Page 153 of Wrath

“No fucking idea.” Axel casually swung his machete from side to side. “One second, Mary was slicing through heads, and the next, all of the monsters were nothing but dust.”

“And Mary is…?”

“My machete.” Axel gave me a “what the fuck is wrong with you?” look, as if I were the insane one.

If all of the monsters had suddenly died, then that meant…

“Z,” I breathed.

Forgetting about everything else, I began to wheel myself down the hall. I needed to get to her. I didn’t know how I knew that, but I did. An innate voice in the back of my head screamed at me to hurry.

I’m coming, Z.

I’m coming.

FIFTY-SEVEN

Z

Iwas in a pit. Dirt surrounded me from all directions, except above, where a pitch-black, starless sky expanded.

What…? Where…? How did I get here?

Panic burrowed its way beneath my skin, sinking its jagged claws into me and leaving behind deep scratches. My breathing was embarrassingly shallow.

Everything was dark. So, so dark. I knew where I was, but I couldn’t see a single thing. When I reached forward, dirt and loose pebbles crumbled beneath my palms.

“Hello? Is anyone there?” I blinked repeatedly, waiting for my eyes to adjust, for the blackness to turn to gray.

It never happened.

“Can someone help me up, please?” I asked.

Silence.

It was an unnatural type of silence, one I wasn’t sure existed in real life. There were no birds singing. No owls hooting. No scampering forest animals. No conversations or laughter or screams.

“Hello?” I asked again, some of my initial fear being eclipsed by anger.

A blistering wrath scalded me from the inside out.

Who the fuck would put me here? Were they still nearby? Why wasn’t anyone answering?

If no one would help me out of this pit, then I had no choice but to do it myself.

Anger heated my neck, but I used that rage to motivate me. With steely determination, I wiggled my feet into the sides of the pit and then reached upwards. I just needed to find some handholds. If I could get myself even a little bit higher, I could grab a hold of the edge and pull myself out.

But no matter what I did, I couldn’t find anything solid enough to grab onto. Rocks and dirt cascaded through my fingers and hit my feet.

My anxiety spiked, and a seed of panic took root.

Okay, I just had to think of another plan. There had to be a way out of the pit.

“Just give up,” an eerie, sibilant voice hissed from above me.

I whipped my head upwards, desperate to see the face of my attacker, but only darkness greeted me.

“Who’s there?” I demanded, reaching for my dagger.

---