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CHASE
A steady humof pain reverberates through my stomach, though it’s far more muted than I expect it should be. I don’t know if it’s Aliana’s ice magic soothing it or?—
Give me some credit, please,Em snarks inside my head.I am a fucking Terror.
Yeah, you are,I mutter as I scan the room and witness Dev throwing a triangle-shaped monster up at the ceiling and shattering its corner.
Are you twisting Terror into an insult?
Are you taking it as one?I shoot back as the sounds of bones breaking fill the air.
I turn, glancing around, but I don’t see her. Not on the ground, not standing over any of these bastard monsters.
Aliana isn’t here!I mentally shout in panic just as she bursts through a side door, breathless, her hair whipping around her as she slides through a puddle of green blood.
A warm sense of relief heats my stomach at the sight of her, safe and whole. But then, the warm feeling turns wet, and I glance down to see a dark patch of blood blooming on my shirt. Aliana’s ice magic seems to have worn off.
I lurch forward a step, clutching my wound. But suddenly, she’s there, those beautiful eyes sparkling with concern for me. Numbing cold immediately replaces the slamming thump of pain that welled up in my gut, and I breathe a soft sigh of relief that’s short-lived.
“Next floor,” Dev calls out, indicating this one’s been cleared. “Be ready. If he’s in the building, that’s where he’ll be.”
Ominous silence descends over the room as everyone turns to stare at Creep.
The antlered monster from under the bed looks two shades paler than normal, almost a sky blue. If I’m not mistaken, there’s a bead of sweat on his brow.
But he forces a stern look and says, “Let’s get it over with.”
“Wait,” Uni calls out, pointing to the window.
I turn and glance at the sky, which has darkened considerably in the last hour. Clouds of every color blot it with steel-gray puffs and lavender tufts along with a solid sheet of dull milky white.
A storm’s rolling in.
We are the storm rolling in,Em corrects.
I don’t argue with him because I want that to be true. I want us to roll in like a fucking hurricane. We have thus far…but a small part of me wonders if this Barnabas isn’t trying to wear us outbut also bolster our confidence so that we swagger right into a trap.
“If we wait a minute, I can use the storm water,” Uni offers with a nonchalant shrug as if it doesn’t matter either way.
I vote we wait. We need every advantage we can get.
No,Em argues.
“He’ll think we’re hesitating,” Creep replies, his tone flat and dead, just like his eyes, which are focused on the stairs. He holds a whip that he stole from another monster limp in his hand.
I don’t think I’ve ever seen the cheerful monster so withdrawn.
Barnabas nearly destroyed him,Em informs me.I’m surprised he didn’t end up like me.
An uncomfortable feeling slithers across my chest. I think it may be pity. For a Terror. A monster Aliana loves.
Fuck off. I’m driving if you’re going to feel this kind of sappy crap,Em threatens me, yanking at my brain and limbs and making me stumble.
I wrest the controls away from him with a bit of a struggle that jerks my arms wildly around in front of me. Then I force myself to turn from Creep to the stairs. Shoving aside my emotions so that Em won’t keep struggling against me, I shift into raid mode—light on my toes and heavy on the trigger finger.
It’s go time.
Barnabas won’t know what hit him.
