Page 141 of The Midnight Knock

A new voice called from the heart of the city. As Ethan turned, the column of light let out a moan and a great flash of energy, so that when he saw Hunter, the man was backlit, surrounded by noise, standing beneath the stone archway, his face shrouded in shadow.

Ethan saw two glints of silver in the shadow. For a moment, he thought they were Hunter’s eyes.

“Hurry!” Hunter shouted. Ethan heard running footsteps behind them. Jack Allen was coming.

That awfulknock

Knock

Knocknever stopped.

A bloody knife flew past Ethan’s ear. Another grazed Sarah’s arm. As Fernanda ran near Ethan’s side, he heard the woman, through panted breath, whispering to the terrified child in her arms. “So the little girl—turned to the sun—and said—”

Nearing the archway, Ethan said to Hunter, “Where have you been?”

“No time.”

Easy as breathing, Hunter pulled the Glock from Kyla’s hand. The girl didn’t protest. She probably knew he was a better shot. Hunter said, “Where’s your other gun?”

“I lost it. I think it fell out of my jeans as I passed through the window.”

“Here,” said a new voice. Stepping through the window of a long house at the end of the silver thoroughfare, Ryan Phan—looking even older than before—tossed Hunter the pistol Ethan had once seen Fernanda carry. In his other hand, he still clutched that hideous hooked staff.

Hunter caught the gun in his left hand, nodded to everyone, said, “Get back.”

He motioned the others closer, past the stone archway and into the courtyard that surrounded the column of light. The small army of grinning men was growing closer, but Ethan noticed there were no windows in this courtyard, only a tall round wall. No more portals for more Jack Allens to emerge from. A good place for a last stand.

Hunter stepped sideways, dodging a thrown blade, and glanced upward. He fired two rounds into a crack in the stone archway and brought the whole thing down with a great crash, blocking the road.

He said, “This won’t hold him back for long. You need to go.”

Ethan glanced over his shoulder. Now that he was so close—no more than ten yards away—he saw that the silver light was rising out of a round hole in the center of the courtyard. Kyla was already there. She shouted, “I see stairs!”

Ethan looked at Hunter. “What’s down there?”

Hunter gave him a quick glance. Again, Ethan thought he saw a flash of silver in his eyes.

With a nasty cough, Hunter said, “He’s waiting for you.”

Kyla and Sarah were already on the way down the hole. Ryan stood near Fernanda, a hand on Adeline’s cheek. The little girl said, “What happened to you?”

“I’ve been looking for your sister.”

Tears stood out in Adeline’s eyes. “She’s dead. I killed her.”

“I don’t think it’s that simple.” Ryan gave the girl a scratch on the top of her head. It looked like an old touch of love. “There’s a million worlds out there. I think Penelope’s bound to be in one of them.”

The column of light released a moan that almost shook him to his knees. A face appeared over the rubble of the stone archway. A smiling face. Hunter fired, striking Jack Allen between the eyes, but three more came crawling up beside him.

“Go on,” Hunter said to Ethan. “I’ll keep him busy.”

“We.” Ryan stood next to Hunter, giving his hideous weapon a flick of the wrist.

Adeline said, “Aren’t you coming with us?”

“Don’t worry about me,” Ryan spoke with a grin, and all at once the age and the scars fell away and he was the man Ethan remembered from the motel. “I still have a promise to keep.”

Fernanda bumped her shoulder against Ethan’s. “We must move. Now.”