Sandra glowered at the hallway. “I think you’re right. I hate cafeteria food and always wondered if they used animals or bugs or something to make more of it. I also assumed that if a bug got into it while they were cooking, they would mix it in instead of throwing the food away, and I have had a dream about it.”
“Before today, I would have told you that is the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard, but you have officially killed me on ever eating school food again,” Mario muttered.
“So does that mean these things are going to come alive and attack us?” Talia asked.
“Probably,” Avery said.
“We’re going to have to find out,” Reid said.
Removing his hand from her shoulder, he stepped beside her and clasped her hand. Stepping away from the wall, their feet slapped against the white, marble floor as they strolled down the hall like they didn’t have a care in the world. Or at least that’s what Avery hoped they looked like as all her senses focused on the statues lining the hall and her heart raced.
When she glanced at the portraits, she wasn’t shocked to discover their eyes were following them. Menace radiated from them, but she refused to bow beneath the weight of their ominous stares as she focused her attention on the end of the hall and their escape from this place. They were a quarter of the way there when metal clinked, and a bang came from her left as one of the statues stepped forward.
“Oh!” Talia gasped.
“Hurry!” Sandra urged.
Avery knew the second they started running the soldiers would attack, but she moved faster with every step she took. Metal clicked on her left. When she looked for the source, nothing was out of place there.
“Run!” Isla cried.
Avery broke into a run and tried to stay as close to as many of her friends as she could so she could use her body to protect them. Something twanged behind her, and a breeze blew past her right ear. The white feathers of the arrow soared past her and out of sight as they disappeared into the dark hall that was their escape.
Her blood ran cold, and when she turned to look over her shoulder, the rest of the statues simultaneously stepped off their stands like they were one, single-minded unit. Tugging on her hand, Reid spun her back around.
She tried to plant her feet to pull free of his grasp and tell him to get in front of her, but he tugged her onward as metal clanked and another bow twanged. Talia screamed and threw herself forward when an arrow whizzed by her arm; blood trickled down her skin from where the arrow sliced across her flesh.
The walls and floor vibrated with the rising crescendo of noise. When Avery glanced back, she saw three of the statues racing toward them with their swords raised. Their armor clanked and rattled as they charged with inhuman speed and grace. Unnerving howls erupted from the soldiers, or at least she believed the sounds came from them as the noise reverberated off the walls until it sounded as if it were coming from everywhere at once.
The soldiers were only twenty feet away when they took three bounds toward them and leapt into the air. They clasped the handles of their swords in both hands and pointed their blades down at their targets: Karen, Talia, and Mario.
“No!” Avery cried.
Planting her feet, she ripped her hand free of Reid’s and lifted her hands as she imagined the deep blue light of her power tearing into these things. She threw her hands up, and the power swelling within her burst free. The blue light splintered in three directions before crashing into the soldiers.
Her power tore them in half and knocked their helmets off before the metal crashed to the floor. She braced herself for the soldiers to launch to their feet again, but the armor remained unmoving and… empty.
There was absolutely nothing beneath the coat of mail that had hunted them with such ruthless intent. Reid reclaimed her hand as the remaining soldiers stared at their fallen brethren. Then, all their heads lifted, and even if only air filled the metal suits, she felt their angry gazes fix on her.
“We have to go,” Reid said.
“Yes, we do,” she agreed as the soldiers all took one step and then another forward.
After seeing the way the last three had moved, these things could be on them in mere seconds. She didn’t know if she’d be able to take them all down in time to save everyone here. One of them raised a bow and aimed an arrow at them. Lifting her hand, Avery pictured the bow flying away from the thing before she waved her hand and tore the weapon from the soldier.
Reid tugged her backward, but Avery didn’t dare take her eyes off the soldiers as she ran awkwardly beside him. From the corner of her eye, she saw Mario and Sandra arrive at the end of the hall and plunge into the darkness waiting for them there. Isla, Karen, Talia, and Eric followed them.
