by Chloe Neill
With flashlights aimed before us and Michael and Scout behind us, we took one tentative step into the tunnel. And then another. And then another.
“I’m not seeing anything,” Scout said, flashlight beam circling across the ceiling of the tunnel as she searched out whatever had slimed the corridor.
“One tunnel at a time,” Jason said. My hand in his, we took the lead, walking to the end of the corridor.
I was scanning the walls, bouncing my flashlight beam along them, looking for a hint of slime. So when Jason came to a full stop, I almost tripped forward, but he pulled my hand—and me—back.
That was when I saw them—and screamed.There were five of them—half walking, half crawling toward us. They were human-shaped, but a little smaller than your average adult. They were bald, with pointed ears and milky eyes, and their fingers were thin and tipped by long, pointed white nails. They scowled and snorted as they moved toward us. Their naked skin glistened in the light, a trail of slime on the ground beneath and behind them.
“What—” I began, but Jason shook his head. “Scout, Michael. Stop walking, and move backward. Just a few feet.”
Scout and Michael began to move behind us. With each step they took, we followed suit until the four of us stood in a cluster a dozen feet or so away from the creatures. Still, they lurched in our direction, their movements coordinated like a school of nasty, pasty fish.
I could feel my chest tightening as panic began to take over. Staring down a group of hell-bent teenagers was one thing. This was . . . completely out of my league.
“What the hell are those?” I whispered.
“No clue,” Jason said. “But they don’t exactly look friendly.”
One of them hissed, revealing long fangs amid an entire row of sharp teeth. “Are they some kind of vampire?” Michael asked.
“I’ve never seen a vamp that looked like that,” Scout said.
Maybe it was coincidence, or maybe they were offended by what she’d said. Either way, one of them decided it was time for action. It put its front hands on the ground, then pushed off and leaped toward us.
Okay, not just us—toward me.
But there was someone there to save me.
It started with fur—thick and silver—that sprouted across Jason’s body, replacing his clothes like they were nothing more than an illusion. Then he went down on all fours and stepped in front of me. His nose elongated into a snout, and his hands and feet became long, narrow paws. His tail extended, and the rest of his fur grew in, and by then there was no mistaking what he was—a silvery wolf, bigger than any I’d seen at a zoo.
Every survival instinct I had kicked in, and I had to lock my knees to keep from running away. Jason lifted his head and looked at me for a moment, his head tilted to the side like a dog, his eyes now spring green.
I stood frozen in place, my gaze locked on his—on this wolf that suddenly stood before me.
That look only took a second, but that was long enough for hell to break loose.
The creature apparently wasn’t intimidated by Jason’s new form, and it didn’t stop running toward me. It continued its galloping gait, taking air in the last couple of feet and landing with an attack on Jason’s muzzle.
“Jason!” I screamed, but Michael pulled me back. I’m not sure what I would have done, but someone had to do something. Jason was taking an attack meant for me, and I didn’t want him hurt on my behalf.
I looked back at Michael with panic in my eyes. “We have to help him.”
Michael’s answer was nearly instantaneous. “Firespell it.”
I reached down, could feel the quiet hum of energy, and nodded at him. “I think I can knock them down. But you have to get Jason out of the way or I’ll take him out, too.”
Michael nodded. “We’ll get him focused. You get ready to firespell. The timing on this one’s gonna be close. When I give the word, you send it out.”
I nodded, then looked back. Jason and the monster were rolling on the ground, but at least its friends were smart enough to stay back. Jason was getting in nips at the creature’s arms and legs, so the thing’s yips and yelps were probably warning enough to the rest of them. It opened its mouth and screamed, revealing rows of tiny sharp teeth and clawing at Jason’s muzzle as Jason tried to get a grip with his own teeth.
“Jason!” Michael yelled out. “Get clear so Lily can take a shot.”
