Page 54 of Terror at the Gates

It had irrevocably disrupted my life.

I would never forget seeing Abram die.

I would never forget shooting Burke dead.

And those goddamn nightmares.

I shivered.

I could still feel the wind roaring around me and the sand clawing at my skin. I could feel the tremor of fear in my chest, like every bone was rattling as my eyes teared up with blood.

Maybe if this blade was far enough away, lost somewhere in the depths of the Kurari Sea, all this would end.

I continued down Sinners’ Row and cut through Southgate Cemetery to the canal bridge. Beneath, water flowed from the sea into the Nara-Sin Desert. Its creation had been amassive undertaking and happened to be the legacy of my great-great-great-grandfather and the other heads of the five families. They wanted to dig a canal through to the other side of the desert, thinking that a sustainable water supply would mean a better chance at survival as they sent men to mine the desert for minerals and oil.

Eventually, they succeeded, but only after a few hundred died building it.

The irony was that the canal, a resource that had made the five families rich, ran close to what the church described as the root of sin. On the other side of the bridge, carved into the mountainside, was the Seventh Gate. It was said that the evil of the world was trapped behind it, tangled in the roots. The gate itself was massive, a great work of stone the color of blood. Intricate mosaics of twisted serpents were inlaid around the archway in black, and the double doors were sealed with magic.

Or so theBook of Splendorsaid.

Who really knew what was behind them?

I looked all around as I unshouldered the backpack to make sure I was alone before I climbed onto the top of the stone barrier. I took out the dagger, slid it through an opening in the chain-link fence, and let it drop. The blade glimmered before it was swallowed by darkness. I knew it hit the water when I heard a quiet splash.

I imagined it sinking to the very bottom of the canal where it would be swept away, never to be seen again. The tightness in my chest eased.

I jumped down from the ledge.

As my feet touched the ground, a chill slithered up my spine.

It was colder near the mountains, but there was alsosomething unsettling about being within their shadow. I turned to look at the menacing peaks, their angles highlighted red from the light of Nineveh, reminding me of the edge of burning paper.

The night was quiet. I held my breath and listened, seeking an echoing strike from the other side of the gates, but there was nothing save the whistling wind and the burbling canal.

As I released my breath, a flush crept across my cheeks.

I felt silly, though no one was here to witness me as I entertained Tori’s ramblings.

I turned on my heels and left.

I considered dropping by Sons of Adam for mozzarella sticks before heading home. My stomach growled at the idea, but the trek would take me across town, and I’d also have to pass Raphael’s Relics. I wasn’t sure I was ready for that, though I wondered what had become of the merchant’s shop. Had Zahariev hired someone to take Abram’s place? That was what he would have done if the shopkeeper was executed under his orders. I’d seen it more than once—here in Nineveh and in Hiram.

In the end, the ache at the back of my skull outweighed my curiosity, and I headed north up Procession Street.

I expected to feel a little more at ease on my return without the burden of the blade, but for some reason, I felt even more unnerved. The energy felt unstable, almost violent.

I quickened my pace, eager to put a wall between myself and the outside world, but as I came to pass the first few clubs at the start of Sinners’ Row, I paused.

A beanie lay discarded on the ground. I bent to pick it up, recognizing it as Tori’s.

Then I glanced down the alleyway and saw four men,their silhouettes dark against the electrified light of the street. They stood in a circle around another figure who lay on the ground, curled into a fetal position.

It had to be Tori.

“Hey, fuckers!” I screamed and charged toward them. “Leave him alone!”

The men turned, and when they saw me, they laughed.