Deliverance
Page 113

James Rowan crawling toward Quinn, the whip in his hands. Quinn stumbling toward Rachel and falling to his knees every few seconds as the ground gives way beneath him.
And Rachel fighting to pull back from the edge of a break that widens faster than she can move.
“Rachel!” I scream even though she can’t hear me, and leap from the stage.
Adam and Willow streak past me, heading for the clock tower to give Captain Burkes the signal. I want to call them back. Tell them to wait. Tell them they can’t flood the city while our people are on the ground, but I can’t. We have to destroy Rowansmark’s power and the tanniyn along with it.
I’ll just have to reach Quinn and Rachel in time.
I race across the cracked cobblestones toward the wide expanse of green that leads up to the mansion and pass James Rowan first. He’s got the whip and is on his feet, but I don’t stop. Not when Rachel is holding on by her fingertips and Quinn is in danger of falling into one of the cracks every time he reaches for her.
“What have you done? What have you done?” Rowan screams at my back as the ground caves in around me.
The dirt beneath me disappears, and I slam my palms onto the edge of a crack in the cobblestones. Digging my fingers in, I fight for purchase while below me tanniyn bellow in fury.
From the corner of my eye, I see Rowan pull himself onto the grass above the cracks and hurry across solid ground toward Quinn and Rachel. Digging my elbows into the ground, I scramble onto the cobblestones. My boots slip as I try to push away from the crack.
“Got you.” Smithson grabs a fistful of my cloak and hauls me to my feet while behind me, one of the beasts explodes out of the ground.
CHAPTER FIFTY-ONE
LOGAN
The tanniyn spew out of the ground like a nest of monstrous vipers. They writhe, digging clawed limbs into one another as they fight for purchase while more just keep coming. Everywhere I look I see sightless, milky-white eyes, puffs of gray smoke pouring from snouts, and sharp yellow talons crushing the cobblestones.
Smithson and I run toward the grass. Heat blazes along our backs as the beasts roar and strafe the square with fire. Flames rush across the stone, leaving scorch marks and smoke.
I’ve lost sight of Quinn and James Rowan. I’ve lost sight of Frankie and Nola.
I’ve lost sight of Rachel.
Desperation pounds through me, clouding my thoughts with panic, as the tanniyn whip their tails, smashing the cobblestones and flinging debris that slices into us as we race for safety. One beast slams into a gracious, two-story brick building, and the upper balcony rips free of its moorings and crashes to the ground. Fire licks at the building’s porch, and in seconds, the flames are racing inside to consume everything in their path.
At the far end of the square, the clock tower bursts into flame, and my heart feels like it’s hammering against my throat. Adam and Willow have set the signal.
In moments, Captain Burkes will open all of the floodgates on the dam, drowning the tanniyn and anyone else on the ground.
A beast spews fire, sending a streak of flames shooting across our path. Throwing my arm up over my face, I drop to the ground to crawl beneath the heat. Smithson hits the cobblestones beside me, and I slap at his cloak to extinguish an errant flame.
“I’m going after Rachel and Quinn,” I say as we drag ourselves onto the grass. “Find Nola and Frankie.”
He nods, and I claw my way up the grass hillside until I’m free of the cracks and can see the square in its entirety. What I see dries the spit in my mouth.
The beasts have ripped a massive hole into the northern side of the square, starting from where Rachel drove the staff into the ground and spreading to encompass most of the ground beneath a brick building with yellow-and-white bunting fluttering from its balcony. The building tips precariously to the left, dangling over the hole as if a slight breeze would send it sliding down that dark shaft until it was swallowed up by the center of the earth.
Rachel, Quinn, and James Rowan are trapped on the building’s porch, surrounded by a writhing, fire-spewing mass of tanniyn.
CHAPTER FIFTY-TWO
RACHEL
There’s nowhere to hide. I heave quick pants of the smoky air and try to hold myself steady even though the terror blazing through me makes it impossible to stop shaking.
I’m trapped. Stuck with Quinn and Rowan on the porch of a building close to where I called the tanniyn. To the left, a huge hole threatens to swallow the house and us with it. Metal shrieks and wood snaps as the building slowly tips toward its side. To the right, a long crack is splitting the cobblestones, widening with every passing second. Below us, the porch shudders as if straining against the bonds that hold it to the house. We have to get away from here before the house comes apart at the seams, but we can’t. The tanniyn are everywhere.
Wherever I look, I see huge black bodies, streams of fire, and white eyes daring me to make a sound so that they can find me. I press my back against the wall behind me and clench my jaw to keep my lips from trembling. I want to think about courage or sacrifice or justice, but my mind is stuck on a single, inescapable thought: I don’t want to die.
Quinn stands next to me, blood flowing from the cuts on his back and on his face. Beside him, Rowan glares at us with hatred, his whip clutched in his hand. I ignore Rowan and reach for Quinn’s hand. He closes his fingers around mine and squeezes. Tears gather in my eyes, and I lift my chin. I don’t want to die. I don’t want Quinn to die. There has to be a way out of this. I start looking for a miracle.