The Bleed: Book 2: RAPTURE David Moody (the red fox clan txt) 📖

would not matter much what she had done, though, if they attempted to hide in the structure, he would kill them.

“Maddie, if we can get in, can’t they?” Sam asked.

“I don’t think so.” As if to prove her point, Maddie stood directly in front of the opening. Her hands down by her side, a silent prayer passing by her lips. The ground beneath her feet shook as the tick ran full speed toward her.

“Maddie, move!” Sam begged, the other held her ground. She lowered her shoulder in preparation for an impact she would not survive. The bogalite was some fifteen feet away when it jumped.

“Through the valley of…” She had her eyes closed; she didn’t open them until she heard the deafening sound of legs and a body being broken. A portion of the beast had forced its way in, its mouth less than a foot from Maddie, opening and snapping shut rapidly. Its body was squelching as it tried to pull itself toward the meal, blood was running down the walls as it inched closer.

“Maddie.” Sam pulled her friend backward. The bogalite struggled more frenetically as its prey was escaping. The other three, after seeing what had happened, were probing the wall for a way in. One had turned sideways and was climbing atop of the injured one, once it had discerned that it would have enough room to gain access. Its front legs were feeling around for the edge as it came in, the antennae eyes fixed on Maddie as if it were seeking revenge on what she’d done to the other.

“We need to run.” Sam was dragging on Maddie’s sleeve.

“Nowhere to go.” Maddie could see Kalandar watching. She wasn’t sure how she knew, but she was positive if they sought refuge in the hotel, this deadly game was over and not for their betterment. “Stop her!” Maddie saw Sandra trying to do just that. For the second time in under ten minutes, Sandra collided with an invisible field, this one much more forgiving than Kalandar’s, but with the damage already done, she was down for the count. Heavy, consolidated tears instantly formed as her nose shifted to the side like tectonic plates during an earthquake.

Maddie raised her hands and spread them wide. She curled her fists around some imaginary material and rapidly pulled her outstretched arms together. The mouth of the first animal and half the body of the second were neatly shorn; no blood flowed from the wounds.

“It looks like the dioramas from biology class,” Sam said as she moved to the side to get a better look. At some point, Kalandar had come up, he pressed his hand to the ground, a shock wave obliterated the two remaining bogalites. What was left looked as if it had been sprayed from an aerosol can. “What have you done?” Kalandar asked of Maddie as he dissolved his wall.

“I don’t know. I wanted to use the wall as a shield and knew we needed to be on the other side of it, so…other than that…” she trailed off.

“What was done should be impossible. Especially by one so much lower than myself.”

“Gee, thanks,” Maddie told him.

“You are offended? It is a truth. I am over three times your height, and I am, by all measures, nearly immortal. I have magical powers that place me in the upper echelons of conjurers, and I have these.” He flexed his arms, producing enormous biceps. “But still, that was an impressive feat and one I will have to ponder further. Come, we must celebrate our new alliance!” He was making strides toward the hotel. Maddie was looking toward the carnage, the mangled ruined bodies of dozens, perhaps hundreds of people. The last thing she felt like doing was celebrating. There was, however, the flicker of hope that had ignited inside her chest; she was going to have to be content with that for now.

21

THE MOON

“That’s it? That’s your plan?” Now that they were sitting, Maddie found she was extremely exhausted. Perhaps partly it had been the heat or the stress of the fight, but this was a deeper sort of weary; she felt it down to the bone.

“I cannot be the public face of the opposition, for obvious reasons, but I will help where I can,” Kalandar said.

“Sounds like typical politician double-speak.” Sandra’s words were muffled, her head was tilted back and a tissue shoved in each nostril. Maddie had taken great satisfaction in Sandra’s pain as she had readjusted the woman’s broken nose. “You could have been more careful.” Sandra was wiping away the involuntary tears the adjustment had caused.

“I could have,” Maddie told her.

“Guys, we’re going to have to figure something out. When we got here, I wasn’t specifically checking but the temperature looked normal enough, mid-seventies, maybe, but the monitor says we’re at ninety now, and it’s still rising.” Sam was pointing at the screen.

“Something to do with the wall?” Maddie asked, grunting as she stood to get closer.

“I don’t know, maybe. What else could it be?” As one, they turned to Kalandar.

“It is not of my doing,” he told them. “You will have to drop the wall.”

“Drop it? I’m not even sure how we made it,” Thistle said. “And what of the monsters? They’re still out there. The second we bring down the wall, they’ll kill everyone.”

“I believe they would rather fight than be baked alive,” Kalandar said. “I know I would.”

“Can you even be cooked?” Maddie asked.

“It is true I am used to unnatural degrees of heat… That is beside the point. I would rather fight than hide in an oven. Although, upon reflection, I always prefer to fight.”

“The temperature seems stable in here.” Sandra was removing the tissues, thankful that her nose was not bleeding nearly as freely.

“Normally, that would be an innocuous statement, a valid observation even, but I know where you’re going with that,” Maddie said.

“Why don’t you enlighten me then.”

“Let me know if I veer off course at any