Page 6 of Torn Ivy
Rage and terror war inside me. The thought of Ivy being forced to kill us, of her soul being twisted and corrupted by this creature, is unbearable.
“We won’t let that happen,” Torin snarls, his fangs bared despite our lack of powers. “We’ll find a way to stop you.”
Death laughs, the sound like bones rattling. “You’re welcome to try. But for now, you’ll remain here. Perhaps Miss Hammond will come to her senses and return on her own.”
With that, he vanishes, leaving us alone in the dank chamber.
“Fuck!” I roar, slamming my fist into the stone wall. Pain lances up my arm, but I barely feel it.
“We need to get out of here,” Bram says, his eyes scanning the room for any weakness, any escape route. “We have to find Ivy before he does.”
“How do we know he can’t find her?” Torin growls.
“That bastard smile fell off his face when I asked where she was. He doesn’t know.”
“Not yet, anyway,” Bram mutters. “Our powers are useless here. We’re trapped like fucking rats.”
I take a deep breath, forcing myself to think.
“We need to think,” I say, pacing the small chamber. “There has to be a way out of here.”
Torin runs his hands along the walls, searching for any hidden mechanisms or weak spots. “These walls are solid. No doors or windows that I can see.”
Bram crouches down, examining the floor. “The stone is seamless. I don’t think we’re getting out that way either.”
I rake my hands through my hair in frustration. “He wants to keep us trapped while he hunts down Ivy.”
The thought sends a chill through me. “We can’t let that happen. We have to find a way out of here.”
“Our powers are useless,” Bram reminds us. “We’re going to have to rely on our wits.”
I nod, forcing myself to think rationally despite the fear for Ivy clawing at my chest. “Okay, let’s break this down. What do we know about Death?”
“He’s powerful as fuck,” Torin mutters.
“He’s head of The Syndicate, which kind of makes sense now that I think about it. He wants Ivy to complete her contract by killing us,” Bram adds.
“Right,” I say. “So he needs her alive, at least for now. That gives us some time.”
“But how much?” Torin asks. “We don’t know how long he’ll wait before deciding to claim her soul and end us.”
“We need to focus on getting out of here first. Once we’re free, we can worry about finding Ivy and stopping Death.”
Torin nods, his eyes scanning the chamber again. “There has to be a way out. No prison is perfect.”
“Even one created by Death himself?” Bram mutters darkly.
I shoot him a glare. “Not helping, Bram. We need solutions, not doom and gloom.”
He holds up his hands in surrender. “Fine. What if we try to overload whatever’s blocking our powers? Hit it with everything we’ve got at once?”
It’s not a bad idea, but I shake my head. “Too risky. We don’t know what kind of backlash that might cause. We could end up killing ourselves. Besides, I’m half dead already from breaking Vex’s fucking wards. When I get my hands on him, I’m going to rip his fucking head off and shove it up his arse.”
“As much as I love that image, we need to focus,” Torin growls. “Doing something is better than waiting here to die.”
“No,” I say firmly. “We need to be alive to help Ivy. Let’s think this through logically.”
Bram nods, his eyes scanning the chamber again. “There has to be some weakness, some flaw in this prison. Nothing is perfect, not even Death’s creations.”
