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He blocked the attack with his magic, wincing as the spikes cracked along the invisible barrier. His magic was an extension of himself, so he could feel everything it touched—every hit, every drop of blood, every cutting drag of a claw.
Another lash of that deadly tail, and his magic bent and thinned. He stumbled back, barely managing to parry the attack. One more hit, and his shields would be done for.
Shots cracked through the air as Shay emptied her gun. Each landed true, but—
Nothing could penetrate the monster’s skin. Not one of Shay’s bullets did anything but bounce right off, the demon not even fazed.
With a sweep of his hand, Roman lashed out with his shadows, winding them like whips around the beast’s meaty wrists and ankles.
Roman pulled them taut, miming the act of stretching those dark, wispy ropes—
With a bellow that shook the building, the thing snapped the bindings as though they were made of brittle glass, and Roman felt each of them breaking like the reddening sting of a rubber band.
He stumbled back, his heel catching on a chunk of rock.
“Shay,” Roman ground out, sweat beading on his forehead, “I can’t fucking kill this thing. You need to run—”
So quickly he hadn’t a prayer of stopping it, the monster threw him into the wall, pinning him there with a giant claw around his throat, razor-sharp nails scraping off the top layer of his skin. Trickles of blood warmed his neck, pooling in the hollow of his throat.
The creature huffed at the air—scenting him with a baring of sharp, lipless teeth. Each was long and hooked like a shark’s, saliva and blood stringing between jaws that were speckled brown with age.
“Yoo-hoo!” Shay hollered. The sound of her voice made Roman’s heart stumble. And it stumbled again when she waved her hands in the air and started jumping up and down like a goddamn rabbit. “Over here, you ugly piece of monster-ass!”
“Shay!” Roman could barely choke out the warning, that brutal claw crushing his trachea. He’d told her to get the hell out of here, and she wasn’t listening, goddamnit. “Don’t—”
But the monster dropped him and made for Shay—
Who was suddenly standing on the opposite side of the room.
Roman landed on his feet in a crouch. Blinked. What the hell?
She waved for him to follow, mouthing, “Come on, come on,” as the monster went the other way.
Roman moved. Together they ran, deep into the building, breaths rasping against the walls. The scuff of their shoes was unbearably loud.
Behind them, the monster bellowed an angry roar.
Shay grabbed his hand. “Under here.” She pulled him down with her, and they slid across the ground and flew under a broken slab of cement flooring that jutted upward, creating a hiding spot underneath. Dust choked the air as they struck ground in the dark, narrow space.
And held still. Quickly, Roman used his magic to create a sound barrier—
The creature approached. Snuffled around. But somehow, even as visible as Roman feared they were, it didn’t see them.
A lifetime passed before it left with one last thunderous roar that shook the facility, pebbles clacking down around them like hail.
They took several minutes to breathe. Just breathe. Roman’s lungs were on fire, lines of blood drying on his throat. He’d spent so many years as a Darkslayer that he’d had a few close calls, but this?
This was different. Worse than any of the others.
He owed the girl breathing heavily beside him a thank-you.
He glanced down at the tattoo on Shay’s wrist—the fish skeleton that he’d never paid much attention to before. A conduit.
“So,” he said, still panting. “Illusion.”
Shay turned very still as Roman spoke her secret aloud, right there underneath that cold slab of cement in this horrible place called the Facility. The secret she had never told anyone except Anna and Dad.
Slowly, she turned her head toward him. Offered up the best smile she could manage. “Yup.”