Jason let out a yip as the thing bit down on one ear and raked its claws across Jason’s back. Jason shook the creature off, but it kept coming, clawing and biting as it attemped to take him down.
“Use the tunnel walls!” Scout yelled out. “Ram him!”
I made myself close my eyes. It was hard to shut out Jason when he needed me, but if I kept watching, I wouldn’t be able to prep the firespell. I blew out a breath, and then began to slowly breathe in again. And as I inhaled, I pulled in as much power as I could, letting it rise through my body from my feet to my hands.
The tunnel shook from impact—I assumed that was the sound of Jason ramming a monster into the wall. I heard a wolfish yip and squeezed my hands into fists to keep from launching myself forward.
I heard scuffling as the power rose. I waited as long as I thought we could risk it, until I held the power—which ached to be loosed into the tunnel—by a thin string of energy.
“Anyone who doesn’t want to end up on the floor needs to be behind me right now!”
More scuffling. As soon as the sounds moved behind me, Michael yelled out, “Now, Lily!”
I opened my eyes—and with a final check to make sure there were no Adepts in front of me—I lifted my hands and pushed them forward, moving all that power toward the monsters that were now only a few inches away.
The firespell moved forward, warping the air as it traveled, a vertical plane of green light and haze that shot out from my hands. It hit the creatures like a shock wave, knocking them all backward, the rest of the energy vibrating the walls of the tunnel as it moved forward.
I probably should have given a little more thought to whether using firespell in a century-old underground tunnel was a good idea. But there was nothing to do about it now.
The five of them lay on the floor, definitely down, but still twitching a little. I hadn’t knocked them out completely.
First things first, though.
My heart still pounding from the exertion, I glanced back. Michael and Scout were crouched together on the floor. Jason sat in front of them, back in human form, blood seeping from a wound at his ear. There were scratches on his face and hands, but he looked pretty good otherwise.
I crouched in front of him. “Are you okay?”
Jason glanced up at me, a twinkle in his turquoise eyes. “Are you kidding me? That’s the most fun I’ve had all night. Well, except for kissing you, of course.”
Not a bad answer from a werewolf, I guess.
3
Jason held out his hands. I stood up, then took his hands and pulled him to his feet.
“You know,” he said, “if you’re open to a little constructive criticism, you cut it a little close there.”
“Maybe next time you should be a little more careful where you fight.”
He rolled his eyes, but he was grinning when he did it.
“Thanks for taking the hit,” I said, pulling off my hoodie and pressing the sleeve to his ear, wiping away some of the blood.
Jason shrugged. “The wolf wanted to fight. And maybe I like rescuing the damsel in distress.”
“Just to clarify, I did rescue you back.”
He slid me a sly glance. “Then that makes us even. For now.”
I grinned back, then checked out Michael and Scout. “You two okay?”
They nodded, then helped each other up.
“Well done,” Michael said, then looked at Jason. “You good?”
Jason nodded.
“You okay, Lils?”
I nodded at Scout, but the relief at putting them down—and keeping us all relatively sa
fe—gave way to exhaustion. I suddenly felt like I was about to get the flu—body aching, drained of energy. I needed warm soup and an equally warm bed. Instead, I still had five twitching slimy things to deal with.
“That’s all I’ve got,” I quietly said. “I can walk out of here, but that’s about the only thing I’m going to be able to do. And we still have a problem.”
We looked back at the creatures.
Jason stepped beside me. “At least they stopped moving closer. That’s something.”
“Since we’ve taken them out, can we please get out of here?” Scout asked.
“We still have to get past them,” Michael pointed out. “And we can’t just leave them here to roam the tunnels. God only knows where they’d end up.”
“Or who they’d attack,” Jason said. “That means we need a plan for part two. We need to get these things out of here, and we need it really quicklike. Scout? Got anything in the hopper?”
“I don’t—I don’t know—”
“You don’t have to kill ’em,” Michael said. “Maybe you can just transport them or something? I mean, since we aren’t sure what they are?”
