Total pages in book: 106
Estimated words: 98961 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 495(@200wpm)___ 396(@250wpm)___ 330(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 98961 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 495(@200wpm)___ 396(@250wpm)___ 330(@300wpm)
A few crows sit on our roof, and the window over the upstairs landing is broken. Only a few tendrils of smoke remain, and they hiss and shrink back into the ground when I hit them with an energy ball. Lucas slips his arm around me, helping me up the steps. It’s only then I realize I’m limping, adrenaline masking my pain.
“Kristy!” I shout and push the front door open. It’s unlatched, and I hope to God I’m going to step into the house and hear Juliet crying. She’ll be okay, of course, but is scared from all the noise and needs the comfort of her parents.
But the house is silent, except for Eamon’s voice.
“Don’t move,” he tells Eliza, who’s lying at the bottom of the stairs. Her pale-yellow dress is stained with blood, and Eamon is crouched down next to her, picking broken shards of glass from her chest. Lucas and I both rush to her and she grunts, tears running down the sides of her face.
“They dragged me down here,” she says and I see several splinters of wood embedded in her chest as well. Oh fuck.
“It’s okay,” Lucas tells her, dropping to his knees and stroking her hair back. If one of the splinters moves just an inch, it could lodge into her heart and kill her. She could lay perfectly still and her body will heal and push the foreign objects out, but it will take time.
“Stay with her,” I tell Lucas and grab onto Scarlet, needing to use her for support. Every step hurts, yet the pain doesn’t really register. “Kristy?” I call again, straining for some sort of answer. Tears burn my eyes and I stumble, fingers trembling as I clutch the railing. My entire body is shaking as I run through the hall once I’m finally up the stairs, going to the door to the attic.
“Kristy? Freya?” I call again but the silence already tells me what I need to know. I just don’t want to believe it. I trip twice going up the stairs and suck back a sob when I make it to the top, stopping and looking around the empty attic. The window looking out at the backyard is broken, and there are black feathers scattered around the ground, letting me know Freya put up one hell of a fight.
Then I see her, and I scream and run over, dropping to the floor next to Kristy. She’s unconscious but breathing, and the rose quartz ring is crushed on the ground next to her.
And Juliet is gone.
Chapter
Thirty-Eight
I scream, and the next thing I know, Lucas is on the ground next to me, pulling me into his arms. “They took her! They took her!”
Everything happens in slow motion and we both fall back, not wanting to believe this to be true. Our daughter is gone, and I have no idea where she is. I turn, burying my face against Lucas and scream.
“We’ll get her back,” he tells me and I ball my fist, hitting him in the chest.
“How? How?” I fall forward, unable to stop my tears. I didn’t think I could go on without Lucas, but I’m not myself without my daughter. Losing her is like losing half my heart, and I can’t go on like this. I don’t want to because each pump of my broken heart hurts too much. The pain is searing, burning and freezing and cutting and slicing me open all at once.
“Callie,” Lucas tries, struggling to hold it together. The floor vibrates and someone else comes into the attic.
“She’s alive,” Eamon says, kneeling next to Kristy. “Just knocked out.”
“They took her,” I cry and bring my fists down onto the floor.
“Where would they take her?” Lucas asks but I can’t answer. “Where?” he demands, giving me a shake. “Callie, where?”
“I don’t know,” I cry. “I don’t…” I blink, sucking back a sob and feel Binx trying to talk to me. They traced the zombies back to a church. There’s some sort of warding around it, keeping them out. But she’s there. They can sense her.
“Church,” I say and sit up, breathing in deep. “That white church downtown. They’re there and they have six more sacrifices. It’s all they need to open the Gates.” I look at Lucas, hardly able to see him through my tears, but I don’t have to say it for him to know. They’re going to open the Gates and take Juliet to Hell, using our infant daughter in some way to rule.
Eamon scoops up Kristy and eyes the both of us. “I’ll drive.” He takes Kristy downstairs and lays her on the couch. Eliza is up, moving slowly as she heals.
“Please stay with Kristy,” I ask softly, not wanting her to wake up alone. “I know where Juliet is.”
“Kill those assholes,” Eliza says, lip trembling.