Page 38

Chapter 38

Welcome to our Freaky Zoo

A storm of dust, smoke, and debris batters us as we race through the crumbling remains of CSAMM, following the Madsens and the last of the chimeras.

Keep going, keep going, I think, praying that the chimeras will continue fleeing until they’re well away from the Madsens and anyone else who wants to abuse their power. The world doesn’t need this sort of dangerous magic locked in cages—it needs to be far away and out of reach.

My heart hammers like it’s trying to escape my chest as I struggle to keep up, pushing through the pain spiking in every cell of my body. Blood oozes from my thigh where the iron shrapnel got me, and my mauled ankle is sending stabbing pains all the way up my leg and into my abdomen. My only hope that this is all going to be okay is Natalie’s warm hand in mine.

But as we rise through the steam clock and into the world, roars and otherworldly shrieks erupt in my ears. A blur of movement swirls before me, and I’ve barely registered what’s going on when Natalie yanks me back. Steps away, a black panther the size of a Thoroughbred leaps onto a parked minivan, teeth bared, hissing at all the screaming people. The car’s suspension groans under its weight, and its claws leave deep gashes in the metal. Above it, a massive vulture stretches out its wings, casting a shadow over the street. It lands on top of the four-story building across the intersection, its cries echoing through the city.

“Oh my God,” I whisper, the words lost beneath the din. “Natalie, we have to get them out of here!”

“The chimeras or the innocent bystanders?” she asks, tugging me further back.

“Um—”

People scream in terror all around us, their faces twisted in fear as they run for their lives. They scoop children into their arms and stand guard to herd others to safety. Dogs bark furiously at the end of their leashes, their instincts torn between fighting and fleeing. A block away, an SUV has driven off the road and has its nose buried in a storefront. Its doors hang open, the seats empty, the airbags deployed and the horn blaring incessantly. Other cars honk and try to turn around, clipping each other.

“All of the above?” I squeak.

The responsibility to fix this crushes me, taking my breath away. This is out of control, and not at all what I had in mind when I envisioned setting magic free. I thought the chimeras would disappear into the sky, never to be seen again. Someone is going to get hurt or killed.

“We have to make sure the Madsens can’t get any of—” I begin, breaking off with a surprised shout. At our feet, worms and insects are emerging from the ground beneath the steam clock. A wood bug crawling toward my toes shapeshifts into a fluffy brown hare, takes one hop, then shifts again, growing larger.

Natalie and I stumble back, and before my next breath, we’re face-to-face with a grizzly bear.

It growls, which I can only interpret as a promise to eat us as an appetizer .

What—did—I—do?

“N-Natalie?” I say, hoping for a solution.

“Run.” She tugs me by the hand, and we sprint in the other direction.

The bear huffs in agitation, and I swear the ground rumbles beneath its enormous paws as it follows. My lungs are on fire and my legs are agony as we race past storefronts, Natalie using magic to hurl objects across the bear’s path—a newspaper stand, a garbage can, a Victorian street lamp.

I risk a glance back, relief trickling through my head as the bear navigates the obstacles. “It’s working.”

Someone steps out of an alcove in front of us. “I wouldn’t be so sure.”

I gasp, jerking to a stop.

“Sky!” Natalie shouts.

Sky raises both hands. “Move.”

Natalie yanks me out of the way. The ground jolts as cobblestones rise behind us, forcing the bear back. As it roars, Sky seizes our arms and pulls us into the alcove.

We flatten against the wall, breathing hard. There’s a rumble and an explosion of dust. A second later, an enormous flying creature rockets past, stretching out its wings and disappearing from view.

“What was that?” I ask, not sure I want the answer.

“Doesn’t matter,” Sky says, out of breath. “Listen, these things are clearly pissed off, and we have to push them out of the city. Try to get them to transform into birds and fly away. Got it?”

Natalie nods.

Before I can ask what I can do to help, Fiona races past and skids to a stop. She snarls. “You—brainless—fools. You can’t just set magic free without consequences! It’s been held captive, and it knows it.”

Agnes crashes into her from behind. “Why did you—oh.”

She sees us and straightens up, baring her teeth at me like an angry dog. “Do you have any idea what you’ve done? You’ve unleashed feral magic! Bio magic! It’s just—” She flaps her arms. “Running amok in the world now!”

“So we’ll push it back into nature,” Natalie snaps.

I open my mouth to defend my decision, but no words come. Guilt squeezes my airway until I can’t speak, can’t even breathe.

“You have to admit this was the only way,” Sky says, drawing everyone’s gaze. “Imagine what would’ve happened if Sophia got into that room while the magic was still caged. We might as well have handed it to her on a platter.”

Fiona points at her. “Don’t you— That’s not what—” she splutters, but no argument forms.

I swallow hard. Sky’s words mean more than she knows. Standing in the middle of this mess, I could easily regret what we did—but she’s willing to argue with two Directors to defend our actions, and that counts for something.

Though as a hippopotamus lumbers down the street, getting in trouble with CSAMM authorities is the least of anyone’s worries. Right now is about dealing with the consequences of what we’ve done—and staying alive amid a stampede of pissed-off magical forces.

“We can finish this conversation later,” Fiona hisses.

She, Agnes, and Sky dash into the mayhem, raising barricades to try and force the chimeras into the clouds and away from civilians.

I scan for Millie and Sebastian, but they’re nowhere to be found. I have to assume they made it out okay—that they’re on their way somewhere safe.

