“How did they find us?” Morrigan asked, her voice trembling.
“United. They’ll fall,” a male voice carried from above me.
I pushed myself off the wall and whirled around. Eyes scaling the side of the building, they came to rest on someone wearing one of the colored LED masks. His was a glossy black with neon green for eyes and a mouth. He was perched at the top of building like some freak version of Spider-Man. I didn’t know I needed to be on the lookout for someone above and below.
“Go fuck yourself!” Grace glowered.
His laughter trailed behind him as he disappeared.
“They’re coming,” Morrigan gasped, dropping down into a crouching position.
I glanced at her, then looked towards the end of the alley. I could see the back bumper of the Sweet Tooth truck from where I was standing. How much more fucked could my day get?
A lot apparently.
Three guys appeared at the mouth of the alleyway, one being the leviathan guy from the Inn.
He lingered back as the other two approached us. They’re masks were different from all the others we’d seen too. On the right wore one all white, the eyes two large black Xs, and the mouth a closed smile.
The left’s mask was partially white too. One side of it was completely black, as if it were being consumed by darkness. Both had an inverted cross in their centers. Their outfits matched were nearly identical, all black getups with hoods concealing their heads. I glanced at Morrigan again, who was still crouched down. Dion was obviously carrying this relationship’s intelligence on his shoulders. Did she think they wouldn’t see her?
“We can climb this,” Grace stated, moving towards the piece of fence.
I studied the top and saw she was right. There wasn’t anything that would maim or shock us for once.
“Go. I’ll follow you over.”
“You--.”
“Go!” I reiterated in a harsher tone.
She flattened her lips and turned to face the fence. She curled her fingers into the mesh and started to haul herself up, using her boots to help boost her body higher. She made it over and dropped to the other side with the poise of a cat.
I checked behind me to see how close the guys were. They could’ve had our asses by now, but at the pace they were moving I had at least a solid minute to get away.
“Lana,” Grace stressed, her tone telling me to hurry.
“What are you doing? Get up.” I snapped, grabbing hold of Morrigan’s arm.
She shook me off and huddled closer to the brick building.
“I can’t climb up. I’m not strong enough,” she fretted.
“Then we’ll pull you over,” Grace replied.
I was already at the fence and climbing before she’d even suggested that. I wasn’t risking being caught because of someone else’s weakness.
“An alleyway is a terribly cliché way to end things, Puppet.”
The familiarity of that husky voice almost made me stop mid-climb. Thankfully, my brain wouldn’t allow me to die because of good dick. The fence rattled loudly as I scaled the top and dropped down beside Grace, landing with none of the poise or beauty she’d demonstrated.
She helped me up, keeping her eyes trained on Ciaran and the guy that had accompanied him down the alley. There was no hope for Morrigan. If she would’ve gotten her up, we could’ve helped her, or at least attempted to.
She had the audacity to look at us as they closed in on her huddled down form, her brown eyes wide and round. What had she expected? She jumped up and made as if to runs towards us at the last possible second. The girl couldn’t take one step before she was being dragged backward.
The guy in the half and half mask took hold of her dreads and swung her like a yo-yo, right into the waiting arms of his partner. She was hoisted over the man’s shoulder and carried off like a weightless parcel, her screams bouncing off the brick buildings on either of the alleyway. I couldn’t bring myself to feel sorry for her, but now one of us would be telling Dion his girlfriend had been taken away…again.
All that remained was Ciaran.
I couldn’t see his face, but I knew the person beneath this mask was the same man I’d felt tied to since we’d been locked away in Goetia.
It said much more about me than him that I found him attractive even dressed as a homicidal villain.
“Lana?” Grace looked between the two of us, tugging me away from the fence. “Is that who I think it is?” she asked in a hushed tone.
I didn’t answer, too busy murdering the asshole with my mind. He didn’t look hurt so I must not have stabbed him good enough.
Wordlessly, he reached into his pocket and retrieved a silver chain. The pendant on the end twisted from side to side as he held it up for me to see. I’d know that crescent-cross shaped charm anywhere. I had never seen anything like it before my abuelo gifted it to me.