As I regain my awareness, though, the world is spinning in and out of view. Sand spirals around the resurrection chamber in a vortex and the entire space hums with an energy that makes my skin crawl and stomach lurch.
Oh god, I’m too late.
Chapter 23
Into the Vortex
At first, I can’t make anything out—it’s all a blur of sand as it cyclones around the room. The velocity of it makes it damn near impossible to get out, as the granules thrash across my arms and face. Any light from the torches on the walls has been extinguished and all that remains is the dying light from the window beyond the stairs.
“What in the hell?” I shriek, shielding my eyes.
Wade is suddenly at my side. “Thank god. We gotta find a way to get out of here.”
“What happened?” I say, trying to get to my feet.
Wade groans. “Dominic. What else? He wouldn’t listen to me. I told him you wanted us to wait to do anything until you were back to yourself. But of course, that guy thinks he always knows better than everyone else.”
“Great,” I mutter, looking around the space but unable to make anything out farther than a foot or so in front of me.
“Yeah, I don’t know what was going on in his head,” Wade says, shielding his eyes with his forearm as he peers into the vortex of sand and stone. “He tried to summon your dad’s location and it—I don’t even know what the hell happened, to be honest.”
“He gave my dad a power boost,” I say, running my hand along my forehead. “Is he still here? Dominic, I mean?”
Wade ducks a stone the size of his fist, pulling me down with him so we’re both in a crouch. It whizzes by, careening around with the rest of the cyclone. “I think so? When stuff started to rumble and the dirt started this whole thing, he took off for the stairs, though. Coward.”
“It was the right instinct,” I say, yanking the collar of my t-shirt up to cover my nose and mouth.
He does the same and shrugs. “I guess.”
“You should have done the same,” I say, biting my lip.
“Like hell. I’m not about to leave you here, unprotected,” Wade says, looking incensed.
My thoughts tumble around, spinning at the same speed as the cyclone of sand. I’m not sure how to make it out of here and if my dad’s taken control of the house, nowhere is going to be safe. Especially if he’s managed to trap Abigail again.
My heart thumps loudly in my chest as I realize just how dire this situation really is. Especially for Wade. He shouldn’t be here, and if his father realizes we’re still together…or worse, if he gets himself killed…
I cover my mouth in horror.
“Oh my god. Wade, we need to get you out of here,” I sputter.
Wade’s silver gaze widens as he makes a face. “We both need to get the hell outta here.”
“No, I mean, if you were to get hurt…” I say, reaching out for him. “Or worse…”
“Hey, hey, look at me,” Wade says, grabbing hold of my arms and making me turn to face him. “We are in all of this together. There’s absolutely no other place I’d rather be right now. I’m not gonna die—and neither are you. Do you hear me?”
I nod, unable to stop the sheer panic consuming every fiber of my being. If something happens to Wade, I would never be able to forgive myself.
“We’re gonna get out of this mess, I promise you,” he says, gazing round the room. “There’s nowhere that’s protected other than beneath the stairs, from what I can tell. But good luck getting up them right now.”
Suddenly, the room begins to rumble, as if the stones holding up the walls are getting ready to catapult themselves at us.
“Shit’s getting way worse. We need an exit strategy. How do we stop your dad?” Wade says, eyeing the walls. “What did the grimoire say?”
I shake my head. “For starters—not to mess with a location spell if you’re not a biomancer. Otherwise, this would happen,” I say, ducking a stone as it hits the wall behind me. Smaller chunks of sand and debris pepper the top of my head as it explodes on impact.
Wade’s silver eyes are wide as he brushes off my hair and says, “Figures. Dammit. I’m sorry, Dru. I tried to stop Dominic, but you know what a stubborn jackass he can be. He went into a tirade about how I should stay out of this.”
I cast him a knowing look. “He was probably right about that.”
“Don’t you start, too,” he says, casting me a warning look.
“It doesn’t matter now. We need to get the Gilberts here as fast as possible. Do you still have my phone?” I say, holding out my hand.
“Well, yeah. But what do the twins have to do with this?” Wade asks, digging my phone out of his pocket and handing it to me.
“Colton’s a biomancer, remember?”
“Shit,” Wade says, rolling his eyes.
“But that’s not all. We need Cat, too. My dad’s remains need to be burned in something called the Fires of Eternity, or his soul can’t be released to…” my eyebrows tug inward and my shoulders drop, “your dad. Shit, Wade—you can’t be here. If he finds out…”
“Look, we’ll deal with that bridge when we cross it. Right now, the priority is getting out of here in one piece. Call the twins,” Wade says, shaking his head. “I’ll give you some cover.”
Again the room rumbles and I nod quickly, kneeling down. The faster I do this, the better. Wade kneels as well, taking off his coat and holding it around us like a cloak of protection.
Taking a deep breath, I punch Cat’s name and start silently praying she’ll answer the phone. It’s been so long since we last talked and with everything that happened last semester between Colton and the
