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The mass of Gatlong’s weight veered backward, unstoppable even as his feet flailed fast on the floor. His arms swinging, the pistol flew out of his hand as he crashed through the window, falling out into the blackness of the night.
Rune rushed to the shattered edges of the window. In the shadows of the alley, Gatlong splayed dead on the ground below.
He spun around only to find Elle had scampered to her feet after being tossed, still screeching with the knife in her hand, and now attacking Des. No recognition of anything or anywhere in her eyes.
Des managed to grab each of her wrists, holding them high as she fought him, kicking, jabbing the dagger into his arm.
Rune was to her in an instant, clamping the back of her body to his, fighting her wild arms down until they were flat against her sides. Des let go of her wrists and Rune locked her into a hold, dragging her backward so her feet weren’t under her and he just barely avoided Wes as he finished off the last thug.
Fighting, kicking, the shrieks of a harpy were at her lips.
“Stop, Elle—you’re safe. Safe.” Rune’s words didn’t slow her struggle, didn’t stop her howls. The tip of the blade still solid in her hand jabbed into Rune’s leg.
“Shit.” He shifted her in his arms and the blade pulled out of his leg. He looked to Des, yelling over Elle’s screams. “What’s going on? How do I stop this?”
Des shook his head, bellowing back to Rune. “The time Jules found her like this—she said she came out of it right away when Jules screamed at her.”
“But Jules isn’t here, man.”
Elle erupted in a spasm, almost breaking free of Rune’s grip.
Des set himself in front of her and grabbed her face. “Elle—wake up. Wake up!” He screamed.
She shifted, driving the knife back into Rune’s thigh. He ignored the searing pain, picking her up and setting his mouth at her ear. “Elle—wake up. This isn’t you. It’s Rune—I’ve got you. Des is right here. Wake the hell up.”
Des moved in and tried to grab her hand to get the knife. He looked up at Rune. “I can’t get the knife out of her hand or you without hurting her.”
Des looked back into her face, shouting, “Elle—wake up—get back to us.”
The blade twisted in Rune’s leg and he grimaced, fighting the searing pain. “Des—get me a pistol.”
Without pause, Des pulled a primed pistol from the band about his waist and handed it to Rune.
Setting it right next to her ear, Rune aimed it at the outer wall and shot it.
The crack of the shot made her jerk, then still.
Silence.
Rune handed the pistol back to Des.
She shifted in his arms, her head rolling in a circle, and then she looked down. A scream shook her, so high pitched it made his head jerk back.
Her hand instantly left the handle of the blade and she started pushing at his arms. Rune let her go and she scrambled away from him, turning, her eyes on the blade sticking out of his thigh.
Her look lifted to his face, her voice frantic. “Rune? Oh no—no, no, no, Des. I did that? Did I do that?”
With a grimace setting his mouth hard, Rune yanked the blade from his thigh and he threw it to the ground. “You weren’t in your right mind, Elle.”
“Not in my right—” She looked down at her hands and the blood splattered all over her skin. “Gatlong…Gatlong…Gatlong grabbed me…” Her head whipped around the room at the bodies littering the floor.
“Oh no. Did I—did I kill that man?” Her eyes wide, her head flung back and forth. “The shot, then another and then, hell, Rune—did I kill him?” Her finger flung to the ground at the brute with a sliced neck. “Or him? Or him?” She spun in a circle, pointing at the bodies.
His hands up, fingers spread wide, he moved closer to her, his words low and calm, praying he didn’t set her off again. “No—no—no. That’s Gatlong’s blood on your hands.”
Her jaw dropped, quivering. “Oh hell, did I kill Gatlong?” She started to frantically dart about, searching the bodies, her voice pitching high. “Oh to hell, I did. I killed him. Where is he? I killed him.”
Rune grabbed her shoulders, slightly shaking her to get her to look at him. “Stop, Elle, stop. You didn’t kill anyone. Stop your body. Stop your mind.”
