Page 148 of An Oath at Midnight

“Good, let’s get this over with.”

We jogged for a little while longer, then spotted Iris just ahead. She was crouched behind a boulder near a cluster of trees, and she pressed her finger to her lips when she saw us. We slowed down and bent low, moving as quietly as we could to join her.

“Rose blocked their way, threw a few obstacles in front of them, sending them off course. The animals helped, but I told them not to get too close,” Iris said.

Something heavy hit the ground, and I peered around the boulder. Rose was in the air, and she was using her power to throw dead trees and rocks at Emmaline and Marcel, driving them back in our direction.

“They’re moving quicker,” Iris said as Marcel picked up one of the boulders and tossed it aside like it was nothing. “Fuck, and stronger.”

She was right. “We need to act now, before they’re impossible to stop.” We had a plan, we just had to execute it perfectly. So, no pressure at all.

“Promise me you’ll stay back,” I said to Willow. “No matter what, okay?”

“I don’t make promises I can’t keep, but I promise to try.”

“Stubborn witch,” I said.

“Takes one to know one.”

I looked up at Rose and gave her a thumbs-up, then turned back to Iris and Wills. “Right, you stay the fuck here,” I said to Willow, because it needed to be said again to our headstrong sister. Then I turned to Iris. “Call them.”

Iris silently called on her magic, and in minutes the forest went from birdsong and the occasional growl from a distant demon to a low-building thunder as every animal within hearing distance headed our way. Sounds of thousands of small feet, flapping wings, chirping and squawking, squeaks and growls and hisses filled the air.

Rose’s little bat familiars joined them. They burst through the trees and, swarming, flew around Emmaline and Marcel, animals, birds, bats dive-bombing them.

They both roared and shrieked, making inhuman sounds that lifted the hair on the back of my neck. Iris and I rushed out from behind the boulder, and despite the animals attacking, both sets of milky but lifeless eyes slid to us. Goddess, Calvin’s and Margot’s eyes, and the hunger aimed our way sent ice through my veins.

“Fuck,” Iris said beside me.

They sprinted for us, moving so fucking fast there was no way we could outrun them. Wills called out a spell from behind us, sending her magic into the ground. Tree roots shot up, trying to latch on to their legs as they ran, but they were moving too fast.

Rose flew in front of them and, gritting her teeth, fired her power at them full force. It slowed them down enough for the tree roots to coil around their legs and arms, stopping their forward momentum. They tore at the roots, snapping them as if they were toothpicks. Rose lowered to the ground and, planting her feet, cried out as her power battered against them, as she fought to hold them back. Iris called out orders to her little animal army, and they dove at them, scratching and biting, disorientating Emmaline and Marcel.

I ran for them.

Marcel suddenly wrenched his only arm free and grabbed Rose. Emmaline snapped her teeth, and before I could get to them, Marcel bit down on Rose’s bicep.

She screamed in horror and pain.

I slammed my blade into his skull, and it was as if I’d done nothing. He shook his head, as though my blade was nothing more than an annoying bug, and tore at Rose’s flesh. A zombie died when you destroyed the brain, but Emmaline and Marcel weren’t actual zombies, they were stitched-together meatsuits controlled by angry and vengeful spirits.

Wrenching my blade free, I sliced through his cheek and twisted the blade downward, into the hinge of his jaw. It dislocated and fell limp, releasing Rose. She stumbled back, and Iris grabbed her, pulling her away and wrapping her belt around Rose’s upper arm to stop the blood pouring from her.

Marcel made a throaty gurgling sound as he tore the roots from his limbs, and broke free—then ran straight at me. Emmaline right behind him.

Marcel tackled me to the ground, dragging his upper teeth over me, unable to bite down hard without his jaw. Iris kicked Emmaline’s legs out from under her, as I hacked at Marcel’s arm, through ligaments as he thrashed on top of me. I dug the tip of my blade into his shoulder joint and smacked the end of the pommel, once, twice, popping the bone out. Rendering it useless.

Shoving him off, I sliced the tendons in his legs and ran for Iris. Rose was shrieking, her claws extended from the ends of her fingers, scratching, trying to get Emmaline off Iris.

I screamed a spell as I ran, one that would render Emmaline blind, but it didn’t work. Marcel and Emmaline shouldn’t exist, and though we could spell around them—Willow’s earth magic, Rose’s burst of power, and Iris’s animals—the magic wasn’t working on them, which meant we were in serious trouble.

Iris’s struggles suddenly stopped. She went limp, blood everywhere. Willow ran forward, unable to stand back any longer.

“Emmaline!” I yelled to get her attention off Iris.

Her head came up, her eyes slicing to me a moment before she bounded to her feet and sprinted for me. Willow ran for us, her hands outstretched, screaming now, calling on her earth magic. Emmaline collided with me, teeth rabidly biting, tearing at my flesh. I shoved my forearm against her throat, trying to hold her snapping mouth away from my throat, and stabbed and sliced at her patchwork flesh.

Willow tried to drag her off, and Emmaline shoved her back with so much force, she flew across the forest floor and into a tree trunk. Willow crawled back to her feet, blood dripping down her face and her arm, not stopping, still calling on her magic, until the earth shook from it.