Bosque was laughing. The sound made my chest tighten, stirring me out of regret and self-pity, making the tension in the room crackle like electricity in my fur. The joyful gleam in his inhuman silver eyes set my blood boiling. I’d already lost too much today. I would not lose anything more.
Snarling, I bolted across the room to the spot where Logan crouched. He rolled his eyes up at me.
“Just leave me alone,” he whimpered. “Run for your life, Calla. Get out of here.”
I barked at him, baring my teeth close to his neck so he could feel my breath. He jerked back at the sight of my fangs but shook his head. “I won’t do it. He’ll kill me.”
Shifting forms, I laced my fingers around his throat.
“It’s too late,” he said hoarsely.
“It is never too late,” I said. “The ritual. Now.”
The groan of heavy furniture scraping along the wood floor filled the room as Connor, Ethan, and my father barricaded the library door. I could already hear bodies slamming against the wood, claws tearing into the barrier.
I tightened my grip. Logan’s eyes widened and he croaked, “Stop, please. I’ll do it.”
“Now,” I hissed.
Logan reached around his back, smearing his hand in the blood that still leaked from the whiplashes. Using the blood as ink, he drew a symbol on the floor and began murmuring in a voice so low I could barely hear.
Bosque’s laughter died instantly. Apparently it didn’t matter how quietly Logan chanted; the Harbinger could sense that the ritual had begun. The stream of Logan’s whispers faltered.
“Don’t you dare stop.” I bared my teeth at him. “Stop and I’ll kill you.”
He continued his fevered whispers, but his eyes were wild as they moved back and forth from me to Bosque.
“This isn’t wise, Logan.” Bosque took a step toward us. But Shay was there, holding the Elemental Cross at the Harbinger’s eye level. Bosque scowled, but he stopped moving.
My heart jumped. The shield worked both ways. Shay couldn’t attack Bosque, but Bosque couldn’t move past the swords either.
Realizing that Bosque’s attempt to reach him had been thwarted, Logan stopped shaking. His voice grew steadier and louder.
The scratching at the library doors had become banging. Slow, heavy thuds signaled that the Fallen had arrived.
“Hurry!” Ethan shouted. “We can’t hold them.”
“No.” Bosque whirled away from Shay. “You can’t.”
He swept his hand through the air and Ethan, Connor, Sabine, and my father were tossed aside. Bosque struck out with his fist and the doors blew open.
“Don’t touch the Fallen.” Connor drew his swords, shouting at Sabine and my father. “Ethan and I will fight them. You take care of the rest.”
The rest appeared as succubi and incubi flew into the room, their shrieks piercing my ears. Ethan took down two with his crossbow before drawing his own swords and advancing on the moaning Fallen. The Searchers began to mow through the slowly advancing mass, which fortunately had formed a bottleneck in the doorway. Thuds began to offset the high-pitched shrieks as Connor and Ethan parted the Fallen’s heads from their bodies. My father, Bryn, and Sabine were dodging the winged creatures’ spears, taunting them to the ground before the wolves wheeled to attack.
Logan was on his feet, shouting. He thrust his hands at Bosque, fingers outstretched. “Aperio!”
Bosque screamed. His eyes flashed like lightning as he glared at Logan. “You will pay for—”
His words stopped as he screamed again, doubling over and clutching his stomach. When he lifted his face, his silver eyes were widening into disks shaped like footballs and just as large. His pupils gleamed red as they morphed into reptilian slits. His features went slack, then slowly puffed out as if someone were pumping air in the space between his muscle and skin. He continued to expand, his skin ballooning until it began to tear, beginning at the top of his head and following a line down the center of his body.
Bosque’s human shell cracked open like a husk. A gelatinous yellow substance oozed from the crack. An awful scent filled the air, decaying flesh and ammonia that burned my eyes and nose. I fell to my knees, certain I would be sick.
Shay made a retching sound and stumbled backward, trying to stay on his feet.
An appendage covered in bristling spikes emerged from what had been Bosque’s body. Then another. And another. Six segmented limbs pushed skin and gore aside as it struggled to free itself. The thing that shrugged off its human guise stretched to its full height, towering over all of us. Its large silver eyes were set in a quasi-human face that featured Bosque’s aquiline nose and full mouth. A set of pincers sprouted from his cheeks, clicking together as he opened and closed his lips with a hiss. His slicked-back hair had transformed into hard, sharply raised ridges that rippled along the surface of his skull and continued down his spine.
The skin covering its body was a mottled gray and black, dripping with slime. Wings, iridescent like those of a dragonfly and covered in the same thick yellow slime as the rest of his body, protruded from his back. They fluttered at intervals, trying to rid themselves of the sticky liquid.
Bosque’s torso still resembled a man’s, except that the thick carved muscles of his chest sloped down not to a human abdomen, but instead swelled to curving mass where skin transformed into a shiny black exoskeleton. His lower body ended in a needle-sharp, curving spine that glistened, making me suspect its sting was venomous.
The beast stretched its four upper limbs toward the ceiling, shaking its body as if it had just woken from a long slumber. Slime splattered on us and I coughed up bile as I scraped the yellow ooze from my skin. Four of its limbs lashed wildly, clawing at the air in fury. It screamed and the Nether creatures’ shrieks grew louder. They abandoned their attacks on the wolves and Searchers, streaking toward the fireplace to hover above the creature’s head.
“Oh my God.” Connor, tracking the sudden flight of Bosque’s minions, dropped one of his swords when he saw what was standing in front of the Rift.
Ethan shoved him aside, swinging his blade as one of the Fallen groped for Connor. Its head went flying.
