Page 69 of Colin Gets Promoted and Dooms the World
There was a whisper of movement from over my shoulder, a momentary impression of warmth, and then someone was pulling me up and away from the haunt. Its hands refused to release me, forcing more of my reflection to break through the polished floor, its arms wearing my cardigan, its wrist streaked with bright red blood, too. A sword burning with golden flames swept past, severing the hands clutching at me, and my reflection heaved and convulsed, mouth wider still in a silent scream as those inhuman fingers dissolved into dark, oily smoke. Freed, I backpedaled across the floor, aided by a hand gripping the back of my collar, and then rolled onto my hands and knees before rising unsteadily to my feet.
“Thank you,” I gasped, turning to my rescuer.
“You’re welcome,” Eric said.
Twenty-Four
Time stopped. Not literally, thoughthat would have been cool. Rather, my brain ceased processing everything except for Eric, standing next to me on a floor teeming with hungry parasites. All I could see was the sword held loosely in his hand, its blade wreathed with fire. I couldn’t understand how he was there, in the lobby of Dark Enterprises. Maybe I hadn’t escaped the haunt after all, and this was the World Behind the Mirrors, where everything was backward and upside-down.
Then Eric reached out to grab my arm and time began moving again. Employees stumbled past us, racing for the exits. Screams rose from the other side of the lobby. Someone had been pulled through the floor and people were scattering.
Fingers tightened on my sleeve, and I realized Eric was talking to me. “Colin? Are you okay? Colin!”
I looked back at him, my head turning slowly. “What are you doing here?” I asked stupidly.
Before he could reply, the entire building vibrated like a struckgong. Sizzling purple flame erupted from the air all around the lobby, forming a series of enormous sigils that hissed and threw off sparks. More purple light flared as protective magicks spiderwebbed across the floor, forcing the haunts flitting beneath us to recoil.
“We need to go,” Eric said tersely. Still keeping a hand on my arm, he began pulling me toward the broken window where people were clambering outside. While those huge sigils burned and rotated slowly in the air overhead, he pushed me out onto the sidewalk before following. My shoes slipped on the broken glass littering the pavement, and I would have fallen again if he hadn’t been steadying me. The baristas at the Starbucks across the street stared at us from behind the windows of their own corporate prison.
Dazed, I allowed myself to be drawn away from the building, Eric close to my side as we walked quickly away from Dark Enterprises. He wasn’t holding his sword anymore. It wasn’t until we’d crossed onto the next block that I finally pulled my arm out of his grasp. “Wait a minute. Stop.Stop.” Halting in the middle of the sidewalk, I turned to him. “What the heck is going on? How did you get into the lobby?”
He glanced over his shoulder, back toward the building we’d escaped. “Can we do this later? I want to get as far from there as we can.”
“No.” Wrapping my arms across my chest, I took a step back from him. “We need to talk about what just happened.”
“Colin, there’s something dangerous in that building—”
“It’s gone,” I interrupted. “For now, at least.”
The worried crease between his eyebrows faded, but he still held himself warily, as if ready to move at a moment’s notice. “Gone where?”
“Hell.” He didn’t blink. “How do you know about that?” I demanded. “How did you know where to find me?”
Eric shoved his hands in his pockets and looked down at the sidewalk. “I’ve always known.”
“I don’t understand.”
His eyes lifted to mine. “About you, and your job. I’ve always known you work for Dark Enterprises.”
I said nothing as his words sank in, dropping like stones. “What do you mean?” I finally asked, my voice surprisingly steady. “How?”
He took a deep breath, as if bracing himself. “I’m a sworn Knight of the Seraphic Conclave,” he said quietly.
I stared at him. “No. You’re lying.”
“I’m not lying.”
“But—” My mind whirled from one thought to the next. “But they attacked us. In the park.”
Eric watched me carefully. “Yes. They were there for you. Because I hadn’t done what I was supposed to do.”
“This is—” I shook my head. “No. I don’t believe you. You wouldn’t—”
“Listen,” he said urgently, reaching for me. I twisted to evade his touch and he let his hand fall back to his side. “My family has worked for the Conclave for generations. They taught me that the people who work in buildings like that one back there are monsters. Evil. I never questioned it. But I started watching you, and then I got to know you. You’re not a monster, Colin. You’re complicated, sure, but you’re not a monster.”
Uncomprehending, I latched on to a single detail. “You’ve beenwatchingme?”
Slowly, he nodded without taking his gaze from me. “Yes.Months ago, one of our prophets received a vision. A warning. She saw that you would free an Abomination. I was sent to New York to stop it from happening.”
