And my first thought is—fucking Tomas!
But then I remember Tomas isn’t a dragon anymore.
My heart thumps once in my chest. It’s a hard, singular thump that is loud enough for me to hear.
Something has just gone terribly wrong.
And that’s when I hear a voice calling me from the woods on the other side of the wall.
“Piiiiiiieeeeeee! I know you’re innnnnn therrrrrrre.”
It’s Russ Roth’s voice.
Sheriff Russ Roth is here. Right now.
And we do not have a spell to keep him out.
I run through the maze of tombs towards a commotion near the back of the cathedral and find all the monsters gathered there. Several of them are charred, like just moments ago they were on fire.
“Tomas! What is going on?”
He turns to me, his face a panic. “There’re here!”
And I’m just about to open my mouth to say, Who? when another voice pierces the night.
“Tomas!” A faint scream comes from the other side of the cathedral. “Tomas!” the girl screams again. “Are you in there?”
“Who the hell is that?” I ask.
But at the same time, Tomas says, “Oh, shit.”
“Oh, shit, what?”
“It’s Madeline.” Then he brightens. “She came to visit.”
I blink at him. “Tomas. Please. She’s not here to visit.” Sometimes he’s so… obtuse.
“Why else would she be here? I live here. She is my girlfriend. She is here to see me. It’s so obvious.”
I press my lips together, trying to find a polite way to tell him he’s an idiot, when another voice pierces the night.
“Tomas!”
“Now who the hell is that?” I ask.
“Oh.” Tomas’s brightness dulls. “It’s Big Jim.”
“Big Jim?” I have only casually been paying attention to what’s been happening with the solar generator and the radio this past week, so my confused self-answer is more of a question. “He’s the guy who hunts monsters?”
“Exactly.” Tomas takes a deep breath and yells, “Madeline! I’ll be right there, love! Don’t leave!”
Don’t leave? I just kinda stare at him. “Tomas. You do see what’s happening here, right?”
“It’s a complete mess.”
“Exactly.”
“I’ll be right back. I’ve got to get Madeline.”