Page 56 of Circle of Death
The figure is gone.
Maddy spins, trying to get her bearings in the darkened space. She pushes through another curtain. She’s backstage. A flash of blue disappears into an exit tunnel on the other side. Maddy is breathless now, not thinking—just running, dodging, jumping, until she’s in another passageway, lined in black, just like the entrance.
She sees Deva just ahead. Shouts her name again. Why won’t she answer?
Maddy makes one final lunge for her friend’s arm, spins her around—and staggers back in shock.
The face is not Deva’s face. It’s green and hideous. And the body is no longer human. The creature lunges at Maddy, swiping at her with sharp claws. The jaws are open, showing blackened, blade-like teeth. Maddy ducks and turns, covering her head. A claw rips through her hair, slicing her scalp. She bends over, wincing in pain. She rocks backward, trying to clear her head. She needs to do something! Needs to fight back! The monster moves forward to strike again. Maddy shields her eyes with her arm.
Suddenly she feels a powerful grip around her waist. She’s lifted off the ground and propelled through a fabric flap into the outside air. Maddy whips her elbows back, striking hard muscle. But the grip around her midsection only gets tighter.
“Hey, hey, hey! Stop! It’s me!” A man’s voice in her ear. Maddy stops flailing. “I’m letting go now,” the voice says.
Maddy feels the pressure ease around her torso. She twists free and spins around to see…
Jericho?!
CHAPTER 67
MADDY BENDS FORWARD, hands on her knees. Her chest is heaving. Her head stings. She blinks the sweat from her eyes and looks up at her rescuer. She pants out the words, “You’ve beenfollowingme?”
Jericho nods. “Shadow’s orders.”
Maddy shakes her head, her breaths coming in quick gasps. “You’ve got to be kidding,” she mutters. After all this time, Lamont still won’t stop treating her like a baby.
She hesitates for a second, then gets onto her toes and tries to rush past Jericho, back into the pavilion tunnel. He blocks her with one arm and holds her back.
“Maddy,quit it! Whatever the hell was in there, it’s gone.”
Maddy’s furious. She tries to wrestle free. “You don’t know that!”
“Yeah, I do. It disappeared the second I grabbed you. Otherwise I would have whipped its ugly goddamn ass.”
Maddy stops struggling. But Jericho still has a tight hold on her.
“Let it go, Maddy,” says Jericho. “Let it go.”
Maddy’s head drops. She relaxes her fists. She feels the anger and adrenaline slowly drain out of her. Then she realizes that she’s feeling something else. Something foreign and odd. Something she hasn’t felt in a long time.
In this moment, she feels safe.
Maddy looks up at the huge man looming over her. Strange. In her brain, she knows this isn’t the same Jericho Druke she grew up reading about, but somehow it feels that way. Exactly the same. Just like she always imagined. It feels like she’s known him forever. She’s starting to understand why Lamont trusts him so much.
“Promise me you’ll stay still,” says Jericho.
“Fine.”
“Look. Maddy. I’m sorry about your friend. I truly am. But chasing some shape-shifter around the fair tonight won’t bring her back. Let’s head home, okay? Fight another day.”
Maddy steps back and stares at him. “You do realize that I could turn invisible right now and leave you here in the dust?”
“You should have thought of that before you left the house,” says Jericho. “Would have made you a lot harder to track.”
“Okay, bodyguard,” says Maddy. “Let’s go.”
They slip out of the cramped space behind the pavilion and find their way back onto the main concourse. The walkway is filled with concertgoers, still energized from the show. Suddenly, there’s a loud crack from overhead. Fireworks. Splashy and bright.
“You’re welcome, by the way,” says Jericho.
