The creature lunged. Casper dove aside, instantly raising his paw. He hissed so loudly I thought he might choke.
Last night’s knife might not be better than Lina’s, but it was a whole lot closer. I snatched up the knife and removed the sheath.
Red grabbed Rainbow by her shirt and pulled her back, clearing my path. “Go!”
The creature’s claws raked Casper’s side. He yowled.
Oh, shit. I didn’t have a clue what I was doing, but I didn’t have time to think about it. I burst past them. I did not want to explain to Lina why I let her cat die on my first visit to her apartment.
“Hey!” I ran into the living room and skidded to a stop two feet from where the creature and Casper fought. Maybe I could scare the creature away. I swung the knife in front of me. It flashed white in the light. “Get off him!”
The creature crouched on the ground, following Casper’s movements with its amber eyes. When I yelled, it paused. Its head turned, looking up at me. The rest of its body remained perfectly still.
Casper took cover behind my legs. Specks of blood followed in his wake. He hissed again.
“Get—get out.” I made another wild slash in the air.
The creature pushed itself up on two legs. Its eyes stayed fixed on Casper and me. Only when it stood upright did its body turn along with its head, facing the two of us. Its jagged mouth tightened.
Then it leaped.
Casper shot away from under my feet. I yelped. I pointed the knife in front of me and stumbled back.
Right where the blade connected, something dark sprayed through the air. There was a gnarling sound, like rocks rubbing up against each other. The creature landed behind me. Within seconds, claws pinned my legs through my jeans. I crouched without thinking. I stabbed the knife into the creature’s back. The blade went through easily, and the creature spasmed, releasing my jeans and tumbling away. It scrambled to get back up. Even wounded, it moved nearly too fast to keep track of. I choked back a scream and slashed again. Again.
The creature didn’t bleed: It fell apart, like the collapse of a sandcastle. Everywhere I cut, it crumbled. Dirt spilled onto the floor.
Only when the dirt stopped twitching did I dare slow down.
“Wow,” one of the Hazels breathed.
The three of them stood behind me, with Rainbow and Red closest—Rainbow holding a massive serrated bread knife—and Four in the kitchen behind them. A cabinet stood open. Four held a knife of her own. Red held a wooden cutting board.
I blinked. “What were you gonna do with that?”
Red looked down at the cutting board. A blush flooded her face. “I thought I could . . .” She held it up and mimicked thwacking something.
“It could be a shield,” Four offered.
“Holy shit.” Rainbow stared at the pile of dirt as Casper cautiously sniffed at the nearest remains. “You killed it. Awesome.”
All I’d done was flail around until the creature stopped moving. The whole thing had taken seconds. Not exactly a cunning strategy. I wiped the knife on my jeans until it was gleaming white again, then sheathed it.
Rainbow extended her hand to help me up. It felt silly, but I took it. I was shaking enough that, without help, I’d probably have fallen flat on my ass.
“So what is it?” Red placed the cutting board on the table. “And how’d it get inside?”
“Inside the apartment? Or inside the cabinet?” Four said. When we turned to her, her cheeks went pink-red. “I mean . . . I slept right here on the couch, and I didn’t hear anything.”
“The creature wasn’t in that cabinet last night.” I held on to the table, doubting my shaky legs could carry me. “I remember looking. Nothing but the Blu-rays.”
Four crossed the room, hunching by the cabinet. “It’s intact. The creature didn’t break in from the back panel or anything.”
Red frowned. “So at some point between last night and now, that thing got inside, crossed the living room, and locked itself in the Blu-ray cabinet. Without any of us noticing. Not even Casper.”
“That’s . . . a scary thought,” I said.
Four looked at the couch, still covered in blankets, and nodded.
Rainbow planted a hand on her hip. “There could be other creatures inside. I’d thought we’d be safe from rift crap up on the ninth floor, but if it’s spread this far . . .”
“I’m calling Neven,” I decided.
I crossed the living room in a more or less stable manner and stepped onto the balcony, breathing in the cool morning air.
The fierce wind blew the lace curtains into the apartment—I quickly closed the doors behind me—and sliced right through my borrowed clothes. The cold felt nice on my skin, still overheated from the fight with the creature. I craned my head back, looking at the wide-open sky, trying to calm my heart. We weren’t on the top floor, but the floors above had no balconies to block my view. No tall buildings in the neighborhood, no trees reaching this high. Not even any choppers nearby, unlike before.
I stepped up to the railing, hoping Neven’s hearing was good enough to hear me yell from wherever she was.
I paused. Squinted at the ground below.
Two black vans sat outside the building. Several agents—their suits and stance were unmistakable—buzzed about the entrance. A handful entered the building, while others went around back, disappearing from my sight.
Not everyone wore suits. One person was leaning against the van, arms crossed. I couldn’t see her face from up here, but I recognized her nonetheless. I knew that tense pose, the same way I knew that olive-green coat.
The MGA was here.
And they’d brought Mom.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
I backed away from the balcony railing before anyone could spot me. Maybe the MGA had figured out I was here; maybe they were combing the building as a precaution. If it was the latter, I didn’t want to help them out by yelling for Neven at the top of my lungs.
(Mom