Natalie faces me, hooking a finger under my chin so I have no choice but to turn my attention to her. “Katie, I have to help drive the chimeras off before they hurt someone. I didn’t think it would be this…” She looks around, her eyes wide. “We have to get to safety. Figure out what to do about—about all of this. ”

I nod, wishing I could help. My whole body is trembling with exhaustion.

She holds my gaze, hesitating like she wants to say more—and then her mouth is on mine, her lips moving feverishly, her soft hands cupping my face.

I kiss her back, responding on autopilot, holding her against me. Through the haze of fear clouding my brain, something else beats stronger, a burning rush pulsing through my veins. I pour that into her—everything I want to tell her when we reach the other side of all this.

Too soon, she breaks away, spinning around in time to launch a parking meter at a tiger chasing a meal delivery guy on a bike.

As the tiger morphs into a duck and flies away with an angry “quack!”, Natalie freezes, going rigid as she spots something back the way we came.

I jump out of my hiding spot to follow her gaze, a chill sweeping over me.

Back at the steam clock, Sophia and Oaklyn Madsen have appeared—and my stomach gives a sickening lurch as I see Oaklyn carrying her brother’s lifeless body. Wyatt stalks between them, looking around vigilantly, his teeth glinting as he snarls at the chaos. Sophia uses magic to yank an abandoned car toward them with a screech, and they all pile inside.

Natalie sets her jaw, a dangerous gleam in her eye.

“Natalie, don’t,” I say, because as much as I want to go after them and stop them, now is not the time. We need an army and a rock-solid plan to fight against the Madsens.

But she’s already advancing, fists clenched, shoulders tight.

I race after her. “Natalie!”

Sky is there in a blink, grabbing her arm and forcing her to stop.

“Not now, dumbass,” she says sharply. “You’ll get killed. ”

Natalie rounds on her. “Sky, they’ve captured Dad. They took his phone. Forced him to get earth magic for them.”

Sky freezes, turning pale. “Wh-what?”

A bellowing sound interrupts them, a harsh reminder that there isn’t time to discuss this. There’s no time to do anything but run.

A bull the color of flames gallops toward us down the sidewalk, as big as a car, its horns the size of my legs.

Natalie’s hand finds mine, and she tugs me behind a delivery truck in time for the bull to charge past, grunting angrily. I lean against it and press a hand to the still-oozing hole in my thigh, unable to get enough air into my lungs.

We watch, helpless, as the Madsens peel away in the stolen vehicle.

“We have to find him! Like, immediately ,” Sky says, her voice high.

“I know,” Natalie says, clutching her side.

Around us, witches fight tirelessly to keep civilians safe, and it’s working—there are no bodies on the ground, no injuries to tend to other than our own. They’re upholding their oath to protect the non-magical public even in the midst of pandemonium. The hippopotamus transforms into a seagull and takes flight, rising above the buildings and retreating over the ocean. The bull shifts into a rat, scurrying into a storm drain. A trickle of relief dares to course through me.

Then, a shriek fills the world like nothing I’ve ever heard. I snap my gaze toward the sound, looking skyward.

The Harbour Centre building is across the intersection, its round lookout tower visible from here—and a strange feeling overcomes me as my brain fights to comprehend what I’m seeing.

Hazel and I were just there this morning, gazing over the peaceful city, giddy about spending the summer together. Now, a massive creature clings to the lookout tower, its wings wrapped around the circular structure, its claws shattering windows and sending large chunks of rubble crashing to the street below .

“By the way,” Natalie says, still clutching her side, “I can finally answer your question.”

I stare blankly at her as I staunch the wound on my leg. “What question?”

She points at the thing clinging to the Harbor Centre. “ That ,” she says, “is Lucy.”

I straighten up, my jaw unhinging.

Lucy. My precious kitten. Feral magic, a shapeshifting monster beyond my worst nightmares. And she’s in the process of destroying downtown Vancouver.

She soars overhead, her wings blotting out the sun, and the name for this sort of creature hovers just out of reach. It’s like someone smooshed together an eagle and a lion and called it nightmare fuel.

Numb, I trace my gaze over her beak and wings, down her mane, to the talons on her front legs, and to her large paws.

There’s a smudge on her left back paw.

The griffin—Lucy—opens her beak, and a deafening roar fills the air, raising the hairs on my arms and sending a tremor through my bones. She swoops down, and every witch in the street dives out of the way, sprawling flat on the ground.

Lucy lands on the steam clock, making it look puny. Her talons click against its face as she scrambles for grip.

The historic clock cracks beneath her monstrous weight, crumbling. She sinks her beak into the whistles on top, and with a final groan, the clock gives way, its gears shattering to pieces over the brick sidewalk.

Seeing Lucy in this form—her true form—reminds me that there is still so much I don’t understand about magic. “So, this is what you meant when you said she wasn’t a cat,” I say, barely a whisper.

Lucy turns her feathery head—and I swear to God she looks right at me. For a moment, she doesn’t move, a gleam in her purple eyes. A shiver rolls down to my toes .

Then she aims her beak skyward and stretches out her wings, taking flight once more.

I meet Natalie’s eye in numb surprise. She must know what I’m thinking because she grimaces.

The Madsens might have driven away without capturing bio magic, but we’ve set an unparalleled force loose on the world.

We have a big mess to clean up.