Page 40 of Hunted

Inside of me lived the spark of hope that the reason for this alarm had nothing to do with the fate monster chasing Valerian and I. Even though that spark of hope only existed to be disappointed, I was glad for it all the same. Hope was the one thing I needed right now, especially since by the look on Helen, Pepper, and Evie’s faces, it was abundantly clear.

Itwas here, and it was starting its attack.

“How long?” I asked.

Helen turned her head over to look at me. “It breached our furthest seals a minute ago,” she said. “They will get progressively harder for it to break, but now that it knows it can, it won’t stop.”

“That doesn’t answer the question,” Valerian said.

“It’s difficult to tell,” said Helen. “It could be thirty minutes, or it could be three.”

I shook my head. “That’s no time at all!”

“Please, now isn’t the time for panic, dear. Now is the time for us to shore up our defenses and slow this creature down. Perhaps if we can put enough roadblocks in its path, it will be dissuaded from continuing to expend its own energy in trying to reach us.”

“Do you think it has that problem?” Tallin asked as he jumped on the dining room table.

“It’s hard to tell, but it is after all an Arcadian creature, isn’t it?”

I looked across at Valerian, then at Tallin, then at my grandmother. “I’m not sure,” I said. “I don’t know much about it except that it’s a construct of Fate itself. If it was able to cross the boundary between worlds, who knows how much power it has or what it can do?”

Helen nodded. “Well, let us hope it underestimates Earthly magic. That may well buy us some more time.”

“Time for what?”

Helen took a deep breath and joined her sisters, who all turned to look at the three of us. “To fight,” Pepper said. “We’re going to defend this house and everyone in it.”

“Right,” Evie said, “We aren’t going to let anything happen to any of you. This isourhouse. That monster isn’t welcome here.”

“It will not get in,” Helen said, her voice stern, and full of conviction.

“And if it does?” I asked.

“It won’t.”

I shook my head. “Please,” I stepped toward my grandmothers. “You don’t know what you’re dealing with, here. I do. It won’t stop until it gets to me.”

“I know you are scared, dear, but you are in safe hands. I promise.”

“And I promise you, it will kill every last one of you to get to me!” I hadn’t meant to raise my voice toward the end, but I did. I didn’t feel great about it.

Helen took a deep breath in through the nose. “Sisters,” she said, “To your stations. We have a house to defend.”

My grandmothers made their move, each of them rushing to different parts of the house. Pepper stayed in the kitchen, rushing over to the window that overlooked the alley just outside the Magic Box. Evie dashed into my bedroom, where there was another window that overlooked the alley. Helen, meanwhile, went downstairs and into the Magic Box itself, heading straight for the front door.

I followed her, terrified for a moment that she was going to open it and try to stand up to the creature head on. She didn’t. Instead, she stood in the center of the shop, raised her hands, and two dozen magic sigils burned into the Magic Box’s walls came to life, glowing brightly to illuminate the gloom.

It was breathtaking, all that color, those pulsing, glowing lights. I watched them all glow, mesmerized not only by the lightshow, but by the current of power that seemed to rise up from out of the ground itself and make the very air tremble. I had never witnessed my grandmother’s magic. Not really. Not like this.

A moment ago, I had been worried the creature would have an easy time breaking through, and it would steam-roll anyone in its path to get to me. Now, knowing that Evie and Pepper were doing the same upstairs, I wasn’t so sure anymore.

“What can I do?” I asked my grandmother, “I want to help.”

“There’s nothing for you to do,” said Helen, “It’s probably best if you wait in the workshop. Should our sigils start to fail, the workshop will act as our emergency shelter.”

“How long will that hold if the creature breaks into this shop?” asked Valerian.

Helen didn’t have an answer for him. More gravely, some of my grandmother’s sigils were already starting to burn out, becoming charred, blackened marks against the Magic Box’s walls and wooden frames. She didn’t seem too concerned about this, not as much as I was.