Page 28 (1/2)

He looked at me, and not for the first time, I wished his eyes weren't so dark It would have been nice to have so on in his head "That's up to you,"he said

Mom always liked to say that we hardly ever know the decisions we e our lives, mostly because they're little ones You take this bus instead of that one and end upBut there was no doubt inain And Dad and Jenna wouldn't be ot twistier and h I'irl, I knehat my answer had to be

"It's too much of a risk, Cross Maybe one day when I' to be for L'Occhio di Dio, we could work on soes ofout battle plans on a whiteboard, so my voice was a little shaky when I continued "But for now, it's too dangerous"And not just because basical y everyone in our lives would want to kil us if they found out, I thought But because I was pretty sure I was stil in love with hi siether preventing the Monster Apocalypse/World War I I without that beco an issue

Not that I could say any of that

Archer's face was blank as he said, "Cool Got it"

"Cross,"I started to say, but then his eyes slid past me and ith horror At the sa noise behindpleasant slithers

Stil , I was not prepared for the night out of the crater

There were three of them, and they had been human once Many humans Their bodies, as they hoisted themselves out of the pit, were like patchwork quilts of human flesh and mismatched limbs

They lumbered toward us, and the one nearest to ered hand His other arm, I noticed as hysteria bubbled up inside ht red nails

"Ghouls,"I heard Archer say His voice was low and tense, like a person who's being confronted by a wild aniuardians Seriously dark -"

"Oh , please"My voice was squeaky with fear, and I knew e when I swiveled around to look at Archer

He already had the sword in his hand, and he was crouching slightly "I can slow thehouls can't be kil ed by blades You're the one who has to stop theain?"I nearly squeaked

"You're a necroht One of the ic atup onto need to order around the dead?

The things were getting close enough now that I could s "I don't knohat to do,"I said, panicked

"Wel , think of so fast,"Archer replied There was a burst of movement out of the corner of my eye, and suddenly, he wasn't beside ht one of the ghouls under the chin with the point of his blade, but there was no blood The thing stopped , but it didn't falInstead, it swept a hand at Archer like he was an annoyingthe side of the second ghoul This time, a thick black substance poured fro just looked irritated No houls showed no signs of pain

By now I had drawn up as ic as I could possibly hold, but I was afraid to start sending big bolts of it into the fray The last thing I wanted was to hit Archer, who, I was beginning to realize, had definitely held back in Defense I'd never seen anyone move like he did, his ood

Final y, one of the ghouls got a grasp on his hair, and he winced as the thing jerked his head back I think Ibetween ic innow?"Archer shouted at houls, and didthat was hard to do when the slimpse of his face, which must have taken each of its eyes, itsdeep breaths, I gathered ertips "Let hio!"I commanded in what I hoped was my most "I am a powerful demon"voice Probably would've been better if ic in iant rubber band

A bolt of power flew fro into a nearby tree with a thunderous crack There was a bright flash like lightning, and a branch fel to the ground The ghouls startled, whichArcher jerked his head back even farther The sht have been distress, but they certainly didn't seeo

Okay, so my first experiht panic and frustration Shooting off ood, but what else was I supposed to try? "Think, Sophie,"I muttered under my breath,

"Yeah, please do that,"Archer replied, his voice slightly strangled The ghoul holding hi's expression wasn't threatening, just curious, like he was little kid trying to see ould happen if he just kept squeezing

I slas That shts were not helpful

Exceptthey were dead They'd coround, crawled out of the dirt at the base of the crater I thought of howup from my feet, and wondered ifh the earth "Release hiain, quietly this time