Behind them, she could hear Edon scrambling, and she heard Lawson scream—he wasn’t dead yet—as Arthur performed his healing, and then heard an echo as a powerful force thundered against the cavern door, making the earth shake underneath their feet. Her heart was beating a million times a minute.
“Don’t worry, they won’t be able to get in, not that way, at least,” Rafe said as there was the sound of another hard thud, and the ground rumbled again. It felt as if the whole cavern was on the verge of collapse.
“Can they pass through stone?” she asked as they scrambled forward in the dark, the passage sloping downward.
“Yes. But it’ll slow them down. Hold on to this side,” he said. “Or you’ll fall off the cliff.”
“What about Lawson?” she asked, wondering why she cared so much about a boy who’d just tried to kill her. She barely knew him, barely knew any of them. And if the hounds were here, shouldn’t she be running toward them instead of away?
“I don’t know,” Rafe said, his voice tight. “He’s never been like this. He always heals so fast, always.”
They kept running for what felt like miles, and there was a sound of clattering footsteps behind them. Malcolm whooped when they saw that Lawson was bringing up the rear. He still looked pale, but through the hole in his shirt she could see that his skin was smooth and the blood had dried.
“It wasn’t a blood spell. It just felt like it was. It was just an exploder,” he explained, leaning on Arthur, who was holding a torch and looking grim. “But they broke those wards like they were made of glass.”
“They’ve gotten stronger,” Arthur said. “How unfortunate.”
“You didn’t feel them coming, Mac?” Lawson asked.
“Not soon enough. Not until it was too late.” Malcolm shook his head, looking ashamed.
Malcolm was about to apologize again when Lawson clamped a hand on his mouth. “Shhh!” No one dared to speak. Bliss watched Lawson. He was counting. She swallowed and held her breath. The room was so still they were frozen. She was conscious of her own pulse, the air around her face, and the temperature of the cave.
“Four heartbeats,” Lawson whispered. “Inside. Two in the scullery now, the others somewhere around the dioramas.”
>
Edon nodded. “Sounds about right. I can’t feel any more.”
“Reconnaissance team, most likely,” Lawson said. “Hurry. We can outrun them.”
“Why can’t we jump?” Malcolm asked. “Make the circle?”
“You know why.” Lawson shook his head. “I can’t take that risk again, not when there’s so little time.” He had taken a few steps forward when he turned around and froze. His brothers did the same; the four boys stood with their noses in the air, sniffing like dogs.
“They’ve found us,” Malcolm said, shaking a little.
“We can take them,” Lawson said. “Arthur—take Mac and Bliss down to the car. Don’t wait. We’ll meet you at the rendezvous point.”
He turned to Bliss, held her arm. “Don’t let them touch you,” he warned. “Otherwise you’ll be dragged down to Hell with them.”
Then Bliss heard the three older boys chanting under their breath and saw a blue crescent appear on their faces; Lawson’s throbbed above his right cheekbone.
But before they were done, the Hellhounds came out of the walls, howling for blood.
Arthur fell first. His knee bent at an unnatural angle and he reeled sideways. His torch fell to the ground, still flickering. He moaned and tried to stand, but a dark shadow hit him on the jaw and he doubled over on the ground.
Lawson was on him in a flash, drawing the hound away. Come out! he yelled. Stop hiding in the dark, cowards!
All his fault. Edon was right. Romulus had recognized him, of course, and had pinpointed his location; it hadn’t taken them that long once the hounds found the right scent. Or was it Bliss who had led them here? He’d heard Edon accuse her as well. Had she led the hounds to them? He was confused and angry, but there was no time to dwell on mistakes just then.
Draw them out of the glom, he thought, out of the shadow, where they will have to fight hand to hand. He leapt at the hound but caught nothing but air.
He could hear his brothers doing the same dance, swinging at shadows, fighting phantoms, chasing after specters, Rafe grunting, Edon cursing, while the hounds surrounded them. The biggest one came straight for Lawson, but Lawson saw him coming and feinted left, then struck, holding the hound in a choke hold.
Where’s Tala? he demanded. Where is she? What did you do to her?
The hound smiled a cruel smile. The little one? She’s dead, of course. We killed her. But first we made her scream. We made her beg for death at the end. Death was kind after what we did to her. You did this. You killed her. You left her to die. You left her to burn.