Midnight Beauties (Grim Lovelies 2)

“Go.”

It was a sharp bark, and he turned away before tears spilled out of his eyes. Anouk’s heart ached. She couldn’t seem to get her feet to move until Petra came up behind her and shepherded her toward the broken staircase. The ground began to rumble. Shoes were tumbling off displays to the ground. The chandelier overhead danced wildly. It took her a second to realize the quakes were coming from the city being ripped apart outside. If they didn’t hurry, there would be no London anymore.

Wincing at the pain, she managed to order, “Beau. Stay here.”

“I’m not going anywhere, Princess.”

Anouk, Petra, Prince Rennar, and Cricket ran toward the detached stairs. With a whisper, Rennar commanded the stairs to rejoin the fifth floor, and they clambered down the newly intact staircase, flight after flight, until they reached the ground floor, with its tables bursting with flowers and chocolates. December, who’d been recovering on a bench, pushed herself to her feet, wobbling a little on her skates. Her eyes were still glassy but no longer streaked with black.

December said quietly, “I saw Viggo fall. I’ll . . . I’ll take care of the body. Go.”

Anouk gave her a grateful nod. They ran across the marble floor and pushed through the revolving door until it spat them out in the city. Anouk stifled a moan. It was even worse than it had looked from above. The ground was slick with fallen toads, and more rained down, smacking against the pavement with sickening thuds. The time slips were moving unpredictably, catching parts of Pretties, sending a foot or an elbow or half a head into another time. Foam and vomit and blood bubbled up from the mouths of those who still had them. The rest of the Pretties screamed and ran to take cover in doorways, but as the ground shook, pieces of stone and brick broke off and hurtled down, crushing anyone below. Great fissures opened in the street, pouring out smoke that no amount of rock music would ever defeat. Any second, the city would fracture completely and be swallowed by the chaos, and then it would spread beyond London, to other cities and countries throughout the world, to realms that the Pretties didn’t even know existed.

Cities falling one by one

White to Red

White to Red . . .

“Anouk! Rennar! Where the hell have you been?” Queen Violante’s face was uncharacteristically splotched with red. “This city is barely holding itself together!”

Prince Aleksi caught sight of how Anouk was cradling her jaw and, with a few whispers, reset the bones so that she could speak.

The Royals and Goblins formed an uneven circle around the base of Big Ben, struggling to dodge falling debris and yawning cracks in the streets. Their kindred whisper was spoken as loudly as they could, but even so, it was barely audible amid the chaos. Flashes of purple and red and orange crackled within the clock pyre as they isolated and held the Noirceur. The ticking clocks began to explode, flinging out glass and metal. Rennar grabbed Anouk’s hand. They clasped hands with the circle of Royals and joined the chant.

Their voices came together in a mesmerizing and strange harmony:

Omni terra das royale oscura

omni figuras das visine etan absconsia

Voc, voc eta commandet suma suspiras

Pozua ek vijik

Congred, congred,

Ut element terik.

Omni terra das royale oscura

omni figuras das visine etan absconsia

Voc, voc eta commandet suma suspiras

Des tempo de novej arca

Resid, resid,

&nb

sp; Ut element terik.

Omni terra das royale oscura

omni figuras das visine etan absconsia

Voc, voc eta commandet suma suspiras.