Page 49 of Witch Untold
The tinkling of breaking glass is followed by a metallic rattling.
Wide-mouth fecker winks.
“What is that?” Sloane stalks off toward the officers. “Where is that coming from?”
Richie and Leo have gone pale. They look at each other with a realization that makes my stomach ache.
“The basement. Disposal chute,” Richie stutters. “There’s a small window down there. Not barred.”
A door bursts open somewhere at the back of the station.
Lauris bellows and breaks into a run toward the screams. People scatter as my gargoyle buddy slams into an ice walker, taking it down. His hands morph to claws and he rips into the monster’s throat. It goes still for a moment, but then its skin knits and it’s whole again.
Sloane and I reach Lauris as he rips into the walker again. Dark blood sprays up and spatters his already bloody face. Movement catches the periphery of my vision.
“Bramble, look out!” Sloane shouts.
I turn, sliding my daggers from their holsters and bringing them up and across to eviscerate the walker leaping at me.
For a moment, the world is deathly quiet.
I look toward the dark doorway that leads to the basement. The door hangs off its hinges. My pulse picks up, scalp prickling, because they’re coming.
“Get everyone to the first floor!” Sloane yells just as ice walkers pour into the station through the busted doorway.
The world falls into slow motion as the monsters run toward us, and calm settles over me, because I know with absolute certainty that this is it.
This is the moment I die.
It’s also the moment every fecking window in the building blows out.
* * *
CORA
The pain was beginning to ebb, becoming a gentle burn, and a floating sensation filled my mind.
The fight was gone, the panic was gone, replaced by a soothing numbness.
Cool air kissed my brow and rich amber eyes filled my vision.
“Mina?” The voice was gruff with lack of use. “What? What is this?”
“It’s not her,” Mircea said. “This is the Grimswood Coven’s anchor.”
I was lifted away from the amber-eyed Vlad and placed on the cold ground. My breath came fast and shallow. The power inside me was distant and silent, the threads binding me to my guys wispy and weak.
I was dying.
I didn’t want to die.
Not because of the seal, not for any other reason than wanting to live.
“Please.” The word was a whisper, so soft I wasn’t sure they heard.
“She has her face,” Vlad said.
“To deter us. To trap us here,” Mircea replied. “But we will not be held captive any longer. It’s time to go home, Vlad.”