Metal clattered loudly behind her when Reid pulled her forward and pushed her in front of him. A cry of protest rose in her throat; she should be protecting him, not the other way around, but she didn’t have time to fix it before he pushed her out of the hall.
CHAPTER 24
Avery spun back to make sure none of those things followed them; she came face-to-face with Reid. Behind him stood a solid wall. “Are you okay?” she demanded.
He smiled as he cupped her cheek and kissed her forehead. “I’m fine.”
“You shouldn’t have gotten behind me. Regan won’t hesitate to kill you, but he doesn’t want me dead.”
“That doesn’t matter,” Reid said as his thumb stroked her cheek. “I’m always going to protect you, Avery, and there’s nothing you can say or do to change that.”
It was the sweetest and most terrifying thing she’d ever heard. There had to be something she could do to protect him better. She rose on her toes to kiss him. “Don’t do anything stupid.”
He grinned at her. “Never.”
Avery smiled at him, but inside she felt as if she were losing something; she just didn’t know what or why she felt like it was breaking.
“What is this?”
Talia’s question pulled Avery away from Reid, and she turned to see what they’d entered. At first, all she saw was blackness, but then trees began to materialize in the night. Every time she blinked, more pines, oaks, and maples emerged as the forest grew thicker. Dangling from the trees, vines hung over the pathway winding through the woods and into the dense undergrowth.
“It’s my nightmare.” Sandra straightened her shoulders as she shook back her tangled hair.
“How do you know?” Isla asked.
“I’ve had it often enough over the years to recognize the location,” Sandra replied. “Let’s go. The sooner we get through this, the sooner we can move on.”
“I’ll go first,” Eric said and stepped onto the path in front of Sandra.
Isla followed him, and then Sandra went next. Avery slid in behind her cousin to offer whatever protection she could from the monsters about to attack them.
Wet leaves, fallen sticks, and pine needles covered most of the pathway, but in a few places, the small gray stones beneath showed through the debris. The heavy smell of wet, rotting leaves filled the air along with something she couldn’t quite place at first, and then she recognized it as something feral. She couldn’t see them yet, but Sandra’s werewolves were already hunting them.
Avery pushed aside a vine still swinging from Sandra’s passing, but she didn’t catch the next one in time to stop it from slapping her in the face. Pain burst through her wounded cheek, and she shoved the offending vine aside.
“What is that?” Karen asked, pointing into the woods.
When Avery stopped, she caught the vine again as it swung toward her. She kept hold of it as she searched the area where Karen was pointing. Then, from the shadows of the trees, eyes began to appear. Every second, a new set materialized until a mixture of yellow, green, hazel, and vibrant blue eyes floated in the night. Unable to see the body those eyes belonged to made it seem as if they weren’t attached to anything while they moved up and down.
Avery forgot about the vine as her throat w
ent dry and a clammy sweat coated her body. “Keep moving,” she choked out.
Sandra’s eyes were wild when they spun toward her, and beads of sweat dotted her forehead. Avery couldn’t recall ever seeing Sandra sweat before—not even in the middle of the summer. Avery rested a hand on her cousin’s back as the eyes vanished into the woods.
Avery forced herself to keep breathing as they started down the walkway again. When a branch cracked on her left, she spun toward it, and everyone on the path froze. She kept staring to her left, but she suspected she’d been baited into looking that way while something crept up behind her.
Unable to move, Avery strained to hear an impending attack, but all she heard was the labored breathing of those around her. And then, she felt the warm breath of something against her neck. Ever so slowly, she turned her head to face the monster behind her. Before she could look at it, the trees erupted in a flurry of motion.
Avery had no time to react as growls as loud as a revving motorcycle filled the air and mutated shapes launched at them. A two-hundred-pound beast slammed into her back. Thrown off the path, Avery landed in the dirt and leaves with her chest pressed into the ground and a crushing weight on her back.
