Page 99 of Junk Magic

Caleb kicked a mage into the dirt, shot another in the face, and rolled over the side and into the back seat. He ended up alongside the still unconscious Kimmie and a very alarmed looking Aki, who had just appeared out of nowhere. And I finally got this ship righted and floored it.

We barreled toward the darkened hallway ahead with what must have been a couple hundred mages on our tail. And although we were outrunning them, it wasn’t going to be that easy. Because there were enemies ahead of us, too, having had plenty of time to figure out our destination.

But so had someone else.

And thank God for indomitable grannies, I thought fervently, as the wizened old top knot from earlier reappeared behind the cordon of mages and grinned at me.

Right before her group blew the bastards away, because they hadn’t bothered to shield from the back.

And a second later, we bumped across their corpses and into the blessed darkness of the corridor.

* * *

The change was immediate and stark, with us going from brilliant torch light to almost complete darkness as soon as we passed over the threshold. The corridor was at the back of the stadium, like the one with the groundskeeper’s office only on the other side. But it was somewhat larger, forming part of the main highway for the complex, allowing vehicles to make deliveries.

It was usually well lit, but all the torches here had been extinguished. I could still smell the burnt bones that were used for the shafts, and the acrid smoke. But there was no glimmer of light remaining.

Leaving us looking at a long, dark tunnel into nothingness.

That was unsettling, but less so than the lack of sound. Because that had cut off, too, the walls muffling the chaos outside as thoroughly as if someone had thrown a heavy blanket over our heads. The effect was heightened as we trundled forward, with it becoming quiet enough that I could hear everyone’s too-rapid breathing, along with the soft sounds coming from the father who was trying to reassure his son.

I could see that he’d half hidden the boy in his jacket, even though I hadn’t switched on any headlights. They would have made us even more of a target, and anyway, I didn’t need them. Because, thanks to my owl tat, my eyes had already adjusted.

Or maybe it wasn’t just the tat.

I stared at the left-hand wall, where the old woman’s gang was scampering away while still in human form, since the hidden tunnels inside the rock were too small for anything else. And that was exactly where they were—inside the rock. Yet their bodies were as bright as flame, and as clear as if the wall between us was made out of glass.

Infrared, I thought, gazing about in shock. That potion I’d ingested was . . . something else. And then I spotted other defenders ahead, their bodies also glowing redly in the night.

Some were leaning out of rock-cut windows or doorways, while others were peering down from the stony overhang above us, waiting for a chance to strike. The rest—the old, infirm or very young—were huddled in groups in the rooms that studded the passageways, with huge guardians blocking the doors and ready to savage anyone who came near. Wolf’s Head was preparing to do what it had been designed for and devour its enemies.

At least, I fervently hoped so. It had been established originally as a fortress during the Were Civil War, when clan had fought clan and a place had been needed for families in the area to take refuge. And now it was serving that function once again, assuming that our pursuers had followed us inside.

Only I couldn’t tell, because it was freaking silent in here!

I looked back the way we’d come, but we’d twisted and turned enough that all I saw was rock. I guessed even infrared vision had its limits. And all I heard was my own rapid heartbeat, pounding out a staccato rhythm in my ears.

And then something else, something just at the edge of my hearing that I couldn’t quite place. It wouldn’t have bothered me so much except that it was immediately followed by a sensation like tiny bugs crawling all over my skin. It wasn’t a spell; more a force of nature, like the sensation right before a storm hits, when your body knows it’s coming even though you haven’t seen the lightning.

I glanced up but saw nothing except for some scraps of tattered cloth flapping in a breeze, the outline of rocks long since scoured smooth by sand-laced wind, and a few scattered stars. But not many of the latter. The light leaking in from the arena had been cut off by bends in the corridor, leaving the open air above us merely a dark ribbon running between darker cliffs.

The battle seemed far away now, with no echoing shouts or called commands, no explosions or gunfire. No signs of danger anywhere except for that skin ruffling feeling that could be excess adrenaline and a sound I couldn’t quite place. So why was my breathing getting louder?

“By the pricking of my thumbs, something wicked this way comes,” Caleb said softly, leaning forward. Because I wasn’t the only one getting chills.

“What are you thinking?” I whispered back. “More shades?”

“One of those necro bastards did get away.”

And we didn’t have Jen with us, this time. Maybe coming in here hadn’t been such a great idea, after all. My eyes started darting after every shadow, seeing strangely distorted faces in the dips and whirls of the stone that weren’t actually there, except in my overactive imagination.

Until something cast a real shadow on the ground ahead of us, rippling over the rock.

“There!” the father said, his voice high. “Did you see that?”

“Yeah.” Caleb shot him a glance. “Relax. Our shields are holding.”

“Relax?” The man stared at him, maybe because we were sitting in a truck full of blood and body parts. “Relax?”

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