Page 198 of The Warlock's Trial

LUCAS

We sprinted down the stairs and through the hallway, hearts hammering to the beat of our racing footsteps. We turned several corners until we came upon a narrow dead-end hall at the back of the building. It was dark and looked like the kind of place you kept storage boxes—not people.

“Help!” Mandy’s voice came again, much louder this time.

I hurried to the door the screaming was coming from and flung it open. We flooded inside to find ourselves in a darkened storage room. Beyond the crowded shelving stood a metal cage that stretched from the floor to the ceiling. It looked to be a kind of storage locker one would keep valuables in to prevent theft. Instead, the locker had been cleared out to make room for two women.

“Thank the Goddess,” Mandy wept. It was our Mandy this time. The relief in her tear-filled eyes was undeniable. The priestesses hadn’t been kind to her. She’d dropped a considerable amount of weight, and her dark hair was matted in a tangled bun. She had cuts and bruises all over her arms.

Mandy sniffled. “I’ve waited so long to see you guys.”

“We’re going to get you out,” I promised.

I stepped up to the cage and laced my fingers through the metal fencing. Miles fidgeted with the lock, trying to set them free. My attention was captivated by the other woman inside the cell. She was in her thirties with caramel colored hair and wore a long skirt that had been ripped on the end. She looked so frail, with bruises mottling one side of her face.

“Professor Wykoff,” I breathed. “What have the priestesses done to you?”

This hadn’t been the first time the priestesses set out to hurt her. Last year, Professor Wykoff wrote a letter to the editor that was published in the Miriamic Messenger, in which she came out against what the priestesses were doing. The priestesses had made a big deal at school about making her answer for it, but we’d protested, and managed to save Professor Wykoff from being hanged.

She knotted her hands together. “I continued your work and kept your news column going. I published articles in secret to expose the priestesses’ true intentions, and I gathered quite a following. There are people who will side with you. Unfortunately, despite my best efforts to conceal myself, the priestesses found out I was behind it. They brought me here with the intent to execute me publicly any day now.”

“That’s not going to happen,” I assured her.

Miles kicked the cage. “This lock is protected by magic. I can’t get through.”

Nadine lifted her hands. “Everyone stand back.”

We all took several steps back, and Mandy and Professor Wykoff huddled together in the corner. Nadine took control of the magic protecting the cage, then transformed it. Blue, electric power crackled across the metal like sparks of lightning, then a huge boom sounded as the door blasted inward. The heavy door clanged against the wall, then fell to the floor.

I reached my hand inside the cage. “Quickly.”

Mandy took my hand and scrambled out of the holding cell. She was so weak that she practically sagged into my arms. “I’m so sorry!”

I stared down at her incredulously. “You have nothing to be sorry for.”

Tears leaked from her eyes. “I do. The priestesses tortured me. They made me send you visions through dreams, to lure you to Octavia Falls. I didn’t want to, but they forced me. I figure they got what they wanted, because they eventually dragged me here. That cage wasn’t just enchanted to keep us in, but also to block our powers. I had no way of getting in touch with any of you…”

Mandy trailed off as she looked around. “But you’re all still here. They didn’t hurt you. Then what did they want from me?”

Dear Goddess. Mandy had no idea Magnus had been pretending to be her for months.

“We have a lot to tell you—” I started, but I was cut off by the sound of an animalistic wail coming down the hall. It was reminiscent of nails on a chalkboard, almost like the distorted tone of a horse’s bray.

“There’s no time to chat,” Verla insisted. “We have to get moving.”

We left the storage room and turned a few corners until we entered the wide expanse of the main hallway. My heart dropped to my stomach, and I skidded to a halt when I saw what awaited us.

On both ends of the hall stood half a dozen horse-like creatures. They had no skin—just red flesh coating their bodies. Each horse had only one eye, along with a rider attached to its back. Each rider had long, spindly arms that dragged on the ground.

We’d seen these creatures before, when we’d made the trek to hell. Nuckelavee, the Ferryman had called them.

“Everyone stay back!” I cried.

Professor Wykoff grabbed Mandy, who was shaking at the sight of the beasts. Slowly, she dragged Mandy back down the hall, out of sight of the nuckelavee. Mandy was in no condition to fight right now.

I took a few paces back, but the nuckelavee inched closer, as if stalking prey. I could see their chests rising and falling. I remembered what the Ferryman had said about them.

“They can kill cattle in a single breath,” I told the others. “I’m certain that poison doesn’t discriminate.”

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