Page 58 of Witch Untold
A strange screech rips through the silence.
My head whips around.What is that?
It’s coming from the direction of the atrium,Rune says.
The atrium where the portal is?
The screech comes again, and we break into a run toward it. The world rushes by, bringing with it the sounds and smells of violence.
We burst out of the treeline onto the path that leads to The Elites’ training ground, and the gazebo comes into view along with the source of the disturbance.
Pale-skinned, long-limbed beasts tussle with the sturdy-winged bodies of the witches’ gargoyle protectors. Snarls rip the air, blood sprays, and beyond them is the portal, shimmering and admitting more of the creatures.
The air crackles and Poppy and Jessie appear along with several other witches.
Breach!Rune cries before hurtling into the fray.
The sky is filled with the beat of wings as more gargoyles descend on the scene.
These monsters are from Barrow. They came through the portal and there are too many of them.
They’re getting away!In every fucking direction.
I lock gazes with Tor for a long second and then we turn away from each other and run in opposite directions.
The monsters are here, so what does that mean for Cora?
Chapter Nineteen
Cora
The portal spat us out by the atrium straight into mayhem. Gargoyles and witches battled ice walkers and dark blood spattered the snow. They’d obviously done damage, but the ice walkers must have healed.
Not even the strength of the gargoyles or the magic of the witches would be able to kill these abominations. We didn’t have what it took to make them stay dead.
But the vampires stepping into the world behind me did.
Vlad, Mircea, and Radu moved like lightning, whizzing across the snow, bringing down ice walker after ice walker with their deadly bite. The monsters crumpled, black veins spider-crawling across their pale skin, mouths puckering up, and eyes shriveling until they looked like raisins pushed into bloated dough.
Fuck, it was both gross to look at and oddly satisfying, and it happened so fast.
I caught sight of Bador’s shocked face a moment before he made to attack the vampires.
“No!” I rushed forward to intercept him. “They’re on our side. Let them work.”
Bador glared at me from beneath heavy brows and then down at a dead ice walker, his body tense. He expected it to heal; of course he did.
But the ice walker remained dead and his muscles relaxed a fraction. “The vampires can do this?”
“Yeah, the Sons of Adam can kill these creatures.”
Alarm lit up his features. “The Sons of Adam?” He tried to track the three whirlwinds.
“They’re here for the ice walkers. Not for me, or us.”
“You’re sure.”
“Positive.”
