Page 211 of Fangs
“Hawk?”The single word vibrated with fury.
“He’s dead, too.”
“Hold on, Em, we’re comin’,”he promised fiercely.“Hold on, ok?”
“Please hurry,”I sobbed.
“I’m comin’, sweetheart. Hold on.”
Sweetheart?He’d never called me anything like that before, but I clung to his words like a lifeline. He kept a steady stream of narration as he gathered people to run for the watchtower. I cradled Sky and listened. Nemo had sealed the tunnel exceptionally well, and Mac went quiet as he worked with the others to break the wall down. It felt like forever, but finally, I realized the darkness was growing lighter. I fixed my eyes on it, relief flooding me, and then Mac spoke in my head again.
“We’re almost through, Em.”
I stared at the bobbing light reflecting on the walls, something cold creeping over me.“You’re not through yet?”
“No, almost.”
Bile crept into my throat as I realized the light wasn’t approaching fromupthe stairs. It was coming frombelow.
“Someone’s comin’!”I told Mac, my voice frantic.
“What?”he demanded.
“Someone’s coming from… from below.”I scurried backward, hauling Sky’s body with me until my back hit the rocky wall.
Mac swore, and I felt his surge of fear. The light grew brighter, illuminating the blood covering Sky’s body and my clothes and hands. I glanced at where Hawk’s body had fallen, but the charred lump almost made me sick. I pulled Sky’s body tighter against me like I was trying to protect her.
“Almost through!”
A body stepped into view, a giant hulking shadow that strode toward me with a swinging lantern in hand. A key flashed in the dim light, and as the person ducked to unlock the cell door, the light shone on their face. I stared dumbfounded at Sax, Madame’s right-hand man—the man who dragged me down to this cell the first time—the man who whipped me. He’d gone missing along with Zana, the third council member, after the rebellion. He met my wide eyes with his familiar impassive stare, as though he hadn’t just appeared from possibly hell itself. For a few dizzying seconds, I questioned if I’d been locked in this cell the entire time, vividly hallucinating everything from the past several months, but Sax’s salt and pepper hair was longer and wilder, and Sky’s body was cold in my arms, and Mac wasshoutingmy namein my head.
“It’s Sax! It’s Sax!”I shouted back as he unlocked the door and pulled it open.
“Hold on, Em! Hold on!”
“What do you want?” I shouted at Sax as I scrambled sideways until I hit the corner, dragging Sky with me.
He didn’t answer as he caught my ankle and jerked me toward him. I managed to kick free and dropped Sky, pain and guilt stabbing through me as her body slumped to the floor. I leapt to my feet, but he immediately trapped me against the wall. I lashed out and hit him hard in the jaw, and his head snapped to the side, but he just turned back and gave me a grim smile.
“Mac!”I shrieked.
I tried to hit him again, but he caught my bandaged wrist and forced it down; the lacerations on my wrist burned with pain as he squeezed. His strong arms clamped around me, pinning my arms to my sides and lifting me off my feet. I kicked and thrashed, slamming the heel of my boot into his shin over and over as he carried me out of the cell.
“No!” I screamed.
“Em!”Mac sounded frantic.
“Let go of me!” My heel connected with his kneecap, and he let out a grunt of pain. My brief sense of accomplishment vanished as he shifted, one thick arm coiling around my neck in a chokehold and tightening like a snake. I gasped and clawed at his arm as he cut off my air, but he didn’t even flinch. Black spots filled my vision.
“Mac!”
I’m coming! I’m?—”
I woke up in a tent.
A face appeared over mine, and it took me a few seconds to recognize Zana, the third council member. Her head was no longer bald but covered in short, dark hair. She looked thinner and rougher, but it was undeniably her.
“Good mornin’, Bones,” she said with a grin that reminded me of Madame. “Bout time you joined the party.”
