Page 209 of Of Nine So Bold

A gap opened in the wall. Crooning sounds rose like a blanket of sodden, icy wool trying to engulf our minds.

“Go!” Dex ordered.

The energy of the wall crackled around us, making the hairs on my arms rise. But the cracks in the earth were already diverting our way before we even passed the barrier.

The trees thrashed. Globs of poisonous apple hurled through the air at us.

Roan shifted fast, and fire roared out from the demon, burning the rotting fruits into ash. “Lars!” the demon called.

“Got it!” Hands outstretched as he ran, Lars split the streams of flame in midair, sending them after more trees and apples.

The crooning sounds fell back, growing quieter as the trees nearest to us burned.

“Hurry!” Dex shouted at Ignatius.

Nodding, the scholar skidded to a stop before the boulders. My connection to Byron and Casimir vibrated as their magic surged up to join his in crafting the gateway at high speed.

A shout came from my left. I whirled to see a giant stumble. A tree branch skewered his side, continuing to grow even as he tried to hack at it and escape.

“Move!” Brock yelled, swinging a sword larger than I was.

The blade crashed through the branch, splintering it into kindling. But the giant staggered, the wood embedded in his side still growing. His body thrashed for a moment, and then he screamed as a new tree suddenly burst through his skin.

I choked in horror.

“Fuckinghell!” Clay exclaimed. “Demon!”

Flame hit the tree surrounded by the giant’s remains, turning it to ash.

A thumping sensation went through the air. I spun to see the darkness of a gateway swirl to life behind us.

“Go!” Dex yelled. “Now!”

We ran. Darkness swallowed us, yanking away the forest of nightmarish trees and sending me hurtling forward. I couldn’t hear my gasping breaths or feel the horror still gripping me.

But this would work. The apothecary district was ahead, and the witches would help us. We only needed to get to?—

The darkness began to shudder.

Oh, gods.

I twisted frantically, searching for my stepmother. Magic tangled in my veins, still connecting me to the others even here. But I couldn’t find?—

The shaking grew stronger. Cracks split in the darkness around me, but light didn’t pour through.

I’d thought this was as dark as anything could be.

I was a fool.

The darkness around me poured into the cracks like smoke being sucked out of a room. And everything was going with it. The gateway. The whisper of noise around me. All of it fell into an emptiness more profound than even this magic could survive.

Hurry, little doomed one, urged the large gateway demon.

Something whipped me to the side, sparing me from colliding with a crack of oblivion directly ahead of me.

She… the…

The gateway demon’s voice came in fits and starts, like something was cutting into the sound, swallowing it with silence.

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