Page 1125 of One More Kiss

Chapter8

I’d barely caughta glimpse of the two giant things before Jeff and Asa covered me with their bodies, the weight of them squeezing the breath out of me. Then I was up—not of my own accord—with Asa moving both Jeff and I like we weighed no more than teddy bears. Asa hauled us backward, deeper into the attic and away from the window and the monsters. My feet scrambled to keep up, but Asa was doing the bulk of the work, moving faster than any man had a right to.

Somehow, I managed to keep hold of the canvas pouch full of potions, but the book… That thought was dashed the instant it flew into my head. Two giant faceless things followed us deeper into the attic, their pale, claylike skin rippling like slow-moving water. My brain supplied the name of what they were, but it also could not quite comprehend what I was seeing.

I vaguely understood that I was looking at a pair of golems with their clay bodies and faceless heads, but I was kind of stuck on the fact that killing them was damn near impossible. Not without a boatload of fire or killing their master.

Their slow, heavy steps vibrated through the floor as they approached. Golems were slow, sure, but they didn’t need to be fast. If you didn’t need rest or food or bathroom breaks, you could just keep going until your opponent finally faltered. One golem flicked the table like it was shooing a fly, and wood went flying, smashing to pieces against a bookcase as the items on it crashed to the floor.

Did I forget to mention that golems were fucking strong? Yeah. Because they were.

That’s when Asa let us go. I barely found my feet, but Jeff crumpled, his limp body landing in a heap on the floor. I went to Jeff as Asa drew a sword from the scabbard at his back, launching himself at the closest golem. Asa sliced through its thick neck with one hard strike. A lump of clay hit the floor with an audible smack, but the golem didn’t fall.

Oh, no.This thing just reached for Asa as it simultaneously grew another head. The other golem reached for him, but Asa whirled out of his reach, his blade hacking at the two clay bodies like he could whittle them into submission.

Meanwhile, I checked over Jeff. His blond hair was quickly staining red, a wide gash on his left temple pouring blood. I barely knew the mechanics of healing Jeff’s head, but I also knew I didn’t have the luxury of taking a time-out. Plus, healing his head wouldn’t matter if these clay things decided to murder us all.

My eyes snagged on the bright orange potion bottle laying on its side in the debris, and the idea barely graced my mind before I was moving. I’d warded the whole of the attic, every piece of furniture, every floorboard, and ceiling strut. Every book. The only thing I hadn’t warded were the potion bottles in my pouch.

Well, and us.

The quick math checked out, I only needed an opening.

“Grab Jeff and get to the window,” I yelled before cocking my arm back like I was on the mound at Yankee Stadium.

Asa’s eyes widened when he spied the orange bomb in my hand, abandoning the golem and hauling ass to Jeff. In the next second, Jeff was over Asa’s shoulder and Asa was barreling toward the broken window. Asa didn’t even hesitate, diving out of the window like we were on the first floor and not the third.

Okay, maybe I hadn’t thought this through.

In the commotion, I hustled toward the window, the hobbled golems following me. Well, one was following. The other was trying to put himself back together and making quick work of it.

Okay, Jasper. This was your bright idea, now get the lead out.

My inner voice was a little bossy bitch sometimes.

Swallowing hard, I peeked out the window. Asa and Jeff weren’t smears on the ground at least. Asa had his arms wide open, ready to catch me. I took that as a clear sign to move my ass.

I sucked in a deep breath and tossed the potion bottle at the attic floor before launching myself out of the window. The concussion of the potion rocked through me as I fell, the heat of the explosion following me to the earth. A second ago, I knew Asa was going to catch me. I knew it. But in the half-second after I jumped, I wasn’t so sure. Not until his warm arms halted my descent.

If we’d had the time, I would have planted another kiss on his mouth for not letting me down. But even if those golems in the attic were—hopefully—taken care of, I doubted it was going to be that easy.

“We have to go. Now,” Asa growled under his breath, his eyes trained on the roofline. I followed his gaze to see five more of those damn golems watching us, their featureless faces giving away nothing of their intentions. At least if we were being pursued by a creature, we’d be able to glean something.

Asa hefted Jeff over his shoulder, grumbling under his breath about how he would be easier to carry as a cat. I didn’t blame him, Jeff as a cat wasn’t exactly small, but human Jeff was just under six feet of solid muscle. Asa took off into the gnarled mess of the garden as he tugged me behind him.

And it wasn’t until the wall of vines closed in around us that I remembered a very crucial detail about Mercy’s garden. She’d been killed by something in it. Poisoned, to be exact.

What the fuck were we walking into?

Vines rustled as we followed a hollowed-out path farther into what I could only assume was an overgrown maze. Creatures skittered in the underbrush, and I fought the urge to shudder. I was not an outdoor girl. I was a city girl. I didn’t do gardens or woods or nature. My last houseplant died a slow, arduous death of overwatering and lack of sunlight. Snake plants were supposed to be unkillable.

Hah. Tell that to my black thumb.

I could kill a cactus by accident, so I knew me and nature weren’t ever going to get along. Add in bugs or animals or crawly things, and that was a hard nope from me.

“Jasper,” Asa whispered, his rough hand tightening over mine, hauling me to a stop. “I don’t think those are animals in the brush.”

That statement had my blood running cold. Something was moving in the wall of vines, and if it wasn’t an animal, then what the hell was it?

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