Page 44 of Ravenous Prophecy
For the safety of anyone the MEA had hidden in a safe house, I genuinely hoped that it was easier to sneak out of one than it would be to sneak in. In the end, our escape was strangely anticlimactic following our dramatic agreement in the kitchen.
With the distraction of a small fire in the bathroom that kept our minder busy for a few minutes, we simply walked out the front door. With Julian’s car still sitting in front of Bradley’s apartment somewhere across the city, Griffin found us another vehicle. No one asked who it belonged to, really. And then we were on our way.
The first location was an absolute dud. An empty warehouse, rats startled by our entrance. The second location was slightly better, and we found an illegal card game with some of Moraira City’s most powerful mundane citizens.
Luckily, Elaine and I were familiar with some of the players, and that smoothed our way inside so that we could verify there was nothing happening but plenty of money changing hands.
The drive to the last location was tense, Griffin’s hands fisted on the steering wheel, Julian cradling his sword in his lap, his fingers running over the patterned sheath. Elaine was reapplying her lipstick, checking her eye makeup, and making plenty of noise about what sort of dinner we should go out for afterward.
Beside her, Brigette caught my eyes in the rearview mirror. She was the one who had the least reason to be here, and I wouldn’t blame her if she simply slipped out of the vehicle at the next intersection.
Instead, her lips twisted up into a smile that I matched. She might be a thief, and I might be a researcher, but neither of us could let someone destroy the world.
Griffin turned his head, and I reached out, wrapping my hand around his wrist. In the cramped car, it felt like a very loud motion. I could feel the weight of everyone’s eyes on us.
The final location was at the edge of the city, a beachfront house that Williams owned for entertaining purposes. Every week, society columns were filled with photos from parties at the house. As we drove up the street, it was eerie seeing all the darkened houses around us.
“We’re being watched.” Griffin’s voice was low.
In the back, Julian tensed, clearly agreeing. Griffin stopped at the bottom of the drive, the motor humming before he turned it off.
“Last chance to walk away.” Griffin glanced in the rearview mirror, and I felt something warm in my chest because he knew I had no plans of leaving.
Julian opened his door, sliding out before Elaine followed him onto the gravel of the drive. Brigette caught my eye again just before opening the other rear passenger door, and my hand trembled only a little before I managed mine. Ominously, the gate swung open.
As soon as it did, I felt a tickle at the base of my skull, something in my brainstem buzzing. Around us, shadowsseemed to come to life, melting into three dimensions before they began running at us.
In the slices of light from the streetlamps, I could see they were mundanes, or at least people dressed like mundanes. Their mouths were open in screams, their eyes too wide, and just as Julian raised his sword, and Griffin pulled out his brass knuckles, I heard a chittering sound in the back of my head.
Elaine and Brigette were already in motion, throwing spells, their magic bright lights in the darkness. I squinted past the fireworks display of power. Somewhere, there had to be more of Williams’s helmets. Somewhere, there was somebody controlling these men and women.
The buzzing in my head became almost violent, and I gritted my teeth, my fist closed tight. The buzzing became words, whispers of chaos, the promise that they could feed, their hunger would finally be sated if they ripped us limb from limb, tore the flesh from our bodies.
I followed the whispers, let them lead me down a path of darkness until…
“There!” I screamed, pointing to a spot even deeper within the shadows of the darkness. But the others were busy, too caught up with trying to restrain or disable or keep the people from hurting themselves.
I took a jerky breath, squaring my shoulders before I sprinted around the edge of the fighting, feeling fingers tearing at my clothes, nails scratching my skin.
I had to get to him. I had to get to—then I was on him, he raised his gun too slow, and I could feel the power in my hand when I placed it on top of his helmet.
Sleep. The word was a command, an order, and the manwent down instantly. He was on his knees, his helmet cracking in two, head slamming into the concrete driveway, and I couldn’t even regret the pool of blood where he had bitten through his lip.
Sleep. I let the order flow through me, flow through the quiet night air, and felt the people being controlled drop one by one.
Julian said something like a prayer, and Elaine gasped my name in shock. I turned toward the house, dark and looming at the top of the twisting driveway. We needed to keep going.
Somewhere in that dark house, I could feel a voice. Not like the one in the helmet. It was something more sinister, a promise and an order that wanted to send me to the ground.
I locked my knees, refusing to go down. I knew who that was. I knew what it meant.
Even if I’d never heard the voice before, it was clear that we were too late.
The Hive Father had awakened.
CHAPTER 17
GRIFFIN
