Page 8 of Lunar Diamonds
The iron skillet woman was the last to leave the first floor, taking the stairs slowly with Nina’s help.
What a day for the elevator to be out of order.
A shade smashed through a ground floor window behind Carol. It rolled across the floor, straight past my manager, and sprang up bedside the goblin.
Oh, no.
Those customers still on the stairs ran for their lives, leaping off the stairwell in a panic.
The goblin barely had time to blink before the shade sunk its claws into his chest. A horrible wail burst out of him, a sickening gargle choking him off.
“Blood for us!” the shade spat in its raspy voice.
It dragged its claws from chest to belly, blood pouring from the goblin’s mouth and the new opening the shade made. His innards spilled across the carpet, drawing a painful gasp from the depths of my lungs.
Oh my goodness. I froze, rigid with terror. Despite seeing the dead woman upstairs, my courage finally cracked. My knees buckled and I went down, landing hard on my kneecaps. I whimpered in pain, my eyes watering.
Don’t let me die here…
Screams. Chaos. Noise stabbing at my ears. I slumped forward, hands landing on the floor. My fingers dug into the rough carpet, a sickly dizziness engulfing me.
The pain in my foot returned, adding to the pile-on.
Damn.
Don’t let me die here…
“Riley?”
Too much. Too much. Too much. My fear overwhelmed me, the trauma potent and as raw as six months ago. I pleaded with Hecate to make it stop, to pluck it out and cast it into the fire.
Please…
“Riley?”
But I wouldn’t be free. Those vile ticks of remembrance were burrowed so deeply it would take major surgery to dig them out.
“Riley?”
My head sank into thick soup, the rest of me needing a time out.
Why did courage desert me now?
“Riley? Talk to me.”
Carol’s voice.
I want my courage.
Yeah, just like the lion fromThe Wizard of Oz. But not really.
A hand landed on my back as light as a feather. My vision filled with darkness and the watery film of tears.
No talking. Peace and quiet. A moment to breathe.
A moment away from the screaming.
I saw the Radiance Pulse Cannon outside the library’s main entrance finally come to life, glowing with terrific azure light, building to a crackling crescendo.
