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He brought the blade up in time to see a curve of the snake’s body looping down—
He jumped off the obelisk, landing on another section of staircase about a dozen feet down, boots skidding down the jagged steps. His feet stilled mere inches from open air, loose gravel shooting out and trickling to the floor below like hail.
Fuck, this was tiring.
“You are quick,” the serpent said, coiling back up—protecting its throat, just like he thought. The one and only place a person must strike to have a chance at killing it. “Very quick.”
He sensed movement again, and rushed toward the next ledge. “You like to play with your food, hey?” he asked the snake. It would be the death of it—Darien would make sure of that.
A quick glance in the flat side of the blade—still reflective, as if sensing that its wielder needed a mirror—told him the snake had retreated back above, its head no longer visible.
Games. Endless fucking games from this thing.
Little did it know, Darien was intent on playing. Its games would be its demise.
So he hurtled to the edge of this broken section of staircase. Leapt into open air—
And smoked his face against rock.
“What the fuck!” he barked, eyes watering and stinging.
Not rock—part of the snake’s body had materialized out of thin air.
It could fucking camouflage.
But he had no time to think about it anymore.
Because down he was falling, straight to the floor far below.
111
The Elevator
YVESWICH, STATE OF KER
This was, possibly, the single most terrifying thing Max had ever lived through, second only to the house fire he’d believed had killed his sister.
And whether or not he lived through this remained to be seen.
The elevator plummeted to the basement so quickly, Max couldn’t feel his body. The lights above their heads flickered at a dizzying speed, the descent creating a loud shrieking noise that shredded his eardrums. Max held onto the railing for dear life, the sheer drop threatening to peel his feet off the floor.
“Hold onto me!” he shouted to Dallas.
She did.
And then he swept his hand out, forcing the Sight into his vision and his magic outside of his body.
The ground was approaching quick; he could see veins of magic in the anima mundi down below. Three seconds—that was all he had, the only chance he had to do this.
Quickly, he covered the base of the elevator with his magic—and pushed.
Up. Up. Up…slowing their descent and cushioning the impact—
The elevator still smashed into the ground with jarring force, knocking both Max and Dallas off their feet. He landed hard, cracking his head against the floor, the bodysuit lessening the blow. One light panel remained intact, the others shattering from the crushing force. Glass tinkled around them, showering their clothes like sleet.
Silence stretched for several long heartbeats. He panted, chest pumping, the ceiling of the elevator spinning like a top.
As soon as his surroundings stilled, Max got up. He pulled Dallas to her feet, brushing strands of hair out of her face. “You alright?”
