Page 58 of Forgotten Monsters
The blade at my neck nicks the skin. “Careful now, or we both die.”
I will not let Darkwood use me as a piece of armor.
“Let her go.” Cole wrestles his way over to us, four Magus unconscious or dead at his feet. His wings are spread on each side of him, and the heavy sting of his powers drums through the air. A flurry of magic-hungry creatures veers toward him.
A black and blue aura shines around him, but no amount of Fae power can save him.
I take a gamble that the hollows are too dumb to sniff out a trap. Instead of an orb, a spike, or any type of weaponized spell, I draw from the very quakes of the earth below my feet and pierce the fabric between worlds.
A burst of heat booms past my cheeks as the fresh underworld tear spreads like wildfire. I just need to put on the biggest show and draw their teeth to us, not Cole. The hollows whip their tails as they approach, jaws clicking in trepidation.
With a loud curse, Darkwood releases me. He jumps over the windowsill and flees into the night, toward the forest.
Cole dashes closer, oblivious to the hollows’ presence.
“Don’t!”
He frowns but holds himself back in time. The creatures bounce off me one by one, stunned by their unfruitful attack. Lydia advances toward us, her palms wide in front of her, her lips moving quickly. A small barrier stretches in front of her, and she uses it to corral the hollows closer to the tear I built, until the monsters cross to the Underworld.
I hurriedly close the portal, sealing them away. “Let’s get the others.”
Oz flanks Lydia, searching the room. “Where’s Darkwood?” he asks, his face pale, a trail of blood running down his temple.
“Where do you think? The bastard fled,” I say.
My dad watches over Deveraux, apparently unharmed.
Allie rises to her feet. “Three or four hollows already buried inside people, so there must be a couple of them left.”
Oz nods to confirm her hypothesis.
The ballroom is peppered with bodies, but from afar, it’s impossible to distinguish those that were hit by a spell from the unlucky ones who were bitten by a hollow. Brie, Flynn, and Trent are nowhere to be found.
My chest cramps. I don’t want to work with the devil, but what else can we do? “Let’s take care of the wounded first. We can fight between ourselves afterwards.”
Oz chuckles under his breath. “Fine by me.”
“Wait! There!” Lydia points to the eastern corner of the ballroom.
We spin around to face the two hollows swimming up to our rear, but Allie, Oz, and Cole blink, unable to see them.
A third hollow gleams under the warm glow of the candelabras. The incorporeal beast is already at top speed, heading straight for Cole’s back.
“Cole! Behind you!” I scream in warning, but it’s too late.
Lydia desperately tries to push her forcefield forward to stop the beast, but she’s too far away.
The creature opens its mouth wide, ready to bite its way inside my husband’s body and steal his soul. A dimensional ring stretches behind Cole, and, in a whirl of movement, the specter sinks into Flynn instead.
The forceful blow sends both Fae flying to the ground.
Cole pirouettes to his feet and crouches into a fighting stance while Flynn bites the dust, his body limp on the marble.
Cole’s face melts as the weight of what just happened hits him. My heart throbs, my mouth opened in horror. Tears sting my cheeks as I close my eyes, shaking with adrenaline.
“Jules, are you still with me?” Lydia cries out, her gaze still fixed on the two hollows we haven’t dealt with yet.
With a nod, I force my attention back to the disgusting monsters and open an underworld tear behind them. Lydia expands her portable force field and advances slowly, until the eels retreat inside the portal.
