The Gathering Read Online Free PDF Page B

I want to race ahead, fight off the solitary guard, grab Luka, and startle awake so all of this can be over. But Cap’s grip tightens on my arm, his attention sliding from one corner of the chamber to the other. When he’s finished with his inspection, he waves for us to follow him around the crates, out into the open. Clive’s cloak is strong and bright. There are no holes or thin spots like Anna’s.
    Luka stirs on the floor.
    Clive’s cloak broadens and spreads, allowing us to move apart, to surround Luka and the guard on all sides.
    Luka stirs again.
    The guard shifts.
    All of us stop.
    And suddenly, out of nowhere, Scarface appears. He stands in front of Luka, his hands clasped behind his back, his head slightly cocked, as though listening for a pin to drop. “Is that you, Little Rabbit?”
    I hold my breath. He can’t see me. There’s no way. Not inside Clive’s cloak. But my heart thunders so loudly it drowns out the plink-plink of dripping water. So loudly that maybe he can hear me.
    Luka sets his hands on the ground and tries to push himself up.
    A Grinch-like smile pulls up the corners of the man’s lips, turning his white scars into the shape of crescent moons. “I knew you would come. Didn’t I know she would come, Mr. Williams? Isn’t love so ridiculously irrational?”
    “Please, Tess,” Luka begs. “Startle.”
    “Oh no, Tess! Please, don’t startle. Come closer instead and give Mr. Williams the kiss he’s been fancying. The kiss he can’t stop thinking about.” Scarface claps his hands together and laughs. A cackle so delighted and amused it raises every hair on my body. “Your dear lover is a parched man and your lips are like water. Won’t you come closer and let him drink?”
    Luka’s shoulder muscles tremble as he pushes himself a little higher. “No, Tess.”
    “ Yes, Tess. Now is your chance. There’s only two of us.” Scarface lifts his hand to himself and the guard. “Surely a powerful Fighter like you can handle the two of us.”
    Blood pounds in my ears. I move to take a step, but Cap raises his hand in a sharp, attention-getting motion. His steely eyes command me to wait. To be smarter.
    “No kiss for Mr. Williams? Pity. And here I was hoping to watch the romantic reunion.” He shrugs, like it’s my loss. “Tell me, how is everyone? Good? Are you sure? It’s hard to know who to trust these days, don’t you think?”
    He’s baiting me with Claire, but it won’t work. I never trusted her to begin with.
    The four of us begin moving forward again. Clive stays behind, his cloak extending along with us as we close in.
    “Lucky for me, you’re not the only one trying to reunite with a dear loved one.” Scarface’s eyes glitter, and then narrow into calculated slits. “You know the deal.”
    The words have me stutter stepping.
    What deal?
    “I’m sorry. I don’t have a choice.”
    The hollow voice comes from behind me. I turn around and watch in horror as Clive takes a step back and drops his cloak. The darkened chamber fills with white-eyed guards. Twenty at least. And we are completely visible. One hundred percent exposed.
    With his eyes never leaving mine, black mist curls from Scarface’s fingertips. He aims it at Luka, but it doesn’t wrap around him this time. It seeps inside of him. He arches up violently, almost completely off the ground, and screams. His body bends like I’ve never seen a body bend. Like his spine has snapped in two.
    No! I run toward him, anger and hatred morphing into pure adrenaline. It courses through my veins as I take four guards out at once. In the periphery of my vision, Cap and Sticks fight off three at a time. Gabe throws a shield that scatters five. Luka continues to twist and scream as more guards appear. Like Shady Wood, they come out of nowhere, filling the entire chamber.
    Sticks falls and black mist binds him.
    No.
    I do a running kick that throws two against the wall.
    Six surround Cap and take him down.
    No!
    Fury