom.
I screamed again and tried to yank my hand free, but the crusher clamped down hard and held on, cracking the bones in my hand, even as another one slithered forward and started coiling around my ankles. And there was a third monster waiting just behind the other two, ready to join in and drag me all the way down to the ground. Once that happened, the crushers would make quick work of me.
I was still holding on to my throwing star with my right, uninjured hand, so I lashed out with it. The sharp points of the star sliced into the head of the crusher that was biting me, leaving a jagged, bloody wound behind and causing the creature to finally let go of my hand. It flopped down onto the floor, hissing and writhing with pain and anger.
But the second snake was still coiling itself around my ankles, so I sliced out with the star again, cutting it as well. That crusher loosened its grip, and I kicked it away from me.
I was screaming and crying and shrieking now, and I lashed out with the throwing star over and over again, digging it into every single part of the snakes that I could reach. The creatures hissed and shook their rattles at me, but they retreated. Not far, but enough for me to finally get back onto my feet and stagger away from them.
I whirled around and the copper crushers slowly started slithering in my direction again, still determined to make a meal out of me.
I brandished my throwing star at them, though it didn’t frighten the creatures. But I’d more than had enough, so I turned and sprinted for the warehouse door.
Blake had left the door open and I staggered out of the warehouse, salty sweat cascading down and mixing with the tears streaming over my face. My heart pounded, my breath came in short, ragged gasps, and my body felt strangely numb and heavy from the copper crusher’s venom coursing through my veins. So numb and heavy that I couldn’t even feel the stinging bite or the broken bones in my left hand anymore. Still, even beneath the numbness, I could sense the magic in the venom making me stronger, wanting to be used in some way.
“Hello?” I called out. “Is anyone out here?”
But my voice was nothing more than a hoarse croak, and no one answered me. Victor and Blake were long gone, and so were any guards they had stationed outside. I looked at the warehouse next door, the one that the Sinclairs had been held in, but it too was dark and I didn’t see any guards patrolling outside. Of course the Draconis were gone. There weren’t any prisoners inside to watch anymore.
I didn’t know what time it was, but it must have been after midnight because the moon hung so low it almost seemed as if I could reach up and pluck it out of the sky, like a blood persimmon dangling from a tree. The stars seemed to pulse all around the moon, each one a pinpoint of light stabbing into my brain. For some reason, the pain made me giggle.
I had to get away from the warehouse in case the copper crushers slithered outside after me. So I put my head down and focused on putting one foot in front of the other, even though my legs felt heavier and heavier with every single step.
I don’t know how far or what direction I walked, but somehow I found myself on the street outside the apartment building where my mom had been murdered. It, too, was dark and abandoned, like everything else in this part of town. At least, that’s where I thought I was. I couldn’t really tell since white stars kept exploding over and over again in front of my face. I dimly remembered something my mom had told me about how copper crusher venom could cause hallucinations and convulsions. Combine that with my soulsight magic and transference power, and my body was going haywire right now.
Still, I managed to stumble over to the side of the building where a rusty, rickety drainpipe clung to the brick wall, the same drainpipe I’d used to climb into and out of our apartment that summer, instead of trudging up and down the stairs. I put one hand on the drainpipe, intending to climb up it so I would at least be out of reach of the copper crushers down on the ground. But my strength gave out, my fingers slipped off the metal, and I landed on the dirty asphalt.