Page 143 of Lethal Souls

Something slams into the door of the bunker.

I gasp, sitting up with the twins as the blue and purple waves of energy around the door flicker.

When another thud happens, I wake them up and rush them to a corner to hide. Juniper is already on her feet, her gun drawn and pointed at the door.

“What is that?” I ask.

“I don’t know,” she murmurs.

Maeve startles awake, peering around as the other women and children whisper loudly with terror swirling in their eyes.

The door thuds again, and this time the blue and purple energy floating around the door fades.

“Juniper,” I call.

“I see it.” She presses her thumb to the hammer of her gun. I move past her, grabbing a sword from the shelf. With one more thud, the door bursts open, and the women and children scream.

An oversized creature steps inside, its face sunken in and its eyes familiar. It still has hair, and the stature of it reminds me of someone I know.

And then it hits me.

It looks like Garrett.

But Korah and Hassha said Garrett was killed. They had to get rid of him in Kessel when he attacked Lilith.

But this is Selah. She likes to create things that terrorize us most. And clearly, she’s trying to terrorize me. Garrett may be gone, but she knows his face is enough to make me panic. To hesitate.

The creature scans the room until it finds me, and when it locks, I level my sword. Juniper shoots at it, but it doesn’t flinch from her bullets. She draws a dagger with Regal energy and yells as she stabs its chest.

The creature hisses, but it smacks her away, sending her flying toward the shelves where jars and crates of food are. She slams into them, causing everything to hit the floor.

“Juniper!” I yell.

The creature croaks as it eyes me again, and I lift my sword, thrusting at it. It dodges my strikes, but I keep battling, remembering the strikes Korah taught me.

I manage to stab through its shoulder, and it screeches. I stab again, plunging into its chest, and it buckles.

In this moment, all I care about is keeping Juniper and Maeve alive. Hassha’s twins. Her tribe. I will not let this thing kill them because it wants me.

A small but mighty scream pierces the air, and Minka comes bounding across the bunker. Carra calls after her, but Minka doesn’t stop. She kicks the creature in the face with a solid blow and sends him stumbling, then she lands on her knees and slices its Achilles heel.

It screams in pain as it staggers and tries swinging a fist at her, but she dodges him with ease. An arrow pins into the creature’s chest and then another. Maia stands on a tower of crates, shooting him with Regal-blessed arrows. Each one makes its skin sizzle.

Silvera and Cerberus growl as they pounce, biting into its thigh and arm and producing enough blood to spill on the floor. It yells louder, causing the bunker to quake.

I raise my sword, ready to end this thing once and for all. I’ll remove its head and send it back out where it belongs.

I let out a gut deep yell and swing, angling the sword for its throat. But just as I connect it and have a clear cut through, something pierces my chest and grips tight.

“Willow!” Juniper screams, so sharply it could break glass. “No! Willow!”

My breath stops as a sharp pain takes hold of me. I stare at the now headless creature, thinking I’ve won—thinking I’ve beat him—but I didn’t.

When I lower my gaze, I see its claws jammed into my chest. It’s ripped right through to grip my heart. And when the dead creature falls, it takes my heart with it, and I’m wrapped in paralyzing cold.

Wrapped in darkness.

No more breath in my lungs.