Page 73 of Witchbane
“Open a door for them and let them leap to their deaths,” Kiran said.
“I will take them through and show them the best direction to get close to the portal. It will give me the chance to collect some water anyway.”
“Anyone mortal who winds up here now is as good as dead,” Kiran’s gaze slid to us. He was perched in a chair at the end of the library near the map. I had begun to wonder if they had a separate space, or if Nick thought living in the library worked best for him. I could see the appeal.
“Do you want to stay here?” Liam asked. “While Underhill collapses?”
“I don’t think my desires play into this at all.”
“We aretryingto figure out a way home. I’m sorry if it’s too slow for you. But I’m doing the best I can,” I growled at him.
“Do the best you can without my scion.”
“I’m going,” Nick said.
“I can command you not to.”
“But you won’t,” Nick told him. “Because it would be war between us and I’m all you have left.” He headed to the wall display of weapons and picked a sword. “We won’t be gone long. Stay inside in case our presence stirs up something.”
“Like the destruction of Underhill?”
“It’s already on the verge. I’d like to not be stuck hiding here while it goes,” Nick pointed out.
He led us out the door and down to the courtyard where the magic wards weren’t as thick. “He’s not feeling well,” Nick said after a minute. “It’s why he’s grumpy.”
“I’ll take your word for it,” I said.
“The city is big, but in ruins. It was the first and last attempt by the fae to become more like the humans. Lots of buildings to duck in and out of, however, they can also be dropped on your head by monsters. Be careful where you run.”
“I was hoping we could sneak close to the rift,” Liam said.
Nick drew a door, and paused with his hand on the knob. “No way to get close without going through the monsters. Maybe your sight is better than mine and you can get a view from one of the building tops? I’m bringing us to one of the best vantage points. You’ll be able to see the entire area, in layout at least. But keep low and don’t make noise.”
He opened the door and the darkness inside gave no hint of what was to come, but he stepped through, and we followed.
I had to admit I wasn’t ready to step into the middle of a dystopian skyscraper, or the intense wave of hunger that walloped me the second I walked through the door. Liam caught me as I almost went to my knees. Did he feel this?
“That’s what we feared,” Nick said quietly. “Underhill calls to him. Begs him to change, become one of them. Then it can devour him.”
I shoved the wave of hunger back. The weight of magic pouring down on me made it hard to stand, but I did. The kitsune seemed to smolder with need to be free, it held back. “Let’s see this giant asshole already.”
Nick frowned at me, seeming confused.
“The portal,” Liam clarified.
“This way,” Nick said and led us out of the room and toward a half-broken stairway, leading down, that creaked and groaned as we moved. I sucked in air at each loud chaffing of the stone. While the building looked like a skyscraper, it was made from stone, and falling apart in gaping holes. There was a section of stairway of which the wall had fallen away, revealing the entirety of the city. If that was what it had been. Vantage point, Nick had said. And we could see most of the city from there. The crumbling remains were little more than giant heaps of rubble in some places. And monsters everywhere. Some large enough, I thought they’d look up any second and spot us.
It felt a bit like watching one of those zombie disaster movies with fallen cities filled with the shambling undead. Except these monsters weren’t small or shambling. Some fought, tearing into each other and throwing around blood that seemed to melt the rock like acid. Others lingered close together in the distance, shuffling in short lines, back and forth more like robots than living things.
One of the fights blasted through the remains of a building, sending another half dozen tumbling, and causing the entire area to tremble like an earthquake. The building around us shuddered, rolling and swaying, dropping debris and dirt on our heads. I really hoped we didn’t get crushed beneath this tower.
“We should probably get down,” Nick whispered. “They are really wound up today.” He pointed in the distance to where the wriggle of monsters, a mix of giant bugs, half-mutated creatures, and even something that looked like a kraken, shuffled. “The portal is there.” Whatever giant winking butthole there might have been, we couldn’t see it.
“Fuck. Of course it is,” I grumbled. Because nothing could be easy, not even for two seconds. The rest of the trek down was slow. We had to pause a few times as the building shook around us. Nick helped us slink along the walls, keeping out of sight. I could feel the pull of the monsters and my stomach growled so loudly I was certain they’d come rushing our way.
Both Nick and Liam froze, glancing my way.
“Sorry,” I whispered. The noise from the nearby fight must have muffled whatever sounds were coming from us, because nothing appeared to head in our direction. “I’m not doing it on purpose.”