Page 23 (1/2)

It sounds like the entire universe is screa Dervish and Grubbs wail for Meera In the air, Lord Loss bellows Juni&039;s na Bec a brief respite The deht, the scent of huhter around us, each wanting to be next to claim a soul

I drown out the screams and focus on theIt&039;s all that et the hell out of here, or we&039;ll wind up like Meera No time for misery or joy Just focus, work fast, and pray

A olf is slaughtered and collides witha new, deep cut down the side ofit off and concentrate

Kirilli leaps high into the air, raining handfuls of bones down upon the demons He must have picked them up from the floor of the battlefield They strike like shrapnel, blinding, wounding, killing He roars with delight-then shrieks as a deht foot is bitten off at the ankle Kirilli collapses His foot drops on top of ht hand ed left hand

Grubbs head-butts a demon and smashes its skull to pieces His forehead co his tongue, he licks his eyes clean and fights on, laughing through his tears

Lord Loss and Bec crash to earth, then rise again They&039;re still struggling with each other, but he doesn&039;t seee His hands ing her And she doesn&039;t react as violently as before She wriggles less frantically in his eht, aof pale blue light blinks into existence I stare at it stupidly Then exhilaration sweeps through me and I yell at the top of my voice "Theis open!"

The Demonata scream hatefully and lash at us frantically The smarter beasts try to crowd around the , to block our path, but they&039;re hampered by the et in one another&039;s way

Kirilli hops to the , grabs Dervish&039;s right ar at the spot where Meera fell-and topples through, dragging Dervish after him

A bloodied, panting Grubbs draws up beside me He casually repels a handful of de to the sky overhead where Bec is locked in the embrace of Lord Loss

"Go!" she yells "Leave me!"

"We can&039;t," Grubbs croaks

"We , spitting, claws and fangs at full stretch

"But-" Grubbs begins

"We&039;re deh theand out of the demonic universe of death

I hit a hard floor and I&039;m on my feet a split second later This is the cave where Beranabus and I were based before our quest to find the Shadow began It was the first place that popped into ether

I rip at the fabric of the , dis for Grubbs If he crosses within the next few seconds, fine If not, he&039;s a fool and he&039;ll deserve all he gets

Asat the individual patches, a olf stuiant insect-shaped deht on the floor As Kirilli yelps and slips out of their way, Grubbs backs through the , bolts of e at those he&039;s leaving behind

Two more olves follow their leader into the cave The head and shoulders of a third appear, but sos and hauls it back It howls and kicks at whatever has hold Grubbs grabs the creature and pulls But then thecoht pulse and snap free of each other The panel vanishes and the olf&039;s cut neatly in half, its lower body stranded in the universe of the De to the floor here Its death roar catches in its throat

It&039;s over

Well alibbers and breaks free It darts at the place where the as, pauses when it realizes it&039;s trapped, then turns on me Before it can strike, all three olves pounce They rip it to pieces and feast on the brittle re about the trau the rest of us as we sink to the floor and stare silently at each other with shock, bewilder slowly, groaning painfully, he hobbles over to check on Dervish His uncle&039;s in bad shape, the worst of any of us Blood is pu from the hole in his chest and I don&039;t think any a with him He wants to open aback to the demon universe, where Dervish will stand a chance of recovery, but the battered Disciple is having none of it He told Grubbs a while ago that he wanted to die on Earth when his tiranted his wish

"How&039;s the foot?" I ask Kirilli, who&039;s sitting nearby, staring at the place where his right foot used to be He&039;s crying softly

"It&039;s gone," Kirilli moans, then looks up "I don&039;t feel any pain"

"You will soon," I tell hie it up and help numb the pain Then I&039;ll open aand drop you off at a hospital before I leave"

Kirilli doesn&039;t ask where I&039;ood, didn&039;t I?" he asks hopefully

"You did great" I sht I&039;d be a hero," he whispers "I dreamed of itthe highlights, conveniently ignoring the part where he danced like a fool in the stomach of the Shadow I don&039;t rees from behind the spot where I used to sleep He&039;s earned the right to be proud It&039;s not stu the way that matters, but how you finish

Grubbs li Kirilli&039;s ankle and healing it withoff the veins and arteries He watches silently until I&039; Kirilli, we squat near the place where we once kept a fire burning Grubbs&039;s face has altered He looksHe also looks like he&039;s in a lot of pain, but he says nothing of it

"Meera&039;s dead," he mumbles

"I know"

"She took Juni with her I&039;d have rather killed that traitor hs, then says quietly, "Dervish is dying He asked me to take him up top, so he can die outside I need you to open the trapdoor"

We&039;re deep beneath the ground A rope ladder leads to the surface, but a stone slab blocks the way out It&039;s operated by , Ifree "Done"

"Thanks," Grubbs says and starts to rise

"I could take hiest

Grubbs shakes his head "No point They couldn&039;t do anything for hi the deuard up The old fool deserves" He shudders, fighting hard to hold back tears