Javi jerked. Shiloh shone the light on him. His eyes flew open and a loud gasp escaped him. Relief flooded me. I threw my arms around him.
He coughed as I released him. “What the?”
We backed up so he could stand. He blinked, brow furrowed in confusion.
“You were bitten by a fairy.” I pointed to his shoulder.
Shiloh had bandaged it up and treated his other scratches, making me instantly feel guilty for not doing it myself.
“Yeah. I remember. But what are you all doing here?” Javi winced.
“Are you kidding? We came to save you,” I answered him.
“Yeah and now it looks like we’re stuck here for the night. So, thanks,” Brady chimed in.
Javi’s eyes widened. “What? No! No, we can’t stay here. If we get caught in the prison…” He swore.
I crossed my arms and glared at him. “You should have thought about that before you took the stupid dare.”
“You have to get us out of here, Brady.” Javi stormed toward him.
Brady stiffened. “I don’t have to do anything.”
“Get. Us. Back,” Javi growled.
“And how the hell am I supposed to do that? Not like I can whip up a portal.”
“Shh. Shut up,” Grayson interrupted.
We turned to him. He shone his light against the back wall, past all the cells. A thud echoed.
“What is that?”
Grayson shook his head. “Something is trying to break in.”
“Idiots. This is their chance to break out of prison and their trying to bust their way in here?” Brady scoffed.
The sound grew louder. Fear crept up my spine. The wall started shaking.
“They can’t get through that though… right?” My voice rose an octave.
A crack echoed.
“Looks like they can,” Brady muttered.
Grayson lifted his gun, Brady following suit. Javi stepped in front of me, fists raised. Shiloh joined him with her own gun.
“Here.” She handed Javi another gun.
I glanced down at my knife and shook my head. This wasn’t going to end well.
“Move back,” Grayson ordered.
We backed up, weapons trained on the caving wall.
“What about the ones out there?” I asked, glancing at the way we had come.
Were they still out there waiting for us?
“Maybe they’re gone,” Shiloh answered.
A scraping sound followed by roars echoed behind us.
“Or not,” Brady grunted.
My heart pounded. We were trapped.
“We should spread out, fan the room and take out as many as we can,” Javi said.
Grayson shook his head. “They’d just pick us off one by one.”
“If we stay here, they’ll surround us. We need to fan out,” Javi insisted.
“Can’t we lock ourselves inside a cell?” I motioned to the row of empty ones.
“There’s no way to lock it again without knowing the specific ward,” Grayson answered.
My eyes flew to his. “What? But you locked Javi in when we left him.”
“No. We just shut him in, hoping they’d leave him alone.”
Anger stirred inside me. He could have been an easy target. Pushing away the thought, I racked my brain to come up with a way out. There had to be something we could do.
“I’m going to set up an ambush and get them from behind.” Javi strode forward toward the breaking wall.
“We don’t know what’s coming through. An ambush might not work,” Grayson shouted at him.
Javi didn’t respond.
“Javi!” I hissed.
He disappeared into the dark.
Fear rushed through me. How many were coming? If we took them all down by some miracle, how many more would come through? The prison was filled with monsters and there were only five of us.
I glanced at my bracelet, hoping for inspiration. If my tio was linked to me, could he find us? Would it be in time?
“I knew this was going be suicide.” Brady’s voice bounced off the walls.
“Then why did you come?” Grayson snapped at him.
Brady fell silent. I bit my lip, trying to decide if I should follow my cousin or stick with the others. My heart beat wildly, echoing in my ears.
Before I could make up my mind, chunks of the wall flew to the ground, leaving a gaping hole.
They were through.
Shiloh’s light revealed three bulky, hairy forms. Their yellow cat-like eyes blinked back at us. My heart slammed against my ribs. Shifters. Of course, it would be shifters.
The memory of my recent attack and Manny’s face flashed in my mind. I shuddered, pushing away the images.
“Three. We can take them,” Brady said.
“Hold your fire. Wait for my signal,” Grayson ordered.
Growls came from the shifters as they stalked toward us. A gun fired behind them. Javi. They whirled around, surrounding him.
No.
We ran forward to help. Guns fired, the bullets striking monster flesh, but it didn’t stop them. Javi was knocked to the wall with a loud ‘crack.’ Fear shot through me.
The next second was a blur. Bullets flew. The creatures roared. Brady and Shiloh were struck to the sides, leaving Grayson and I standing.
Grayson’s flashlight, the only light we had left now, swung around the room as he continued to fire. I couldn’t see the others, but the sound of a struggle made my stomach churn. Were they okay?
Two shifters advanced toward us, fangs out and eyes narrowed. Grayson reloaded and shot them each, point blank. They didn’t even flinch as the bullets struck them. Just like Manny.
“They should be dead!” Fear laced his words.
He lowered into a defensive stance in front of me. We were going to die. Panic swelled inside me.
One of the shifters leapt at him, tearing him away from me. I screamed and raised my knife. The flashlight clattered to the ground, plunging us into darkness.
A rock-solid body collided with mine. I slashed and kicked, trying to connect with something. Adrenaline pumped through me as my body went into defense mode. The blade cut into flesh. A hiss echoed. Something hard struck me across the stomach, knocking the air out of me. The knife was swiped out of my hand, the metal clanging as it hit the ground.
Two pairs of yellow eyes glared at me. “Come,” one spoke.
I gasped.
“It’s time to come,” the other one added, his voice low and gravelly.
Fear spiraled inside me. “I’m not going anywhere with you.”
“You won’t
