Chapter 16 #3
A second snarl echoed. The wet, gurgling sound turned Cassia’s blood to ice as two creatures crawled into view.
Both moved on all fours, limbs too long.
Their eyes were hollow, empty voids, and thick strands of black ooze dripped from their matted fur, hissing as it hit the ground.
Every inch of them looked like rot and death and nightmare.
And exactly like the one from Cade’s stolen memory.
“The wall…” Castor said, voice dying as he reached the same conclusion as her. The train hadn’t been the target of the explosion. It had just been in the wrong place at the wrong time as someone tried to breach the city by destroying the structure fueling its protection spell.
“This has to be Quinn,” Cassia said, coughing through the thickening air. “How did she know where to target?”
Like the Witch could hear her, the fire lining the wall’s hole and pathway to the rest of the city died in one fell swoop. The creatures’ hackles raised in anticipation.
“That doesn’t matter right now. We can’t let those things in.” Even though his gaze was steely, Castor’s throat bobbed. “Whoever did this, destroyed the bridge too.”
Whirling around, Cassia caught sight of the large smoke cloud in the distance. It was the middle of the night. The majority of the soldiers based in the city would be asleep in their barracks beneath Mount Lugh. On the other side of the river. “We’re alone.”
“For now,” Castor promised.
Cassia wasn’t sure she believed in his optimism. The creatures were already closing in on the hole in the wall. Without help, they wouldn’t be able to hold them off for long.
Another snarl pierced her ears. The first creature dug its claws into the dirt, readying itself to launch.
Beside her, Castor pulled a bag of herbs from his pocket.
Under his breath, he muttered a spell. One Cassia didn’t recognize.
A piercing screech tore through the silence as the lead creature lunged.
Midair, the beast was thrown backward. With a bone-crunching crack, it smashed into a tree, snapping bark and branches on impact. The monster hit the ground with a shuddering growl and struggled to rise.
Cassia’s head snapped toward the smoke. A knot in her chest loosened. “Cade!”
Out of the smoke, her brother appeared. He strode forward, golden eyes alight with power. The air seemed to bend around him, heavy with energy that made her bones vibrate.
“Get out of here, Cass,” Cade growled, launching another piece of rubble at one of the creatures with a flick of his wrist. “Delphine is waiting for you behind the train.”
“Impeccable timing,” Castor said, halfway grinning. “If we have any chance of keeping them out of the city, we need to reactivate the spell.”
Cade turned his head, as if searching for something.
He flicked his wrist again. Seconds later, a twisted piece of wreckage lifted from the ruins.
The piece, Cassia assumed, that Marin had been trapped under.
With another pulse of power, it shot forward and struck the beast square in the chest. The monster staggered and growled.
But no matter what Cade continued to throw at them, the creatures didn’t seem to be deterred.
“Take Marin and go,” Cade told Castor. “She’s free now. She’ll know how to get inside and fix the rune, but she’ll need your help.”
Determination etched on his features, Castor nodded. He squeezed Cassia’s arm, then whispered in her ear, “Do what you can.”
It wasn’t hard to miss his hidden meaning. Her powers. She’d almost forgotten. Before she could argue with him or say she didn’t know how to do it again without him, he’d disappeared in the rubble of the train.
Cassia turned to Cade, just in time to see another wave of magic surge through him. A section of the shattered wall cracked loose and shot toward the second creature, slamming it into the dirt. Dust clouded the air. Cade staggered slightly, and blood began to drip steadily from his ear.
“You need to run, Cass,” he said through gritted teeth. His voice trembled with strain. “I’ve got this.”
Cassia opened her mouth to argue, but a movement in the trees caught their attention.
Especially since the creatures suddenly stilled.
A man, at least, he might’ve been once, emerged from the dark.
His body was skeletal, his skin stretched tight over bone, veins pulsing black beneath the surface like poisoned roots.
His face was sunken and hollow-eyed. Black sludge clung to his jaw, sloughing from his fingertips in thick, oozing drops.
Long black fingernails dripped blood as he raised his hands.
The moment he did, the creatures growled in tandem and charged forward again.
Cade titled his head. “It’s not Quinn controlling them.”
The man, or Wraith, or whatever the hell he was, raised his hand again. Not to control the beasts, but to attack. A jagged shard of twisted metal hovered in the air and then launched straight at them.
Cassia reached for Cade. “Watch out,” she gasped.
Without thinking, she pulled. Unlike with Castor, it didn’t take her long to find a spark of magic within him.
The moment she touched his shoulder, something within him responded.
Magic leapt from his skin and surged like lightning up her arm.
It was everywhere inside him, thrumming just beneath the surface. Cassia seized and redirected it.
Seconds later, the shard veered off-course and slammed into a pile of debris beside them.
Cade’s arms dropped to his sides in stunned silence. “How did you do that?”
Cassia snatched her hand away from him and cradled it against her chest. Her palm still tingled from the contact. She didn’t answer. She couldn’t. How could she explain something she barely understood herself?
Her brother, too busy staring and trying to breach her mind for an explanation, didn’t notice the shadow uncoiling behind him. One of the beasts had scaled the wall, its blackened claws digging into stone. Its teeth glinted in the dim light as a snarl peeled from its throat.
Suddenly, silver flew through the air. The beast shrieked. It twisted violently and toppled from the wall with a sickening crunch. A dagger jutted from its shoulder, slick with black ooze. Whimpering, the creature dragged itself toward the waiting Wraith, its strength fading.
Swallowing hard, Cassia searched the trees behind the Wraith for the source of the dagger. For an explanation. For some kind of rogue soldier that had been hiding in the Elder Woods.
Then, out of the darkness, stepped Bridget.