Claws tore into her shirt and skin. She screamed as she dug her fingers into the earth as she tried to claw her way out from under the creature planted on her back. It shifted its weight enough so that she was able to squirm her way onto her back.
The second she rolled over, she wished she hadn’t. The creature sitting on her was the most horrifying thing she’d ever seen. The hounds of Hell couldn’t have been scarier than this monster with its distorted face and blazing blue eyes.
It was a mutated version of a human being who went through an unnatural, and what could only be an excruciating, transition into a wolf. Rough, bristly hairs stood out a good eight inches from the sides of its snout. Its jaw couldn’t contain the overgrown, yellow fangs distending past its lower lip. Dry blood caked its muzzle and hair around its face.
The long strand of drool hanging from its misshapen muzzle dripped onto her face. Despite its hideous appearance and obvious ability to tear out her throat, there was something almost human in the creature’s eyes—something pleading as well as flesh-eating.
The creature lowered its head to peer more closely at her, and the stench of rotten meat on its breath hit her. She gagged and twisted her head to the side when the creature lurched forward. Avery’s fingers sank into its coarse coat as its powerful muscles bunched beneath her grasp while she tried to hold it back from tearing off her face.
Leaves and sticks dug into her back as the misshapen jaws snapped at her. Its claws dug into her chest, ripped her shirt, and pierced into her flesh. She cried out when the scent of her blood made the creature more frenzied, and it lurched at her again. Its man-eating jaws were mere centimeters from her face; its hot breath tickled her skin as saliva splattered her face. Her arms shook as she tried to keep it held back, but her strength was dwindling.
If she didn’t do something soon, this thing would eat her. Panic fueled her power; it swelled up on a rush of adrenaline that erupted from her on a burst of wind so strong it flung the werewolf backward. The monster yelped as it soared through the forest before crashing into a tree. It hung for a second before slumping to the ground and disappearing into the underbrush.
Scrambling to her feet, Avery wiped away the blood seeping from the claw marks piercing her shirt and skin. Though she was bleeding, she knew the creature could have torn her open and feasted on her intestines, but it had held back—Regan’s doing she was sure.
She spotted her friends gathered together with their backs to each other while the snarling, drooling creatures circled them. The bodies of several werewolves lay nearby; whether they were stunned or dead, Avery couldn’t tell, but she knew the coven had immobilized them. They could take out the remaining werewolves too, but their powers drained far faster than hers. It would deplete them if they took out the remaining two dozen creatures and leave them vulnerable in this place.
Avery planted her feet when the first wolf let out a howl and bolted at Reid. She pictured what she wanted to happen to the werewolves before unleashing her power on a blue light that erupted from her palms. As it whipped and zigzagged through the air, the light split apart to strike all the werewolves at once. The stench of burnt hair filled the air, and the creatures yelped as they fled into the forest.
Though the werewolves would have happily eaten her friends, she couldn’t help feeling a twinge of guilt while she listened to their yowling cries dwindling into the distance. They’re not real!
“Where’s Sandra?” Karen asked.
Avery blinked as she turned her attention back to the group. She searched for Sandra’s golden head, but it wasn’t there. “No! Where is she?”
“She ran into the woods,” Mario answered. “I tried to stop her, but everything was… well, it was a mess.”
“Which way did she go?” Reid asked.
“Through there.” Mario pointed toward the broken branches and kicked up dirt marking Sandra’s flight into the woods.
“Come on,” Avery said. “We have to find her.”
She didn’t look at the others before plunging into the thick bramble bushes, hanging branches, and dense undergrowth Sandra fled through. Not at all accustomed to having to follow someone, Avery never would have been able to track Sandra, but her cousin had plunged so heedlessly forward that she’d left a clear trail through the woods.
Avery carefully grasped some of the thicker briars and pulled them out of her way, but others caught on her already ruined and bloody shirt. More sliced into her skin and drew blood that trickled down her arms, belly, and legs.
