Chapter 240

Chapter 240

Time stretched thin.

There was a blur of darkness behind her, something almost imperceptible to the eye. The sound of a low moaning growl combined with the smooth swish echoing down the plastic slide was profoundly unsettling. If my sister had all her senses, she would have heard it too. But while she was astoundingly perceptive in countless other ways, no amount of wishful thinking could change the fact that my sister was deaf.

The button at my pocket popped open with the flick of a thumb and I drew flipping the tip of the blade between my fingers and preparing to throw it. The weapon housed one of my summons, and if I could thread the needle between my sisters upper torso and the exterior wall of the slide behind her, it would place a giant pissed off wolf between her and whatever the hell it was hurtling down the slide.

What if you miss?

An intrusive voice whispered, forcing me to hesitate for a fraction of a second. Iris had no context for what was happening. From her perspective, Id gone from lounging, to running straight for her. We had a lot of trust but she was still a kid. I was experienced enough to know I could hit my markId spent plenty of time with the blade and made more difficult throws in the past from greater rangesbut that wasnt accounting for human error.

If she flinched? It was over.

I wouldnt make it in time. Whatever it was had reached the bottom and I could see nothing more than a maw filled with countless teeth homing in on her, glistening with saliva.

There were options. Not many, but a few. All of them involved breaking my own rules.

I did it without hesitation.

a new Ordinator ability, extended from my fingertips in a nearly imperceptible spear of blue light. It met temporary resistance from Iriss mind, like she was poking at it, unsure of what it was but accepting just the same. Updated from novelb(i)n.c(o)m

Roll over the right side NOW.

My sister responded immediately, awkward scrambling off the side just as a twisted, nightmarish amalgam of teeth and flesh snapped viciously at the bottom of the slide. It was an asymmetrical abomination, and what little I could see of it was impossible to make sense of. Devoid of an obvious target, I plunged in the sickly yellow flesh above its mouth.

It squealed, shrieking as Talia took form and ripped into it in a mess of growls and guttural tearing. A yelp followed.

It's strong. my summon warned, pained voice speaking directly into my mind.

How strong?

I may only buy you a small window. Run!

I took a half second to scroll through my messages until I spotted Grit and Ire, the hired mercenaries who escorted me whenever I left the Region as Matt.

Grits messages were mostly expletives, but Ire was mostly coherent. According to him they were en route, and Ire also sent the coordinates for a nearby block corner where theyd stop.

Less than a hundred yards away.

I oriented myself eastward and ran, huffing as the greenery blew by, trying to run straight and keeping my head on a swivel for threats that might have been lurking behind the large trunks of nearby trees. Heavy footsteps crunched through the asphalt behind me, gaining ground as I catapulted through the urban forest, eyes set on the white glow of the tree-line until I broke through, tripping and awkwardly stumbling, trying to find my balance without dropping my sister.

My eyes slowly panned up to the intersection.

This was larger scale than Id realized. The monsters looked less like monsters in the clear light of day. There werent many of them, but the warped human faces mounted on monstrous bodies, and the sheer deadliness of those bodies ensured no one would take them lightly. A few fights had already broken out.

And the pavement, where Grit and Ire were meant to arrive, was empty.

Someone throw me a fucking bone here, I snarled, summoning my system-Prius and loading Iris into it. My sister scrambled into the passenger seat, leaning back, her eyes wild. Its going to be okay. I told her, only to be cut off by an overhead screech.

The ravens from before had found us.

A giant bird ahead of the pack was diving straight down at me on a collision course, its talons outstretched.

shot my hand-crossbows butt into my palm and I focused on the ravens middle eye, my wrist automatically adjusting to correct the shot.

The twang of a bow matched my trigger-pull.

The raven spiraled from the twin impacts, one of them exploding, plummeting off-course and spiraling downward, caving in the roof of a nearby car with considerable force.

A few slabs of sidewalk away from me an archer stood from a kneeling position. The recent addition of a floating cowl that flowed behind him beside the thickly weaved body armor, green eyes, and tightly coiffed blonde hair made his visage almost nauseatingly picturesque.

Fed turned Prince Charming.

Nice shot, kid. Miles said, nocking another arrow.