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Her fingers press harder into my flesh. "What should we do? Run?"
"I doubt that would help. Perhaps the best thing we can do right now is to stay here and wait—and hope Sefton isn't about to destroy the entire universe."
She huddles closer to me as we both stare up at the sky, helpless to stop the onrushing blackness. Nothing will stop what my brother has set in motion. The darkness sweeps across the heavens while the mechanical grinding and grumbling becomes almost deafening, vibrating my eardrums until I have no choice but to slap my hands over my ears. Allison does the same, grimacing and squinting her eyes until they're almost shut.
An explosion detonates overhead.
The warehouse shudders. And the doorway to the Echo vanishes.
"What just happened?" Allison asks. "The portal or whatever… It's gone."
"I know."
The sky shimmers with shades of obsidian and darkest crimson, while pinpoints of purple stars glitter there. I can't explain why, but I slip my arm around Allison's shoulders and pull her close. I feel something is coming, something unspeakable, something that my brother has dispatched. To do what? I believe everything I told Allison earlier—that Sefton wants her—but my conviction about his goal does not explain this wriggling unease.
"Do you feel that?" Allison whispers. "It's like the air is electrified or something."
The hairs at my nape go stiff, and awareness tingles over my skin. I grab her wrist and drag her toward the motorcycle. "We need to go. Now."
"Why? Where are we going?"
"Anywhere that's not here."
I throw open the door and jump onto the motorcycle, twisting the key in the ignition. The machine roars to life.
Allison just stands there, her brows furrowed, and bites her bottom lip.
"Get on," I snarl.
She hops on behind me. We rocket out of the warehouse, past the ruins of other buildings, and onto the asphalt street.
Whump. Whump.
The purposeful pounding of footfalls shakes the earth and rattles my eardrums. No creature borne of this earth or the Echo could create a sound like that with its feet. The thing approaching us from behind must be like nothing else in the universe.
Whump. Whump.
Allison wraps her arms around my midsection, clutching me as if she thinks she might fly off into the sky. I doubt that's what Sefton has in mind. The motorcycle wobbles faintly with every footfall of the pursuing monster.
"Dax!"
Allison's cry makes me glance back to see what she's gaping at, and I halt the bike so fast that the tires squeal. Then I plant one foot on the ground to keep the machine upright.
The monstrosity pursuing us towers above every building in the city, its monstrous form a combination of living thing and machine, with metal plates fused into its flesh and eyes that burn with an electric red gleam. Those twin beams sweep side to side as they scan the city. The creature's massive, metal-encased feet pulverize the asphalt with every step.
Whump. Whump.
"What is that thing?" Allison whispers.
"It must be a golem. A creature created by magic to do its master's bidding."
The golem stops moving and swerves its gaze in our direction. Though the monstrosity is at least four blocks away, its attention zeroes in on Allison.
I press my lips to her ear. "Still think Sefton didn't send those other creatures for you?"
"Oh please," she hisses. "You can't tell which one of us that golem's looking at. Maybe he's got a crush on you."
"That thing wantsyou."
