Chapter 92
We found the horror just past City Hall. It choked the streets, and from blocks away, rag men flocked toward it, swirling around its despairing edges.
It’d been hit with Luvic’s Silencer, but the enormity of its darkness bled down the dark city streets. The usually bustling sidewalks were deserted. Coffee and food carts were closed up. Even traffic had stopped.
Dogs, cats—even rats—knew when natural disasters were coming. Dogs barked before earthquakes. Cats hid before tornadoes. Even rats scuttled into their bolt-holes.
Could humans sense horror descending?
The clouds pressed menacingly down as Last and I sprinted toward the darkness.
“There’s Primus!” she crowed, pointing to her brother. He stood on a spire of metal, looming over the amorphous dark.
He shot a stream of black, shiny insects at Celia Bard.
“Celia!” Last gasped, spotting her at the same time as I did.
She was on her knees, desperately thrusting a wall of water at the insect swarm. She was a small woman. As a Bard, she’d always used allure and illusion over brute strength, but I’d never doubted her ability to outmaneuver, outwit, or out-style Primus Clark.
Yet anyone could see that in seconds, she’d be dead. She was shaking, bloody, and bent. Her illusion was weakening, and the water shield around her bowed. Insects leaked through, attacking.
She reached out and grasped her necklace, crying out. Was she calling for Jacob? I couldn’t hear over the horror’s scream.
Jagger had told me to help the Clarks. He’d also told me to help the Bards. Celia was a Bard.
I reached outside of myself and yanked Primus’s knots free. The insects disappeared. At the same moment, a giant, brilliant white light threw me into Last.
We rolled over each other, somersaulting across the concrete into the Silencer’s field.
Overhead, a giant, mist-shrouded stone creature reared, thrusting its hooves in the air. Then it leaped into the horror’s shadow. It kicked through the darkness, scattering it with its light.
I rolled beneath the stone creature, and Last darted after me.
It was as large as a house, made of cobbled-together brick, concrete, and stone. There were twisted bits of metal and singed rubble. It smelled like fire and rain, and sparks shot from the holes where its eyes should’ve been.
I dodged a kicking hoof.
Then I laughed, because on top of the stone menace was Luvic.
He rode on top of the creature, balanced with preternatural grace on its bulky back. It was a horse. I could see that now. The mane was long metal cords whipping in the wind. Luvic jumped as the horse bucked wildly, then he landed softly on its back when it slowed.
Then he grabbed a long metal cord, swung down, and grabbed his sister’s outstretched hand. In a split second, they’d flown back up onto the stone horse’s back.
Celia had taken advantage of my unraveling of Primus’s insects. She’d stood and shot a whirlpool at him. As she swung up onto the horse’s back, Primus fell from his metal tower.
He hit the ground, conjuring right before he did. The ground cracked, and he splashed into a pile of dust. It shot out, sticking to the red ooze covering me and Last.
He bent over, grasping his ribs, sucking in an angry breath.
Principal Clark leaped down into the horror’s shadows. He’d seen what I’d done. He knew I’d moved against his son.
“You dare?” He thrust his finger at me, stalking close. “You dare untie my son’s illusion?” He swiped a hand through the air. “Daughter! Kill her.”
Last looked at me. She looked back at her father.
Behind him, Primus straightened and gave her a single hard nod.
She straightened her shoulders and turned toward me. She twisted her hand, and the ground rolled out from beneath her. It was like a rug, suddenly flung open, snapping wildly. The concrete bucked, and then the ground revolted and flung the Clark backward.
At that exact moment, the horror reared forward. It opened its maw and snatched the Clark out of the air. Then it snapped its jaw and swallowed.
It happened in a millisecond. The Clark was gone.
The horror roared and ballooned in size, doubling from the Clark’s cruelty.
Last stumbled forward and gasped. She shook from the influx of power.
Primus threw open his arms and laughed. The raging maelstrom of the Clark’s power slammed through his son. He twisted his hand, throwing fistfuls of concrete and ripping pipes from the ground. Water burst. Steam rocketed. Concrete became dust and fell around him like confetti.
“Take note!” he roared, his voice gleeful and cruel. “I am your principal now!”
Last took a step back, her eyes glassy. “I didn’t mean to,” she whispered, shaking her head. “I didn’t mean to. I didn’t mean to.”
Primus barred his teeth. “Yes, you did.” He pointed at me. Smiled.
Then, from behind him, the stone horse bucked and kicked him with its metal-lined hoof.
Primus flew across the shadows and hit a brick wall. The wall crumbled as he flew through it. There was a whistling scream, and then, seconds later, Primus walked out, dusting the mortar from his sleeves.
He smiled at Luvic and Celia and laughed at their shining horse.
He lifted his arms, and I could hear the word before he spoke it.
“Die,” he was going to say.
But then, the ball of darkness that had been writhing in the center of the horror spun and screamed and writhed, and then—
It exploded.
“Jacob!” Celia screamed.
Then, out of the black ooze, my brother appeared, grinning like a maniac. His blond hair was covered in a tar-like substance, and his face was smeared in blood and black gore.
Behind him, Ragnor Bard gave a melancholy sigh, as if to say, “Why me?” Then he gave Luvic and his sister a double-take, his eyes widening at the shining rubble horse.
“Ah, the Ward,” Primus said. “Congratulate me. I’m principal now.”
Jacob wrinkled his nose and wiped the ooze from his eyes. “Oh, wonderful. Now you can do all the things you’ve always wanted.” He smiled at Primus. “That’ll be fun.”
Celia looked at him in outrage. Jacob widened his eyes and shrugged, as if to say, “What?”
I could imagine their conversation.
Why are you congratulating him?
What else am I supposed to do?
Kill him!
Why would I do that? He’s practically harmless.
He’s not harmless! He’s trying to destroy the city.
Oh. Right. I forgot.
Kill him! Melt his brain!
Okay. Whatever you want, Lia.
Primus narrowed his eyes on Jacob. Then, deciding the Ward wasn’t worth poking, he focused on Ragnor.
“Another Bard. Funny. Sister . . . were you aware you didn’t marry the heir?”
Last clenched her jaw. “No.”
Primus smiled.
Behind him, the horror quaked and screamed. I covered my ears. It was a thousand screams at once, and it dug into my bones. The pressure of the scream clamped onto my brain, and it felt as if tiny capillaries were bursting in my eyes.
Then the giant cocoon of larvae at the center of the horror exploded.
The gray, sluglike creatures shot out and slapped against us. I ducked, turning away.
When I turned back, I gasped.
The giant cocoon hadn’t been empty. There’d been someone trapped inside.
Finn.
No.
That wasn’t right.
Not Finn, but two Finns.
And they were fighting each other.