Page 261

He pulled a knife from its sheath and plunged it into the fleshy throat of the winged demon pinning him to the boat deck. The creature screamed. He wrenched the blade free and stabbed it again. Again. Again. Black blood sprayed and sprayed, until it collapsed on top of him with one last click of its jaws, the sour warmth of its final breath wafting across his face.

With a mighty roar and an upward shove of his legs, he threw the corpse over the side of the boat.

No sooner had it toppled into the canal than another monster just like it was sweeping toward him with open talons, its piercing screech rattling the night.

His sister took that one down with a battle cry and an upward thrust of her hands. Fire blasted steadily out of her red-hot palms, as if her arms were not arms at all, but flamethrowers.

Max flinched away from the sweltering heat, his mind flashing between the present and the horrible past he’d never stopped running from.

Alive, not dead. Alive, not dead. He forced himself to believe it—that his sister really was alive.

Maya had never burned.

Shewasthe burning.

As he watched her, with fear and awe, her fire sputtered out. Panting, she sagged forward and braced her hands on her knees.

A monster that looked like a massive bat was swooping toward her.

“Maya!”he thundered.“Look out!”

She whipped around?—

The creature grabbed her under the arms and took off into the air.

Max leapt to his feet and sprinted across the deck, dodging the others who were mid-battle. He grabbed an automated rifleoff the bench and started firing. Bullets peppered the creature’s wings like a hole puncher. It screamed and plunged into the canal?—

With Maya still ensnared in its talons.

“Max!”Blue screamed as she drowned another creature with her magic. “Max—the water!The water—she can’t be in the water!”

He dove into the canal and started swimming.

About a dozen meters away, Maya was floundering. Coughing and screaming for help. Screaming Max’s name.

Drowning. She was drowning.

How ironic that he would be forced to watch his sister die by water instead. Life was cruel.

“Maya!”He swallowed water. Coughed. Swam faster.“Hold on, I’m coming! Hold on?—”

Her head went under.

“MAYA!”

A current pushed him forward.

It was Blue, standing in the boat hull with outstretched hands, her magic generating a wave in the canal. Max rode that wave straight to where his sister had vanished.

And with a deep breath, he dove.

He found her passed out several feet below the surface, bubbles exiting her slack mouth in a steady stream. He grabbed her around the waist and kicked for the surface.

He broke it with a gasping inhale. “Maya, stay with me!” he shouted, coughing. “Stay with me—I’m going to get you to shore! I’m going to get us to shore!” But as it turned out, getting to shore was the least of his concerns.

Because more monsters were coming. An impossible number of winged nightmares, all heading straight for them.

On the boat, the others were forming a group—guarding each other’s backs, weapons raised before them.