Page 43 of Kat Bethel

He kicked his foot hard on the floor, making the wood splinter and fall away under him.

“No!” I locked my other hand around his wrist as the floor gave way. His weight yanked down, popping my shoulder out of socket, but I refused to let go.

The floor below became visible. I could see the second floor rotting until it collapsed and the bookshelves crashed and shattered against whatever was below. Until they were spikes waiting to welcome this kid with open arms.

“Fuck.” The floor below me was seconds from giving out, then we’d both be kebabs. There wasn’t even something solid to hold onto to wrench him up. I was stuck. “Hold on, kid.”

“Let me go,” he told me with submission in his eyes that didn’t sit right with me.

How did I get him back up? Sweat poured down my temples, and the muscles in my arm burned, begging me to release him. That stab in my shoulder was a painful reminder that I was alive.

At least for the moment.

The screams of terror filled the air as people processed what was happening around them. How many wouldn’t escape?

The sweat gathering between our fingers made him slowly slip from my grasp. Panic made my breathing come in sharp breaths.

Not now!

I forced deep breaths, knowing I’d kill both of us if I didn’t get my shit together.

Focus and think your way out of this, witch.

The floor under my chest was giving way, and I could feel the cracks growing beneath me. One snap and we were both falling.

I released one hand to grab a precarious piece of broken rebar that had become exposed nearby. The hardwood fell away in giant chunks. The grooves in the rebar dug painfully into my palm, but I held on.

The rust on the metal confirmed what I’d suspected. Nothing was spared.

The rod bent and sagged under our weight. I screamed when my abused shoulder took the brunt of the dropped weight.

My shadow against the wall morphed into the shape of my stalker with one hand lifted as if he was ready to interfere in a second.

“You have a good heart,” the kid said, staring up at me with those strange eyes. Then he released his fingers so we weren’t interlocked anymore.

“Don’t do that!” I tightened my sweaty hand, but he was sliding from my grasp. Too fast to do anything about it, but still agonizingly slow enough to rip my heart out of my chest.

Tears poured from my eyes when he slipped from my grip. “No!”

His blank eyes stared up at me. Guilt squeezed my insides in its tight grip.

Damn it, Sasha. Can’t even save a fucking kid.

As if to punctuate exactly how much I failed, bodies rained down as people jumped from every level into the massacre below. Each thump was a shot to my fragile brain.

The rebar holding me snapped with a loud metallic ring.

I’m sorry, Willow. I’m sorry, Esme.

I shrieked as I flew through the air, sending the scent of rotten wood and rust up my nose.

Darkness wrapped around me, smothering me in a cocoon that left me confused about which way was up. Perhaps I’d already hit the ground.

I blinked.

If I was lucky, the other dead bodies would cushion the fall.What a fucked up thought, Sasha.

But when the darkness faded, I was looking at the ruins of the library from the safety of the grass ten yards away. Bodies lined the ground as people leapt from the windows. Some were screaming, and I suspected that was the people who hoped they’d survive the jump.