I shout her name, but too late.
Its talons grab her by the shoulder and lift her off the ground.
An arrow pierces its side.
With an unholy shriek, the monster explodes into ash.
Naomi falls.
Tentacles burst from the water. They writhe and thrash in the air. One snatches Brady. Anothergrabs Caleb. A third lashes for Harrison, but a stream of fire hits the slimy appendage and the squid recoils.
Twig wields the blowtorch, flame reflecting off his broken glasses as Brady and Caleb are pulled into the murky depths.
I look away from the horror and yell for my mother.
What has happened to her?
Where has she gone?
“Daisy!” Simon cries with me, lifting his hands to draw power, but he has no power to draw from. As though sensing his weakness, the hounds of the hollow turn.
Growls rumble low in their throats as they narrow their ember eyes at Simon, who is no longer their master.
All except one.
A hound that must be Lily.
She snarls and snaps at the pack as Simon staggers backward.
“Selah!” Jude shouts through the pandemonium.
He hurdles a swinging tentacle, ducks under another, his gaze fixed on me as a winged creature screeches and another arrow flies.
The wind roars.
The hounds lunge.
The pack hurls itself upon Simon and he is no match for his victims.
His flailing stops.
His screams are cut short.
And Jude, his form solid and strong, reaches me. He grabs onto me. Wraps his arms around me.
The Overlay distorts.
Our surroundings ripple and warp.
The world buckles beneath us and we are thrust into the cold, wintry night. With no monsters. No hounds. No thrashing tentacles or sinister webs. Just wind and snow and the blurry outline of people around me—coughing, crying, staggering in the dark.
I sway on my feet.
Jude catches me before I fall as finally, I give in to the dark.
56
QUITE THE NIGHT