By the time they made it out of this maze, she would be lucky to have any blood or unmarked skin left, and with each drop of blood she spilled, her fury mounted. She vowed to do whatever it took not to just bind Regan but annihilate him.
“What if we can’t find her?” Talia whispered.
Avery wouldn’t let herself consider the possibility as she forged ahead. They would find Sandra no matter how long it took.
“We’ll find her!” Isla insisted. “We have to!”
The broken path suddenly gave way to reveal a small clearing. There was still no sign of Sandra. Avery shoved aside her apprehension as she searched the shadows for an enemy, but she didn’t see anything menacing beneath the trees; that didn’t mean something wasn’t out there.
“Where did she go?” Eric demanded.
“Sandra!” she called. If something looking to eat them were out there, she’d take care of it, but her voice would draw Sandra in if she could hear her. “Sandra answer me!”
Not a single leaf stirred, and no sound answered her cry.
CHAPTER 25
“Sandra!” Reid yelled, and the others joined in calling for her.
“Maybe we should split up,” Eric suggested.
“Splitting up in this place is a bad idea,” Mario said.
“So is wasting time by staying together,” Eric replied.
“True, but you know the people in horror movies always die when they split up.”
“They also wear high heels in the woods and say I’ll be right back, which are both death sentences.”
“You’re right. If we don’t say that, or wear heels, we’ll be fine if we split up.”
“But I just bought a brand-new pair of stilettos to match my jeans,” Eric said.
“You’ll have to save them for another occasion.”
“As long as you promise there will be one.”
“Oh, I’m sure there will be plenty of opportunities for you to show off your new shoes,” Mario assured him.
“Are you two done?” Reid asked.
Mario and Eric grinned at each other, but their smiles weren’t anywhere near as bright or mischievous as usual.
“If we split up, how will we find each other again?” Talia asked.
Avery lifted her palm b
efore her and breathed the word, “Fire.”
The small blue flame hovering above her palm did little to chase away the dark, but she wanted it for another purpose. “We can mark our trail by burning vines and bushes as we go,” she said. “And then we’ll be able to find our way back here.”
“And how long do we stay out there for?” Mario asked.
“Until we find her,” Isla said sharply.
“Okay, sure,” Mario said and held his hands up.
“What if we don’t find her?” Eric asked.
“We’ll find her,” Isla replied.
“I don’t like this,” Talia whispered.
“Too bad,” Isla said.
“How will we know when to come back here?” Karen asked.
Avery glanced at the sky before looking at the ball of light in her hand. “When we find her, whoever has her can send a flare up, and we’ll know it’s time to return.”
“And if we don’t find her?” Talia asked, purposely not looking at Isla. “Are we just supposed to wander around in these woods until time runs out?”
“No,” Reid said. “In a half an hour, I’ll send up a flare, and we’ll know to return here to regroup and come up with a new plan, but I’m sure we’ll find her before then.”
“Yes, we will,” Avery said, though she wished she felt as confident as she sounded.
“That works for me,” Eric said.
“We will find her,” Isla said.
“Yes, we will,” Karen agreed.
“Mario, Talia, and Eric take the right. Reid and Isla go left, and Karen and I will head straight,” Avery instructed.
“Good luck,” Mario said before heading into the dense forest with Talia behind him and Eric in the back.
Avery turned to Reid and hugged him. “Be careful,” she whispered.
“You too,” he replied before kissing her and reluctantly releasing her.
She stepped away from him and turned to Karen. “Ready?”
“Always,” Karen said with a smile that looked more like a grimace.
Avery wasn’t exactly thrilled about splitting up either, but she didn’t know how else to find Sandra in this mess. Leading the way into the forest, Avery touched her flame to vines and bushes as they walked. They sizzled and popped as they shriveled beneath the heat of the fire and dropped away to litter the forest floor. In the dim glow of the flame, she saw the scorch marks she left behind her.
The Maze (The Coven, Book 2) Page 13
