Chapter 17
Chapter seventeen
Bridget
Bridget’s entire body froze at the sight before her.
Seconds ago, she’d been in the snowy woods of Connecticut.
Now, a hellish landscape similar to the one she’d briefly seen in Stellan’s vision pierced her eyes.
Grey stains littered the city’s stone wall, a once imposing sight of the brightest brick and metal.
A giant hole gave her a clear view into the chaos happening inside Astraeus.
Three creatures seemed to be in charge of the ruin.
Bridget’s breath caught as her gaze locked on the two creatures prowling just inside the breach. Their appearance sent a wave of déjà vu down her spine, like she’d come across one before. Maybe in a dream. Or a past life.
Or maybe they were just the type of a creature everyone couldn’t help but envision in a nightmare at some point.
They were… wrong. Built like wolves, but taller. Their fur, soaked and clotted with filth, hung from their frames like rotting moss. With every movement, their muscles rippled with unnatural speed. Black foam dripped from their fangs, and when they snarled, she caught a glimpse of too many teeth.
The other antagonist was more human-like. The skin that hung on its skeletal frame was a patchwork of scars and blisters. It wore no armor. Its head was bald, and what might’ve once been tan flesh now burned with open sores and oozing rot. Long black nails curled from its hands like talons.
Bridget pushed Nylah behind Stellan and turned to him for an explanation.
Is this what they had seen in his vision before they’d left?
Were they already too late, despite Nylah’s use of the Tuathan artifact?
Something she still needed an explanation for.
But Stellan’s answer was drowned out by her own heartbeat when she spotted the back of a head.
One she’d know anywhere, even with blood and soot caking his temple.
One that was too busy pounding loose rubble and saying something to his sister to notice a beast slowly creeping up the ruined stone wall behind him.
Without thinking, Bridget darted forward and pulled a dagger from her boot.
Faintly, she heard Nylah gasp as she launched the blade in a single motion.
The weapon struck true in between the monster’s shoulder and neck.
A hidden soft spot she’d luckily hit. The moment the weapon pierced the beast’s skin, her knees buckled.
Black goo spewed forth as the massive creature wailed and twisted.
Behind it, the skyline of Astraeus wheezed with smoke.
Bridget slowly lowered her hand, her breath ragged in her chest. Her heart felt like it might punch through her ribcage as the shrieking creature twisted away and fled back to the side of the Wraith-like man.
Stellan, now glowing with power, held up his hand and yelled something at her again, but all she could focus on was the head swiveling in her direction.
His glowing irises, so saturated with power just moments ago, dimmed back to their familiar warmth in an instant.
Recognition dawned on his face as his eyes locked with hers across an expanse of rubble and smoke.
Bridget stopped breathing completely.
In her loneliest nights, when the world was quiet and the only thing she could hear was her own heartbeat, she had often imagined this exact scenario.
Even though she knew it was hopeless and wrong and the opposite of what she should be wishing for in the place he’d fought to return her to…
Whenever it happened, she wasn’t able to look at Nylah the next day.
Still, she kept the imaginings close to her heart, deep inside where she could visit them every once and awhile.
But now it was a reality.
Cade.
In front of her.
His familiar wavy hair was wild and blood smudged his cheek as his stunned gaze bore into hers.
Despite the chaos around them, her entire body felt truly awake. Alive. Bridget sucked in a breath. Nothing compared to the feeling of his eyes on her or the way she knew the moment she moved toward him, he would meet her halfway.
Nothing would ever compare to him.
A sob escaped Bridget’s chest. Vision quickly blurring, she reached him before she realized she had been moving.
She barely registered Cade’s own wrecked expression before his lips were on hers, blazing and fierce.
When his hand dug into her lower back, she wanted to melt into the ground as the weight of their separation crashed into her.
It’d been so long. Yet, as she kissed him back with just as much ferocity and longing, the innate sense of him embedded itself back into her soul, healing some of the broken pieces inside her she thought would be raw forever.
“You shouldn’t be here,” Cade mumbled against her lips, refusing to break the contact. He pulled her closer and ran his thumb over the skittering pulse in her neck. “You really shouldn’t be here.”
Despite his admonishing words, he didn’t sound mad at all. A ghost of a laugh got trapped in her throat.
