Page 104 of Wolf of Ashes
They’re black, charred, and dead-looking, but they twine across the ceiling, tearing it up as if they were made of something stronger than metal.
Within heartbeats, the vines rip through every seat around their point of entry, wrenching the chairs up from the floor, wrapping around them and crushing them against the sides of the car. It happens so fast that the seats may as well be made of nothing more than paper.
I’ve barely blinked when eight rows have been ripped up, four in each direction, creating an open space only a row ahead of me.
Gad and Valki are on the far side of it, both poised for a fight.
Lucian positions himself on this side of the open area with Diavolo at his side while Jonah continues to stand guard beside me and Elijah. Anarchy has risen to her feet and bares her teeth at the hole in the ceiling.
A woman drops through the gap above us, landing lightly on her feet.
She has auburn hair and bright, green eyes. A dusting of freckles across her nose. A slight cleft in her chin. I’m surprised to see that she’s petite, thin, practically a whisp of a thing. She’s wearing a mere slip of material masquerading as a skirt and a leafy-green sleeveless crop top that shows off a hell of a lot of her pale skin.
Damn, I thoughtIlooked sweet. This woman could rot my teeth.
If the vines around us weren’t slowly crushing chairs, I’d believe this lady was harmless.
She’s unbelievably calm as she ignores Gad and Valki and seeks Jonah first.
“The harpies you had monitoring the sky are dead, Jonah. Your warlock, Orlan, belongs to me. You know you don’t have a hope of beating me, so I’ll give you one chance.”
She smiles. “Give me the child now, and I’ll let you live.”
CHAPTERTHIRTY-FIVE
Igrowl a response before Jonah can speak. It’s a very un-pixie-like sound for me to make. “You can fuckingtryto take him.”
I rise to my feet, holding Elijah close as I make my presence known. It wasn’t the wisest move since the train is hurtling along so fast and Elijah is heavy in my arms, making my footing unsteady. I have to lean against the side of the chair to keep my balance. But she would have spotted us within seconds anyway, and this way, I can let her know she’ll have a fight when she gets to me.
Halle’s lips twitch as she shifts her focus off the men and onto me. “What a slip of a girl to say such a thing to me.”
I smile. “You’re not so intimidating yourself.”
I guess my comment makes her mad because her perfect features disappear. For a second, one half of her face and body appears blackened and charred, her eye on that side gleaming red. Even her clothing is split right down the middle, gleaming, black leather on the charred side.
Not so sweet after all.
Fucking Goddess of Death.
Half alive. Half living death. Certainly, she’s a mistress of her own illusion.
Within a blink, she resumes her full auburn-haired façade.
She plows toward me, but Gad and Valki rush at her from behind. At their approach, she turns, crouches, and throws her hands out. Vines shoot from her fingers, growing in length the longer she extends her arms and moving with her.
Gad is ahead of Valki and the vines thump into him first, wrapping around his torso, lifting him off the floor, and driving him against the side of the car.
Valki leaps, making it within inches of Halle’s side, but more vines fly from Halle’s shoulder, punching into Valki’s chest. One of them impales her shoulder and spears right through it.
Blood bursts from Valki’s shoulder and she screams as the vine curls up and around the back of her neck and whips around her throat. She gets her hands up just in time before the rope closes around her neck and she, too is hurled against the side of the car.
Gasping, she claws at the tightening vine. “This is my trick… bitch.”
Halle pauses. “Oh, that’s right. You like to strangle your victims. Well, if you don’t want the vines to cut your head from your shoulders, I suggest you shut the fuck up.”
Halle jumps back to her feet, and with a shake of her wrists, the vines break off from her fingers, freeing her to charge in my direction once more.
I’m surprised she didn’t kill Gad and Valki on the spot, but quite possibly, she’s keeping them alive for other purposes.
