Page 114 of The Shadow Sanctum

“Luna.” My hand finds her shoulder and cups her face to turn her toward me. Her eyes are glassy and unfocused. The strength she summoned seconds ago is already gone.

“You did it,” I murmur, pressing my forehead against hers. “You fucking did it.”

The crowd is still silent, a wall of stunned faces. Some look horrified, some relieved, some too numb to know what they feel. Not a soul cheers. Not one voice rises to celebrate.

This is their greatest victory.

But all anyone feels is loss.

Luna’s lips part, but no words come out. She blinks, slow, heavy, her lashes wet. When she closes her eyes, I rub my thumb hard along her cheek.

“Stay with me,” I rasp, my thumb brushing her temple. My throat feels like it’s been laid with wet cement. “You can’t sleep yet, sweetheart. We don’t know what he gave you.”

Don’t ask the question.

Don’t think about it.

Did he mean to weaken, or did he mean to kill her?

“Fuck,” I groan, my eyes clenching shut as my head turns away. My heart pounds so furiously, it’s a physical ache, but it only clutches me for a moment. I open my eyes, blink hard, and look at her with the utmost confidence in my expression.

You’re fine.

Everything’s going to be okay.

A murmur ripples through the crowd, then another. My head jerks up. People are looking at each other, confused, alarmed. Then I hear it too—far off, but closing fast.

Sirens.

The sound pierces the solemnness like fireworks.

Panic erupts. The square fractures as people bolt in every direction. Screams, shouts, frantic prayers. Mothers screaming for their children, Keepers shoving past one another. It’s chaos. Pure chaos.

“Time to go,” I whisper, scooping Luna into my arms. Her body folds against mine, limp and hot despite my jacket covering her. Blood smears my shirt, but the bleeding has slowed.

Her lashes flutter weakly. She tries to say my name, but it comes out as a broken breath.

I hold her tighter and turn toward the forest. Toward the tunnel. Toward anywhere that isn’t here.

Because the cops are coming, and if I don’t move now, we’re both dead.

The square dissolves into madness.

I weave around the swarm of bodies, Luna cradled against my chest. People slam into me in their panic, but I don’t let Luna slip. My elbows jab, my shoulder drives forward. I move like a plow through snow to carve a path.

The sirens swell louder, closer, until they drown out the shouts. Red and blue light flickers against the trees at the edge of the compound and paints the snow in violent colors.

Hurry.

I angle toward the Keep, lungs burning, boots sliding over frozen ground. Luna stirs against me, a faint groan rattling from her throat. Her hand curls weakly at my chest.

“Almost there,” I murmur, breathless. “Hold on, pretty girl. Just hold on.”

The Keep looms ahead, dark against the flashing sky. But the closer I get, the worse the air tastes. Acrid. Sharp.

Smoke.

My stomach drops.