“It’s a long story.” Reluctantly, Bridget pulled away from him, the sound of distant crash bringing her back to her senses.
They were not alone and she needed to get Nylah as far away from the destruction as possible.
Behind Cade, Finn charged toward one of the smaller beasts, blocking it from entering the city wall with a swipe of his sword, while Cassia ducked behind a fallen stone.
“What the hell did we just walk into?” Bridget asked, gripping the lapels of his sooty leather jacket.
Cade frowned, then wiped away the trickle of blood that had escaped her nose during her travel across the gate. “We?”
Tilting her head, Bridget led his gaze to the eclectic travel group.
She wasn’t sure who Cade seemed more stunned to see, Nylah or Stellan.
Echnav to him. His golden-brown orbs flittered between the two, like he couldn’t quite comprehend the sight before him.
Guilt swirled in her stomach as she caught Nylah’s gaze peeking at her from behind Stellan with fascination.
Less than ten minutes in Elyria and she was already witnessing destruction.
Behind them, Archer mouthed silently what should I do, while Alexia, thin lipped and pale, glared at her like this was her fault.
A wild hand waved between her and Cade.
“I don’t know if you two realize this, but this is not the time for a loving little reunion,” Cassia hissed. “Finn’s barely holding them off. There’s no point to Castor fixing the protection spell if whatever those things are get inside.”
Right. First things first. Bridget searched the area around them for some sort of hiding place. “We need to get Nylah somewhere safe. Now.”
Suddenly, Cade knocked her to the ground. She lost her breath as they landed with a hard thud. A jagged shard of glass sliced through the air overhead, crashing into a piece of metal with a shattering crack. It would’ve taken her head off.
Cade didn’t waste a second. Still half-shielding her body, he flicked his wrist and sent a chunk of stone flying through the smoke.
It collided with one of the beasts with a thunderous crunch.
If the beasts were to the right, they now stood between her and her sister.
Bridget rolled over, only to find the forest empty.
Before her heart completely left her body, a ripple of magic zinged through the smoke, reaching her ears with a pop. Stellan, Nylah, Archer, and Alexia appeared out of thin air, next to a heap of metal wreckage.
“Luckily you brought help,” Cade said, helping her to her feet. “Delphine is behind the train. She can take you both away from the city.”
“I’m staying.”
Now that she’d seen him, the idea of letting him out of her sight made her stomach knot.
Cade’s expression tightened. He opened his mouth to argue, but before he could speak, a blur of movement barreled into him.
Nylah leapt into his chest and squeezed her arms around his neck.
Cade stumbled back half a step, then caught her, wrapping his arms around her small frame.
A knot tightened in Bridget’s throat. Despite the chaos around them, she couldn’t help the pure joy spreading through her limbs.
This is what she’d been missing and wanting.
The sight of Stellan striding toward them, the epitome of seriousness and determination, stopped any more liquid from blurring her vision.
“You’re welcome,” he said. Tight-lipped, he turned to Cade. “Where’s Marin?”
Cade put Nylah back on the ground, but still held onto her hand. “She’s helping Castor reactivate the protection spell around the city.”
“She’s not strong enough for that right now.” Stellan seethed.
“She can handle it,” Cade argued over the deafening growl of one of the creatures. “Right now, we’ve got bigger issues. Getting the spell reactivated won’t do us any good if these creatures are inside when it happens. Castor is helping her. Between the two of them, it will get done.”
A blast of magic erupted from the Wraith’s fingertips, slamming into them like a shockwave.
The force hurled all four of them backward into Archer and Alexia.
Bridget hit the ground hard. The breath knocked from her lungs.
Instinctively, she curled her body around Nylah, gripping the girl’s wrist and pulling her tight against her chest.
Stellan and Cade were already on their feet by the time she’d managed to sit up.
“Watch it,” Alexia grumbled.
“Like I chose to fall on top of you,” Bridget snapped, taking Cade’s outstretched hand. In a flash, he pulled her and Nylah up.
“What exactly are these creatures?” he asked Stellan. “Nothing seems to be able to get them to back down.”
“I’m not sure about the beasts, but the one controlling them is a Wraith.”
“That doesn’t sound ominous at all,” Archer muttered.
Bridget couldn’t help but agree with him.