Page 64 of Waysider
But Cass’s limbs were locked into place, terror roaring through her entire body like a tsunami, and all she could do was watch as the revenant closed the space between them. Those long, black legs scrabbled against the floor and Cass could hear the other voyants shouting around her. Someone said her name. She just stared into the creature’s red eyes, a scream building in her throat. Cass braced herself for—
At the last possible moment, someone stepped in front of her.
Cass lost her balance and fell back, only dimly aware as pain shot through her elbows. Her paracaus hit the floor nearby. Cass instinctively started crawling backward just as the creature came bearing down on them, releasing an ear-splitting screech. Her rescuer moved, and in an instant, the revenant disintegrated. Cass breathed hard as her focus shifted to the figure standing over her.
It was Webster. The Shadowripper glanced back at Cass, coolly noting whether she’d been hurt. Then she spun her blade in a fluid, fearless flick of the wrist and faced the room again, probably searching for any sign that the monstrous revenant had returned.
“Find out what it’s attached to,” Sinister instructed, making Cass jump. His voice came from behind. She turned to find his hand beside her. She took it, allowing him to help her up, then quickly let go. Sinister searched her face before his dark eyes moved down the rest of her, his expression as unreadable as ever. “Are you all right?”
Cass moved to retrieve her paracaus blade from the floor. She was definitely not all right, but if she went back to the van, Sinister would be forced to go with her. She couldn’t weaken the team like that. Cass swallowed down a rush of queasiness, and her grip tightened around the hilt of the blade. It was still on, thrumming gently against her palm, but Cass didn’t turn it off.
“Fine,” she lied. “It didn’t touch me.”
Hoping for a distraction, she looked around to see what the others were doing. They’d already spread out, and Cass could tell they were following the direction of the threads. She started doing the same, because she couldn’t keep standing there like some damsel in distress. As she focused on a particularly thick strand, Cass sensed Sinister nearby. His calm presence persisted as she crept forward.
Silence spread over the room like a layer of dust, and every subtle sound made Cass tense. Her eyes kept darting around, expecting the revenant to materialize. But the creature stayed away. Maybe it had been injured by Webster’s blade, or it was just waiting for an opportunity. Cass realized she should’ve asked more questions outside. It felt like she’d been thrown into the deep end of a pool and everyone had just assumed she could swim.
Fixating on the tethers helped, though.
Cass found it in less than a minute—a tiny object on the mantle, practically buried by all the phantom strings surrounding it. She halted, feeling that same tug she’d experienced in class. Her fingers itched to pluck and pull at those dark threads. As they kept floating and shifting, Cass caught a glimpse of the item hiding in the center like a heart.
The revenant was attached to a wedding ring.
Cass forced herself to pick it up and carry it across the room. She expected to feel something, a slight tickle or a startling zap, maybe, but all she noticed was the coolness of the ring. She reached Wolfgang and held her hand out to him, saying, “Pennyseeker, right?”
His gaze dropped to the small object nestled in her palm. Using his thumb and index finger, Wolfgang took it with surprising dexterity for someone his size. He didn’t question her, and Cass figured he could probably see how the threads were thicker on the ring. Sinister made a gesture, and the team formed a loose circle around the Pennyseeker, keeping their backs to him as they raised their weapons. Cass stood between Sinister and Webster, trying not to let her paracaus shake.
Chad’s foot tapped restlessly. “Come on, come on, come on,” he muttered.
Frenchie shot him an annoyed look. “Rushing him won’t help. It’s a complex process.”
“I know that,” Chad snapped back.
“Quiet,” Sinister commanded. His voice was cold with warning, and everyone obeyed instantly.
As they fell silent, the dark crowded in close again. Cass’s breathing felt loud. Her eyes bounced from shadow to shadow like a pinball machine, and her fist started sweating around the hilt of her blade. Nothing moved. But Cass knew it was still here—she could feel it.
Cass heard Frenchie’s alarmed, “Mon dieu!” a moment before she saw it.
The revenant’s fangs flashed as its jaws opened wide. Cass screamed and thrust the paracaus instinctively, but Webster and Sinister moved in perfect tandem, slicing and stabbing before the monster could get to her. Blue bursts of light filled Cass’s wide, shocked eyes. Then her vision was blocked by Chad.
“I’ll get you out of here,” he muttered, his eyes darting around guiltily. It was obvious, even to Cass, that he was desperate to get out of there. He wasn’t offering to help her out of the goodness of his heart.
Before Cass could move, one of the monster’s legs moved in a blur, and Chad went flying across the room. He hit the far wall with a terrible smacking sound, then crumpled.
Sinister shouted and charged again. In an instant, Cass saw that he was an even better fighter than Webster—he dodged and evaded the revenant’s jabs, displaying grace and speed that didn’t seem human. Webster, Frenchie, Wolfgang, and Camila ran forward too, striking the creature with their electrified weapons. Cass heard its flesh zap and sizzle. She started moving toward the door, trying to stop her teeth from chattering. Her terror was so visceral that she could almost taste it. A distant part of Cass wondered if she should try to help Chad. Then she thought, Fuck Chad.
Cass was halfway to the door when someone shouted. There was real terror in the sound, and she paused, glancing over her shoulder. Camila was dragging Wolfgang’s limp body backward, and the others were scattered like dead leaves across the floor, as if the revenant had dealt them all a single, unexpected blow. The creature searched the room again, those red eyes even brighter, somehow. As if fighting the voyants had strengthened this thing, rather than weakened it.
Its gaze landed on Cass again. Panic seared through her, and the two of them moved at the same time. She dove out of the way, adrenaline roaring in her ears, and time seemed to slow. Cass felt the scrape of bristles against her lower back as she fell. Then she hit the floor and went rolling. Cass heard the paracaus clatter nearby an instant before she slammed into a chair. Pain ricocheted through her.
There was no time to care. The revenant was already coming for her again, letting out another one of those unearthly shrieks that hurt Cass’s ears as she scrabbled for her paracaus blade. At the last possible second, the revenant leaped. Cass rolled again, barely managing to avoid its jabbing legs. The creature struck the paracaus blade instead, and Cass heard it skitter away. As she hit the wall with a second painful jolt, a terrified sob rose in her throat. Cass pushed herself up to face the revenant, weaponless.
Michael’s eyes met hers.
For a breathless instant, time didn’t just slow—it stopped completely. He knelt on the other side of the room, right where her paracaus blade had ended up. Then he pushed it at her and whispered, “Fight, Cassandra. Fight.”
Her fear hardened into determination. Cass nodded at Michael, her fingers curling around the hilt. She held it in a firm grip and stood. Michael disappeared at the exact moment she straightened, and the revenant exploded through the air he’d just vacated. Screaming, Cass swung the paracaus so hard that pain exploded through her shoulder.
