Page 98 of Terror at the Gates

A sense of dread overwhelmed me as I neared. The tips of my fingers were cold, and my heart raced as I pushed the door open.

Coco was in bed, and Cherub was curled into a ball on the pillow beside her head.

I released a shuddering breath.

“Hey,” said Coco. Her voice was a little hoarse, like she’d just woken up. “Are you just getting home?”

I nodded.

She frowned and sat up, her long hair spilling over her shoulder. “What’s happened?” she asked. “What’s wrong?”

For the first time in my life, I found myself wishing I was like my mother and had armor around my heart. Maybe thiswas how it happened, one painful blow after the other, until one day, you woke up and felt nothing at all.

My throat tightened, and I tried hard to blink away the tears, but there was something about Coco’s voice that tore it out of me. I crawled into her bed and lay down beside her. I felt her fingers comb through my hair.

“Lilith?” Coco whispered.

“Everything,” I answered with a sob.

Zahariev

With Lilith safely on her way home, I pulled out my phone and placed a call to Dr. Mor.

“It’s early for you, Zahariev,” he said.

“Yeah, well, it’s been a long night,” I said. “I need you to arrange pickup of Esther Pomeroy from Nineveh General Hospital within the hour. We need a full autopsy.”

I could feel the shock in the silence that answered. “Of course.”

He didn’t ask what happened. He’d know soon enough.

“And those samples you took from Burke’s corpse, ” I added before hanging up. “The jellylike substance?”

“Yes?”

“I know what it is.”

Part II

The Harrowing

Chapter Twelve

Sons of Adam was busy.

The bar was packed, and every table was full. A thick haze of smoke hung in the air, which made the entire dining room seem darker. Now and then, someone would rise and wander down the hall. A few were just going to the bathroom, but others were going to the warehouse, where Samuel kept an arsenal. He had everything from small knives to an actual flamethrower.

What are you going to do with that?I’d asked when I’d gone to buy my first handgun.

Look at it, he replied.

I kind of believed him. He seemed like a collector who had started by selling a few items on the side. Despite this, he took his business seriously. The process of obtaining a weapon was actually far more extensive than just showing up at Sons of Adam. He required background checks and gave in-person classes and written tests.

If you don’t wanna go through with the requirements, then you don’t need a weapon, he’d said.

Did Zahariev have to do this? I asked, a little sullen, mostly because my father had already taught me to shoot.

Who do you think taught Zahariev?