“Come on.” Ethan dragged Connor to the center of the room, where Adne was still bound to the floor. Sabine, Bryn, and my father chased after them. They huddled in a tight group around Adne.
Snarling, I bolted across the room to the spot where Logan crouched. He rolled his eyes up at me.
“Just leave me alone,” he whimpered. “Run for your life, Calla. Get out of here.”
I barked at him, baring my teeth close to his neck so he could feel my breath. He jerked back at the sight of my fangs but shook his head. “I won’t do it. He’ll kill me.”
Shifting forms, I laced my fingers around his throat.
“It’s too late,” he said hoarsely.
“It is never too late,” I said. “The ritual. Now.”
The groan of heavy furniture scraping along the wood floor filled the room as Connor, Ethan, and my father barricaded the library door. I could already hear bodies slamming against the wood, claws tearing into the barrier.
I tightened my grip. Logan’s eyes widened and he croaked, “Stop, please. I’ll do it.”
“Now,” I hissed.
Logan reached around his back, smearing his hand in the blood that still leaked from the whiplashes. Using the blood as ink, he drew a symbol on the floor and began murmuring in a voice so low I could barely hear.
Bosque’s laughter died instantly. Apparently it didn’t matter how quietly Logan chanted; the Harbinger could sense that the ritual had begun. The stream of Logan’s whispers faltered.
“Don’t you dare stop.” I bared my teeth at him. “Stop and I’ll kill you.”
He continued his fevered whispers, but his eyes were wild as they moved back and forth from me to Bosque.
“This isn’t wise, Logan.” Bosque took a step toward us. But Shay was there, holding the Elemental Cross at the Harbinger’s eye level. Bosque scowled, but he stopped moving.
My heart jumped. The shield worked both ways. Shay couldn’t attack Bosque, but Bosque couldn’t move past the swords either.
Realizing that Bosque’s attempt to reach him had been thwarted, Logan stopped shaking. His voice grew steadier and louder.
The scratching at the library doors had become banging. Slow, heavy thuds signaled that the Fallen had arrived.
“Hurry!” Ethan shouted. “We can’t hold them.”
“No.” Bosque whirled away from Shay. “You can’t.”
He swept his hand through the air and Ethan, Connor, Sabine, and my father were tossed aside. Bosque struck out with his fist and the doors blew open.
“Don’t touch the Fallen.” Connor drew his swords, shouting at Sabine and my father. “Ethan and I will fight them. You take care of the rest.”
The rest appeared as succubi and incubi flew into the room, their shrieks piercing my ears. Ethan took down two with his crossbow before drawing his own swords and advancing on the moaning Fallen. The Searchers began to mow through the slowly advancing mass, which fortunately had formed a bottleneck in the doorway. Thuds began to offset the high-pitched shrieks as Connor and Ethan parted the Fallen’s heads from their bodies. My father, Bryn, and Sabine were dodging the winged creatures’ spears, taunting them to the ground before the wolves wheeled to attack.
Logan was on his feet, shouting. He thrust his hands at Bosque, fingers outstretched. “Aperio!”
Bosque screamed. His eyes flashed like lightning as he glared at Logan. “You will pay for—”
His words stopped as he screamed again, doubling over and clutching his stomach. When he lifted his face, his silver eyes were widening into disks shaped like footballs and just as large. His pupils gleamed red as they morphed into reptilian slits. His features went slack, then slowly puffed out as if someone were pumping air in the space between his muscle and skin. He continued to expand, his skin ballooning until it began to tear, beginning at the top of his head and following a line down the center of his body.
Bosque’s human shell cracked open like a husk. A gelatinous yellow substance oozed from the crack. An awful scent filled the air, decaying flesh and ammonia that burned my eyes and nose. I fell to my knees, certain I would be sick.
Shay made a retching sound and stumbled backward, trying to stay on his feet.
An appendage covered in bristling spikes emerged from what had been Bosque’s body. Then another. And another. Six segmented limbs pushed skin and gore aside as it struggled to free itself. The thing that shrugged off its human guise stretched to its full height, towering over all of us. Its large silver eyes were set in a quasi-human face that featured Bosque’s aquiline nose and full mouth. A set of pincers sprouted from his cheeks, clicking together as he opened and closed his lips with a hiss. His slicked-back hair had transformed into hard, sharply raised ridges that rippled along the surface of his skull and continued down his spine.
The skin covering its body was a mottled gray and black, dripping with slime. Wings, iridescent like those of a dragonfly and covered in the same thick yellow slime as the rest of his body, protruded from his back. They fluttered at intervals, trying to rid themselves of the sticky liquid.
Bosque’s torso still resembled a man’s, except that the thick carved muscles of his chest sloped down not to a human abdomen, but instead swelled to curving mass where skin transformed into a shiny black exoskeleton. His lower body ended in a needle-sharp, curving spine that glistened, making me suspect its sting was venomous.
The beast stretched its four upper limbs toward the ceiling, shaking its body as if it had just woken from a long slumber. Slime splattered on us and I coughed up bile as I scraped the yellow ooze from my skin. Four of its limbs lashed wildly, clawing at the air in fury. It screamed and the Nether creatures’ shrieks grew louder. They abandoned their attacks on the wolves and Searchers, streaking toward the fireplace to hover above the creature’s head.
“Oh my God.” Connor, tracking the sudden flight of Bosque’s minions, dropped one of his swords when he saw what was standing in front of the Rift.
Ethan shoved him aside, swinging his blade as one of the Fallen groped for Connor. Its head went flying.
“Come on.” Ethan dragged Connor to the center of the room, where Adne was still bound to the floor. Sabine, Bryn, and my father chased after them. They huddled in a tight group around Adne.
