Midnight Beauties (Grim Lovelies 2)

Petra leaned forward, nodding amid heaving breaths. “Yes, if we can get more lavender ash, but at the moment we have bigger problems.” She pointed to the domed window. Beyond the glass was the familiar city skyline. Anouk’s head was doing strange wobbly things from pain and exhaustion, and she let out something like a delirious laugh when she realized what Petra meant.

“What is it?” Beau cried.

For a moment, none of them could bear to answer. Cricket finally said in a dark tone, “It’s stopped snowing. Duke Karolinge must have given up. Or . . . he’s dead.”

Anouk sank back on her heels. She closed her eyes. Her heart was beating too fast, pumping blood so hard that she was afraid she might pass out. Awful images filled her head. The Duke dead on the museum roof. The mummies stirring back to life. The entire city thawing. Storms of toads. Time loops out of control. Pretties screaming.

When she opened her eyes and looked more closely out the window, she started shaking. Just like in her worst fears, the city was thawing. In fits and jerks, the world restarted. Tires began to spin. Cars honked endlessly. Sidewalks rumbled and split apart, and people caught in the rift plunged to their demise. Giant waves swelled up from the Thames, swallowing Pretties whole.

Anouk pressed her palm against her mouth.“Pas possible.”

Big Ben stood tall, the clock hands still moving, the only thing that wasn’t caught up in the chaos around it. The Royals and Goblins below desperately hurled spells at the encroaching time slips, but their magic only vanished into the chaos.

“The city’s going to fall apart.” Cricket spun away from the windows, pacing. “Space and time are literally fracturing. We’ll be lucky to have five minutes left before it all ends. Anouk, you have to get down there. Prince Aleksi can heal your jaw. You have to stop the Noirceur.”

Anouk felt like a kettle left too long on the stove, burning and boiling and then ruined and empty. Wincing through the pain, she muttered, “If we . . . trap the Noirceur, it’ll kill . . . Hunter Black!”

“Not if he isn’t possessed anymore,” Viggo said quietly.

She’d almost forgotten about Viggo. During the whole fight with Hunter Black and Saint and December, he’d been a distraction at best, an encumbrance at worse, managing only to throw a few shoes as he cowered behind the cash register. But there was an odd look on his face now. His eyes shone like he was drunk, but for once he hadn’t had a sip.

His eyes shifted to Hunter Black, still pinned to the railing by Prince Rennar’s steady whisper. He took a few quick steps toward the balcony. No one realized what he was thinking until it was too late. He ripped the last glass button off Hunter Black’s shirt. An awful hiss emerged from somewhere deep in Hunter Black’s throat. Smoke poured out of his mouth. His body began to convulse. His eyes began to clear.

Viggo palmed the button. “Rennar, unfreeze another time slip!”

But Rennar was whispering with all his focus. Petra cried out, “There aren’t any up here, you idiot! Only the one downstairs, and you’ll never make it in time.”

Viggo went pale. His hand curled around the button. Quietly, as though reciting something from a dream, he said, “Where you go, I go, my friend. But where I go, you can’t follow. Not this time.” In a quick movement, he swallowed it. All the smoke started pouring into him instead, into his eyes, his ears, his throat. Cricket’s mouth fell open. The spell froze on Rennar’s lips.

Anouk took a halting step forward. “Viggo . . . don’t!”

It was too late. Hunter Black, free of the possession, blinked, dazed and disoriented. He cleared his throat. His eyes narrowed, confused. “Viggo?”

Viggo rested a hand on his shoulder. His face had gone completely white. “I’m sorry. It’s horrid. But this is the only way.”

Hunter Black couldn’t stop Viggo in time. None of them could. A second before the possession fully consumed Viggo, when he was still himself enough to think straight, he tipped himself over the balcony railing and plunged five stories down.

Chapter 46

Other than Hunter Black, Cricket was closest to the balcony. She rushed to the railing and leaned over to grab Viggo, but for once she wasn’t fast enough. Her fingers closed over air.

Anouk clamped a palm over her mouth. Her other hand was still extended in warning. Her fingers started to tremble. “Viggo!” The words came out garbled through her broken jaw. She took a halting step toward the railing. Cricket spun around with a face like stone. She jumped in front of Anouk, blocking her from getting any closer.

“Don’t,” Cricket ordered sharply. “Don’t look.”

Her voice broke on the final word. For all the death that Cricket had seen, it had never been one of their own. And Viggo, the fool, was their fool.

Anouk’s mind was hazy and muffled. “Viggo. He . . .”

Cricket clamped her arms around Anouk. Her arms were protective, but they were shaking a little too. “He saved our skin,” Cricket hissed fiercely. “That’s what he’s done. He’s saved Hunter Black and he’s given us what we need to save this entire city.” Cricket pulled back. Her eyes were damp but she didn’t cry. She swiped a hand under her nose, then gave Anouk a sharp shove. “Go, Anouk. Time’s almost up.”

Anouk stumbled toward the broken staircase. Hunter Black was standing between her and the detached stairs. He looked as stunned as she felt. He, too, was staring at the balcony with wide eyes.

Rennar touched Anouk’s shoulder, making her jump. “We have to go.”

She stepped forward jerkily. Hunter Black didn’t flinch as she passed him. She wanted to comfort him, but what could she do? What could she say?

“Hunter Black . . .” Her jaw ached with the effort to speak.