“What?” Scout said, a thread of panic in her voice. “Because those claws and teeth are for eating carrots? These aren’t happy, fuzzy bunnies we’re talking about.”
I knew that sound in her voice. I’d heard that panic before, when she’d been taken by the Reapers to their sanctuary. I turned around and looked her in the eyes, and saw the terror there. She was panicking again, and God only knew what kinds of things she was remembering.
“You can do this, Scout.”
She shook her head. “I can’t. I don’t remember how.”
“Michael, Jason, and I are here. And those creatures aren’t Reapers. They aren’t going to use magic against you.”
She sniffed. “They might eat us.”
I put my hands on my hips. “You honestly think a werewolf is going to let those things eat his girl and her best pal? You’ve already seen him in action. And that was just an appetizer.”
She only blinked.
“Look,” I said, bravado bubbling up from somewhere I hadn’t known existed. “We only have to kick a little butt here. You love kicking butt. And if nothing else, Jason can shift and we can let his wolf have an early breakfast.”
“Not that I don’t appreciate that offer,” Jason muttered, “but I have no interest in eating those things, wolf or not.”
Scout’s eyes were still frozen on the creatures on the floor.
I tried again. “Scout.” I waited until she made eye contact, then leaned down and put my hands on the sides of her face to make sure she was looking at me.
“Scout, you and Jason saved me from Sebastian and Alex, and we came and got you out of the sanctuary. Whatever our weaknesses, we are a team. And we’re here, now, together. You can do this. I believe in you.”
“I’m not sure what to do.”
Michael snapped his fingers. “I’ve totally got it. Scout, you could flutterby them.”
She blinked at Michael. “What?”
“Flutterby them. Use a transmogrify spell like you did on that Frankenstein thing last year. Remember?”
Scout was quiet for a couple more seconds. “I can’t use a flutterby down here. I don’t have anything. I don’t have an incantation prepared.”
Michael grinned over at her. “Scout, you are an Adept extraordinaire. If anyone could do a transmog spell off the cuff, it would be you.”
For a moment, there was silence. And then she reached out and grabbed his cheeks and planted a kiss right on his lips. “You are brilliant,” she said.
When she let him loose again, his cheeks were flushed bright red, his eyes wide. Probably the best part of his day, I figured.
“You’re right,” she said. “I can totally do this. But it’s going to take a few minutes, and I need space to work.”
We all looked down at the creatures, which were beginning to stir again, heads lolling as they fought off the firespell.
“First off,” Scout said, “let’s all back up a little.”
Carefully and quietly, we took a few more steps backward, putting space between us and them.
“And now for something a little more formal,” Scout said. She looked around at the floor of the tunnel, which was relatively dry compared to some of the other areas we’d been in.
“Protection circle?” Jason asked.
“Protection circle,” she confirmed with a nod.
“What’s a protection circle?” I asked.
“It’s like a safety bubble,” Scout said, fumbling around in her messenger bag. “Like a little snow globe of happiness that will keep us safe from them.” She pulled out a small zip-top case. She opened it, then pulled out a small plastic hourglass filled with bright orange sand.
“You keep an hourglass in your messenger bag?” I wondered.
“Found it at a thrift store. Kept it for just such an occasion. Keep an eye on the biters.”
I made sure Jason and Michael were doing just that, then turned back to watch Scout work her juju. No way was I going to miss this.
She pulled a small screwdriver from the case and pried off the end of the hourglass. And then, starting behind us, she began to pour the sand in an arc around me. She completed most of a six-foot circle, but stopped when a gap of about a foot separated the two ends.
“Everyone inside,” she said. Michael and Jason both stepped carefully over the sand circle. When we were all inside, she went to her knees, put her hands on the floor, and pressed her lips to the gap in the circle.
“What’s she doing?” I whispered to Michael.
