Page 158 of How to Flirt with a Witch

I turn on my heel. The fight is drawing closer, shouts following us down the aisle, and I can’t afford to waste more time.

Pain slams my leg, and I yell as I stumble, reaching automatically for the source.

Iron shrapnel is embedded in my thigh.

As Sophia barks out a victorious laugh, I stare at the protruding iron, fighting the urge to vomit.

Don’t think. Get it out.

I clench my teeth and grab it. I roar as I yank it out, the hot swell of blood trickling down my leg.

Adrenaline dulls the pain, letting me push onward. I can’t stop now. My breaths ragged, I limp to the next cage.

Footsteps pound closer. “Stop her!” Sophia shrieks.

A clump of roots slams into the cage beside me, sending a haunting chime through the room as it hits the bars.

“Katie, hurry!” Natalie shouts.

My head is spinning like I’m on a fairground ride, threatening to knock me off my feet. Every muscle and bone in my body screams for relief as I reach the final chimera. With a grunt of effort, I bring the gauntlet down on the lock.

Something wraps around my ankle and tugs, and I cry out as I hit the unforgiving floor on my stomach. A jolt of pain shoots up my wrists.

A hand grabs my shoulder and roughly turns me on my back. A weight presses down on my thighs, and Oaklyn’s face swims into my vision through the dim lighting.

“What did you do with Freddie?” she asks, her voice rough with exhaustion.

She’s straddling my hips, holding me down, her dagger ready to pierce my throat.

I open my mouth but choke on the words. There’s a vulnerable glint of fear in her eyes, and I can’t help putting myself in her shoes for a moment—the shock and terror that must come with knowing a loved one is dead. Hersibling. The emptiness, the refusal to believe it until you hear it spoken aloud.

I might feel sorry for her if she wasn’t in the middle of a murderous rampage. I raise my arms in front of me, a sickening uncertainty as this feeble gauntlet becomes my only hope.

Her dagger glints in the dancing flames, her chest heaving.

I swallow hard and force the truth out. “His body’s in Alchemy 8.”

Oaklyn’s shriek of rage fills the room, and her eyes turn wild.

Then she lurches assomething slams into her.

Natalie has landed on her, scrambling to put her in a chokehold. Oaklyn roars and elbows her, and they scrabble for each other’s faces, throats, hair, holding nothing back.

I tamp down the instinct to jump in and help.Not yet.I flip over, clambering, reaching for the final cage with my last drop of strength.

As I wrap my fingers around one of the cold bars, Oaklyn’s hand closes over my calf.

She pulls me back, but I keep a firm hold, letting the momentum wrench the door open.

A fox bounds into freedom and leaps over my head, its delicate paws quiet on the stone floor.

“Grab it!” Oaklyn shouts.

Sophia shrieks.

I bark out a triumphant laugh, relief flooding my veins. Shaking, I get my hands and knees under me. Empty cages surround me, their doors swung wide, their shattered locks on the ground.

“It’s done!” I shout, my voice ringing beneath the cavernous ceiling as the fox transforms into a dove and flies away.