Rituals (Cainsville 5)
He expected her to argue, but that was the problem with her human glamour--it was easy to forget he wasn't speaking to an impulsive youth. She studied his expression and then nodded and hurried away with her mate to find a windowless room. Gabriel strode off to do the same, gesturing at Ricky, wordlessly telling the Huntsmen to watch him.
And what exactly is the point of this, Gabriel? Gwynn's voice asked in his head as he jogged through the building, hunting for the right spot.
He didn't answer.
You're safe. The sluagh won't hurt you. You mean too much to her.
It isn't about me.
No?
No.
Good.
He didn't ask what that meant.
He needed to get everyone someplace safe. Part of him knew it was a fool's errand--nowhere was safe from the sluagh. But he had to try. Buy some time until he figured out what to do next, how to help them, how to save them.
Any advice you have would, at this moment, be appreciated, he said to Gwynn.
Silence.
He growled a curse, pulled open a door, and saw an empty and windowless room.
"Here!" he called.
The sluagh struck the building like a fist, shaking it to the foundation, plaster raining down.
Gabriel ran back to the front room, where Meic and Wmffre were lifting Ricky.
"Back there!" Gabriel shouted to be heard as every unbroken pane of glass exploded.
Wmffre handed him Ricky's arm, and Gabriel took it without question, helping Meic haul the unconscious young man across a floor littered with glass.
"The room is right back here," he said, then shouted, "Helia! Alexios!"
They answered from somewhere in the building. Outside, all had gone silent, which was worse, so much worse, as if the sluagh waited, biding its time, knowing it had them.
They turned a corner, and Gabriel realized Wmffre wasn't following.
Gabriel shouted the Huntsman's name--or the best approximation he could manage. "Get in here! Now!"
"He's standing watch," Meic said.
"Then he's a fool. Tell him to get--" Gabriel bit it off and stalked back around the corner. "You! Get back here--"
The door exploded. Shards of wood flew like needles, impaling Wmffre and throwing him back. Gabriel ran for the Huntsman as he staggered, blood dripping, pierced by hundreds of needlelike shards, but still alive, still moving, reaching for Gabriel--
Wmffre exploded, darkness plowing through his stomach and bursting out the other side, coming straight for Gabriel. Hands closed around both Gabriel's arms, yanking him back, two voices spitting words in Greek. Every vine in the room shot up to shield Gabriel as the dryads dragged him away. He twisted, getting his footing and then shoving them, saying, "Go!" and pushing them ahead to where Meic was hauling Ricky into the room. He grabbed Ricky's legs and pushed him inside, nearly tripping Meic.
The dryads slammed the door behind them and started shouting in Greek, calling on the forces of Nature. The first words had hardly left their lips before the door was ripped from its hinges, Alexios still gripping the handle, disappearing as the door flew. Helia screamed and ran for him, and before Gabriel could react, she truly screamed, a terrible shriek of agony, and Gabriel dove, falling on Ricky, shielding him, Meic doing the same, both of them barely touching down before the sluagh hurtled into the room, darkness filling it, and then--
Nothing.
CHAPTER FORTY-SIX
When the melltithiwyd attacked the raven, it happened so fast that all I felt was pain. One second of unbelievable agony, as my entire body was ripped apart, and for that split second I was still conscious enough to feel it happen.