Total pages in book: 238
Estimated words: 231781 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1159(@200wpm)___ 927(@250wpm)___ 773(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 231781 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1159(@200wpm)___ 927(@250wpm)___ 773(@300wpm)
I glanced over my shoulder, seeing her step back into place for the next victim, frozen in some creepy posture, but as soon as I whipped my gaze forward again, someone stepped into the pathway ahead of us, a dark form with a devil mask.
Alex, Rika, Michael, and I halted, seeing another one step into the path of our escape. I didn’t think they knew where the entrance to Coldfield was because they wouldn’t have been so keen to stop us if they knew where we were going and could follow, but there were a lot of them outside before, and probably more I didn’t see.
“Let’s go!” I yelled.
Twisting around, I raced between the houses, down a tunnel, and up the rickety stairwell, Alex and Rika jogging after me, and Michael keeping an eye on the rear.
I raced across the top floor and pushed through the door, stumbling onto the warehouse roof. Fog machines and strobe lights worked, pouring down on the party below while decorations, reapers, and evil angels blew in the wind, casting their foreboding doom over the courtyard.
Tall tents stood, protecting supplies from the rain, and I grabbed Alex’s hand, Rika and Michael following as I bolted across the roof to the other side. If we could get back down the fire escape quickly enough, we could lose the tail and make it down to Coldfield.
I looked left, though, and immediately halted, breathing hard as I inched to the edge and peered into the dark expanse below.
“Emmy!” Michael barked. “What are you doing?”
I couldn’t help but smile as I looked into the forest maze beyond, wolves howling and owls hooting over the speakers as a bus sat in the middle of all the activity behind the warehouse, a spooky red light glowing from inside.
Our bus. He’d been telling the truth. He had kept it.
My heart ached that he’d thought of it.
“Emory!” Michael growled again, and I startled, looking over to see him and Rika already at the fire escape, her descending first and then him climbing on after.
Alex ran over and took my hand, pulling me along, but then a dark figure swept around the tents, shoved me in the chest, and I flew back onto the ground, landing on my ass.
The world jumbled in my view, and it took a moment to draw in a breath. But then I blinked and found him struggling with Alex as he fisted her neck.
“Hey!” I heard Michael bellow.
But I was already shooting off the ground as Alex whipped off his devil mask and Taylor faced her, her leg hooking around his and sweeping his leg out from underneath him, sending them both plummeting to the roof.
Taylor landed on his back, her body crashing down on top of his, and he grunted, rearing his hand back and slapping her across the face.
She gasped, tumbling to the side, but before he could climb on top of her, I shot my foot right between his legs.
He cried out, curling up, and I dropped down on him, his sweaty hair sticking to his forehead as I hit his face. He winced, trying to shield himself, and I bashed so hard, pain shot through my wrist and up my arm.
Someone lifted me off him, my breath filling my ears as I breathed inside my mask, and I almost took it off, but I knew the whole place was wired with cameras for security, so I obeyed Will and kept it on.
“Come on,” Michael snapped, taking my hand and pulling me.
We all ran, heading over the side of the building, down the fire escape, and back onto the ground.
People rushed past, heading toward the stage as the announcer started the show, as “Devil Inside” boomed from the speakers.
I lifted my eyes, seeing masked devils heading over the side of the building, following us.
“Go!” I shouted.
But then my eyes caught something, and I stopped, spotting Martin.
He stood at the entrance, across the food court, dressed in jeans, a black pullover, and his dark hair perfectly coiffed.
He stared at me with his hand in his pocket. A smile reaching his eyes that he didn’t give away across his lips.
My spine tingled, seeing the challenge in his gaze.
“Emmy!” Rika called. “Emmy, let’s go!”
He stared at me.
I couldn’t move.
My lungs constricted, one foot ready to retreat, and another wanting to charge over and beat him until my hands were bloody.
A cry lodged in my throat.
I can’t move.
And then, a small hand slipped inside mine, the cold skin rough with dirt and grime.
I looked down, swallowing as I saw a little girl looking up at me.
Who…?
“Let’s go,” she whispered.
Blonde hair and maybe eight or nine years old, she wore all black except for the white undershirt I saw poking out from the bottom of her sweater. A black cap on her head, and a braid hanging over her shoulder, she smiled and pulled me along. I followed, looking to Michael and Rika for an answer, but they just gaped at her, looking equally confused.