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The monster lifts his foot to take a step toward us, his other arm preparing for a swing. But his foot pauses in midair. His ax arm tilts farther back, and it gently bops him on the head, nicking lightly.
Not the destructive force that I imagined, but still, something akin to pride swells inside of me, and I cheer Empty on.
Hell yeah! You’re doing it. Keep going.
The ax monster’s arm rises up again, and I watch with rapt attention as the ax swings down and deftly splits the monster’s own skull. The two halves open like an orange, and juice spills down over the fading gleam in his eyes.
Victory is short-lived.
I expel the old magazine in my gun and use my bad arm to shakily load my new one. That’s when I see a murder of crow monsters surrounding Aliana and pecking at her, their beaks gleaming with razor-sharp metal.
I raise my gun and yell, but they’re too close to her. Shooting is, once again, useless.
Charging at them instead, I attempt to ignore the way my entire left side feels like it’s been engulfed in flames.
I can feel Empty reaching out, but we’re both weakened.
To my right, Creep and Dev snarl at each other.
Fuck.
Is Barnabas getting to them?
My left side seizes up, and I can’t take a single step more, the pain in my arm and stomach and the consistent blood loss finally catching up to me.
All I have left is my voice. “Save Aliana! And fucking kill Barnabas!”
Uni sends a jet of water at the two Terrors, dousing them. They both sputter and turn toward the golden monster whose tail is lashing behind him. With lightning cracking apart the sky in the background and his expression dark as night, he looks every inch the monster he is.
Horrifying.
Intimidating.
Evil.
Goose bumps cover my arms, and my stomach tightens as a man made of pure ice tromps through the room from a side door and comes to stand beside Barnabas, facing off against us. Gold and ice, their power practically shimmers in the air like humidity, making it hard to breathe.
The heavy patter of rain pelting the roof is overshadowed by Aliana’s broken cry. “Dad?”
I swivel to see her face grow wretched with betrayal, her concentration faltering from the collection of frozen birds at her feet and the live ones still circling her head.
A bird takes advantage of her distraction, and the world seems to slow as it plunges right for her stomach, metallic beak sinking in, twisting, ripping out.
Blood as red as a rose wells up as she stumbles.
“NOOOOO!” The sound rips out of me and Em simultaneously, out of Creep, and Dev and Tesq.
The stone monster dives across the room, catching our love as she falls backward, breath sputtering, choking.
“Aliana, Aliana, no,” Tesq murmurs as he holds her close.
I can’t breathe. Can’t think. For a solid minute, I think I lose control of my limbs and float above my body in utter disbelief. This can’t be happening.
But Aliana gives a pained gasp. Her hands shakily clasp at the wound on her stomach, covering it, trying to staunch the flow of blood that stains her fingers. Running red. Glistening. Her gaze shoots up toward Tesq, and then…she stops moving.
Her chest doesn’t rise. Her eyelashes don’t close.
An agony that can only come right from the darkest pits of hell ignites inside my chest. Glowing hot like a fire, it feels as if scorching smoke is curling up my throat. My mouth opens, but no other sound erupts, emotion weighing down my tongue.
