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My fingers curl around the iron handle of the spear, a tingling sensation driving up my forearm. A single dark red garnet pulses from the hammered spear tip.
Ruby coos as she spots the jewel. “Hello, you pretty little sparkly thing.”
Ripping the weapon from its case, I jerk the spear back, find a spot in the water that seems to have the least amount of sprites, and throw it.
Thankfully, the magic inside the weapon improves my terrible aim, and the spear lands exactly where I wanted it to go—in the middle of the reflecting pool.
“My pretty!” Ruby cries.
Ignoring Ruby’s furious shrieks, I watch it sink noiselessly into the water and then—
A jolt rocks the steps beneath our feet as crimson magic ripples out into the water. Any darkling within fifteen feet turns to ash immediately. The explosion causes all the water sprites to take to the air like stars shaken free from the sky.
Even Ruby startles, tumbling from my shoulder and nearly face-planting on the stairs before remembering she can fly.
Doubt creeps in; I frown. Did we just waste a valuable weapon that we might need in a few minutes?
All at once, the darklings freeze. As the water stills, the crimson magic can be seen roiling out in waves beneath the surface.
With a collective shriek, the creatures surge across the lawn toward the pool.
23
The reflecting pool teems with darklings. “The magic tainted the water,” Mack remarks as we race to the right, following a line of slender trees toward the safe zone. Ruby swerves and dips above us, cackling like this is all some game.
The monument rises in the distance, so close yet still so freaking far away. The golden shield of magic floats around it like a corona of light in a sea of shadows.
I glance to my left at the water as we sprint. Mack’s right. The magic seeped into the pond, creating an even larger target and making the entire thing a magnet for the creatures.
A few darklings still remain in our path, torn between the powerful Evermore they smell and the magic in the water.
One leaps in my direction.
I hear Valerian snarl, can feel him tense, ready to destroy anything that tries to touch me.
Before he can react, I put an iron bolt into the darkling’s eye. It drops with an ear-splitting screech just as another leaps from the bushes toward Valerian—
My sword cleaves its head from its neck with an ease I find frightening—but also really fricking awesome. I cut two more down before Valerian can so much as react, dark blood flicking from my blade.
Remembering Mr. Willis’s speech, I whip my head back to face Valerian and wink. “You can have the ones I don’t kill.”
Translation—here’s my sloppy seconds. Probably not the best way to force him to accept my leadership position while also keeping his ego intact. But the look on his face—which I’m pretending is respect, not smoldering fury—is worth it. He begrudgingly falls into place behind me, although I know he’ll make me pay for that comment later during training. Staying true to my word, I throw him a few darklings to finish, enough to hopefully sate his bloated ego.
To my right, Mack does the same. Cutting through the straggler darklings like a pro. She’s chosen twin katanas, and they sing through the night as she strikes, never missing her mark.
Snarling shapes streak between the trees toward us. The scent of the Evermore has driven them into a frenzy; their black eyes are nearly rolled back in their head with an all-consuming hunger; their inhumanly sharp teeth gnash the air.
Mack and I make sure they never get close enough to endanger our Keepers. I release bolt after bolt of my crossbow, surprised by how different—how amazing—it feels to use the weapon against real darklings.
Even Ruby makes herself useful, bringing me back the used bolts. She’s convinced herself we made a bargain and I’ll be giving her an apple Jolly Rancher for each one.
The landscape slopes slightly upward as we near the end of the pool. My heart sings with pride as Valerian and I fall into a lethal rhythm, our movements synced almost like they’re choreographed.
Mr. Willis once said some Keepers and shadows form such tight bonds that, during battle, they become of one mind, an unstoppable force.
At this moment, I feel like Valerian and I could take down the entire world.
The obelisk looms close, the protective golden shield’s glow a beacon of hope that cuts through the darkness around us.