“She’s starting the Triple I,” he answered without looking back. “It stands for ‘intent, incantation, incarnation. ’ The three parts of a major spell.”
Okay, magic had officially become school.
“We ask a wish,” Scout said, sitting back on her heels. “We ask for peace. We ask for space between us and those who would harm us.”
She held the hourglass in her hands, then closed her eyes.
After a moment of silence, I leaned toward Michael again. “Is this part of it?”
“This is the part where I have to draft a spell on the fly since I haven’t poured a circle in forever,” Scout huffed. “It’s also the part where it helps if Adepts don’t ask questions while I do it.”
I zipped up my lips, just in time for Jason and Michael to take a step backward, bumping into me a little.
“They’re moving, Scout,” Michael said. “Draft faster.”
I glanced back. The things were starting to stumble their way to their feet.
Scout cleared her throat, then began her incantation. “Silence, serenity, solitude, space. We ask for protections inside of this place. Empower this circle with magical grace, and keep us all safe . . .”
She stopped. I looked over and saw the blank expression on her face.
“. . . and keep us all safe,” she repeated, desperation in her voice. She couldn’t seem to find the right phrase to end the poem.
“Hurry up, Scout.”
At Jason’s harried tone, I looked up again. All five of the creatures were on their feet, and they looked pretty angry. There were only ten or fifteen feet between us, and they were lumbering forward, fangs bared, claws beginning to scrape the concrete like nails on a chalkboard.
“Don’t listen to them,” I told her, “and don’t worry—you can do this.”
“And keep us all safe . . .”
Michael glanced back. “Anytime now!”
She snapped her fingers. “—in this circle we trace!” She poured the rest of the sand in a line, just as claws struck out at Michael. He jumped back, but she’d finished the circle just in time—the creature was out of luck.
The bubblelike shield shimmered as the creature made contact with it, then disappeared again when it yanked back its claw with a fierce whine. The pain didn’t deter it or the rest of them. They all beg
an to attack. We stood there and watched them claw and scrape at the energy to get at us. The shield shimmered a little every time they made contact, but it held.
“Just in time,” Scout finally said.
Jason nodded. “You did good. Now, are you actually going to transmogrify them?”
Scout nodded, then knelt on the floor and began to pull stuff from her messenger bag. “A woman’s work never ceases.”
Scout Greene was a taskmaster worthy of any St. Sophia’s professor. She folded a piece of paper from a notebook into an origami cup in the shape of a bird, and started quizzing us to find stuff to put into it.
So far, I’d offered up a chunk of granola bar and three drops of water from my bottle. Jason and Michael didn’t have man purses, so she took stuff from their pockets—sixty-two cents, a ball of stringy blue jeans lint, and a tube of lip balm. Together, all that stuff was supposed to represent our sacrifice of various bits of earth—water, metal, food, etc.
When everything was in the paper cup, she folded the top carefully again, then scribbled out what I assumed was an incantation on another piece of paper. While she drafted, the monsters poked around the bubble, looking for a weak spot. Although they weren’t successful, from what I could tell, the shield wasn’t going to last forever.
When Scout had the finished incantation in one hand and the closed paper cup in another, she glanced around at each of us. “Are we ready?”
“I’ve never been more ready to climb into bed,” I told her. Michael and Jason nodded in agreement.
“Here’s the plan.” She held up the piece of paper. “I’m going to repeat the incantation, and as soon as I’m done, I’m gonna wipe out the circle and throw the charm. If I’ve done this right, the spell will trigger as soon as the charm hits.”
Michael pulled the cell phone from his pocket.
“Really,” Scout said flatly, “you’re going to make a call right now?”
Michael aimed the phone toward the creatures and began snapping. “I’m going to take pictures of these things in the likely event Smith and Katie don’t believe what we saw.” Smith and Katie were Varsity Adepts and the former leaders of Enclave Three. They’d held the reins when Scout had been kidnapped. Good riddance, if you asked me.
