The beast dropped down until its eye leveled with mine and spoke in a deep rumbling voice.
“Remember me… Tally?”
It knew my name?!
A chuckle rumbled from its chest as it opened its mouth and fitted my head in its jaws. Teeth scraped against my skull. More drool slid down my face. It smelled like rot and decay and meat left in the sun. More teeth situated themselves against the soft skin of my neck, the perfect place to bite down to end my life.
Oh, gods. Oh, no. Oh, please.
The pressure in its jaw built as it prepared to clamp down and sever my head.
This was it. I closed my eyes…
And rammed my sword as hard as I could up into its neck.
The blade slammed into its hide, bit through, and sank to the hilt.
A hit. A direct hit.
The beast lurched back, releasing me, as it howled and bled. With my free arm, I slashed at the remaining material pinning me, cutting desperately as the beast shook its head and tramped around, spraying blood all over the foliage.
I’d cut its neck, but not deep enough to kill. It would be back. I didn’t have time to free myself.
Seeing her partner wounded, the viney female stepped forward, arms shooting up to try to tangle me again, but Vinya released a spell that landed this time. Red fireworks exploded on her face and chest, starting a blaze. She shrieked and ran, her body trailing flames and acrid smoke.
The beast saw this and began a hasty retreat too, though not before glancing over one boney shoulder and giving me a final look as if to say This isn’t finished.
No, it wasn’t. Not by a long shot.
My body shaking with spent adrenaline and the remnants of terror, I clumsily hacked away the rest of the vines and staggered up to free Vinya and Tyler.
When I offered him my hand, he took it and stood, staring at me intently. “What happened back there, Tally?”
I shook my head, unwilling or unable to put it into words. He couldn’t… He wasn’t...
“What did it say to you?” Vinya’s face was white with terror.
“It knew me. I think…” I stared at them, the words catching in my throat. “I think it was... the camper... the dead camper, Wally.”
Chapter Three
When we materialized in the back of the ship, my emotions raged out of control as I struggled to get a handle on what had happened.
I had lost Sinasre when he’d been within my reach. And then Wally…
Finding out that Wally wasn’t dead was almost as upsetting as failing my cousin. What sinister experiments could bring someone back to life? That was impossible. Only evil could accomplish that. And if that disfigured monster had been Wally, then could the vine woman have been Daniella? I shook my head, refusing to believe it.
Vinya gave me a weak smile and patted my shoulder regretfully. She and Tyler left the room while I stayed, peering through the window at the thick cover of clouds. I could barely see anything in the dark but the slightest glimmer of the dome’s protective magic.
The door opened behind me, and I turned to find Ronnie’s head poking in.
They were saved. Thank the gods. At least, Charlie and her team had succeeded.
To my surprise, the young boy ran in my direction. His dark skin was filthy and his clothes dirtier than I remembered.
“Tally!” he exclaimed, and I thought he might throw his arms around me, but he stopped just a few feet away, relief stamped on his face.
Becca, Regina, and Antonio trailed behind him. They all looked disheveled and exhausted but smiled at me with approval. I was glad to see them, too, Sinasre’s absence and a new, disturbing revelation tainted my relief.
How could I tell them what I’d learned?
I glanced toward the door, waiting for Bael’s hulking figure to appear. It didn’t.
“Where’s Bael?” I asked, my heart taking a tumble as the smiles on their faces disappeared.
“No. No,” I repeated. Not Bael, too.
“They took him,” Regina said. “He was the only reason we were able to escape.”
What would those monsters do to him, to that kind Khyrunian who had worked himself into my heart with his gentleness?
Despairing, I ran out of the room. There was only one person I wanted to see. I staggered down the hall, opening several doors until I found the right one.
Dean McIntosh stood inside a narrow cabin, tending to Vaughn. He lay on a tall bed, white sheets pulled high onto his naked chest. His features were relaxed as he appeared to sleep. A plastic tube stretched from the crook of his elbow to a bag of clear liquid hanging from a hook on the wall above his head.
When Dean McIntosh took a step away from the bed, a soft glimmer of light pulled away from Vaughn, a bit of magic I hadn’t noticed before.
“You’re back.” The dean scrutinized my face. “And… you didn’t succeed.”
I did not answer and stepped into the room, closing the door behind me, eyes roving over Vaughn’s prone figure. I hadn’t seen him since Alonzo and Vinya rescued us.
“How is he?” I asked.
“The same.”
The bullets that had struck him as we escaped the dome had been laced with poison, preventing him to heal. The dean had said that whatever toxin ran through his veins was eating away at his body and his consciousness. Only their magical remedies were keeping the poison at bay.
I stepped up to the bed and took Vaughn’s hand in mine. Its coldness startled me. “Why isn’t your magic working?”
“I’ve never seen anything like this before. It’s science, not magic, and I’m having a hard time figuring out how to fix it. If it was a spell, it would be much easier.”
I stared at his face, expecting his eyelids to slide open at any moment, but they didn’t even flutter.
“Should he go to a… hospital?” I knew humans had buildings full of medical equipment that could diagnose a problem. If science had done this, why were they still trying to heal him with magic?
The dean shook her head. “This is beyond what a hospital can handle. I’ve sent some of his blood samples to a few scientists who deal with this sort of thing. In the meantime, we’re using magic to hold back the poison, to buy him time. Also, my hope is that, once we take control of the island, we will find something to cure him. That’s why I think keeping him here gives him the best chance of survival.”
“I see.” I nodded my understanding, grateful for the dean’s answers to my unspoken questions. “Then we have to go back as soon as possible, especially now after what we uncovered.”
“More bad news?” The lines in her forehead deepened.
I nodded, meeting her gaze, my expression grim.
“That bad, huh?”
“I’m afraid so.”
The dean retreated toward the door. “We will meet in half an hour to discuss what to do next. We’ll explain what our earlier incursion into the dome was about, and you can tell us all you know. Once we have a thorough understanding, we will devise a plan of attack.” The dean’s words were decisive and filled me with a mixture of determination and relief. She had the kind of mindset we needed to make the Habermanns pay.
“Spend some time with your friend.” The dean nodded toward Vaughn, sympathy flooding her clear blue eyes. She left, quietly closing the door.