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  He opened his mouth.

  Roared.

  The sound was worse than the banshee's scream. It was one of those monsters from that pit. The entire building trembled and I retracted my sword. Firefighters shouted somewhere. Thoreau was making good on his word to collapse the building.

  The woman still leaned against the wall, gagging. My sword dripped with Thoreau's blood as I took her arm and pulled her towards the door. Loud crashes filled the air and people shouted. Pieces of ceiling rained down and the doorway ahead bent to the side, then in as Xavier and I ducked through, squeezing against each other.

  There were people outside, tons of people, standing and watching the spectacle. Police cars were everywhere with rotating lights. Firefighters stood back as the building came down behind us, spewing dust and making deafening crashes. People screamed and ran away. A splinter of wood hit my leg. Pain flared, then tingled as my wound pulled itself together. Janine screamed my name as I let go of the young woman's arm and let her go down, crying, to the grass.

  And the sun was back out. Already my head pounded and Xavier pulled me close, trying to get me out of it.

  "We need to go," he said.

  He was right. Thoreau was right behind us in the collapsing building. I had to get out of the open. My skin was on fire.

  "Alyssa!" Janine shouted, taking my arm.

  My head throbbed worse and worse. Janine and Xavier balanced me between them and helped me across the grass. It took all I had just to hold onto my sword. My strength flowed out of me and my leg stopped healing. I could feel my own blood running down it. At least that made me look more Normal out here.

  "Girl!" someone shouted. A gloved paramedic stood in front of us. "We need to check you out."

  "Go away!" Xavier shouted. "She just needs to go lie down!"

  He sounded so fierce that the paramedic backed off. Janine and Xavier kept dragging me across the lawn as the sun continued its assault on every cell of my body. I could die if I stayed in it for too long, if no one picked me up when I started to have a seizure. Or worse--I'd end up in the ambulance and Thoreau would pop in to "congratulate a hero."

  "In here," Janine said, but her voice sounded like it was underwater. I just wanted to dive into a swimming pool and sink into its cool waters, letting them soothe my head and my skin. I just wanted to throw up on the grass but there was nothing to heave up.

  A door open and my worthless feet dragged across the threshold, getting caught on it for a second. A bit of relief coursed over me and I flailed a bit, getting my footing on more carpet. Janine had taken us into another apartment building. No. It was the main building where the rec room and the gym were for people who lived here. A pool table stood right in front of us along with a sign that banned people under 18 from using the exercise equipment. The pool was open to everyone, though, and there was even a kid swimming in it outside with no lifeguard. That made a load of sense.

  "I guess they really want kids here to be healthy," I managed.

  Xavier smiled at me. "Your sense of humor is still there. That's good."

  "But what about Thoreau?" Janine asked as I slumped against the wall and started to recover. "I didn't realize he was a demon. He threatened to have me turned into one of those things that were with him if I didn't wait there and let you guys in when you got there."

  "Did any of them touch you?" Xavier and I asked at the same time.

  "No," Janine said. "They just stood there and made me feel like the worst person in the world when I was near them. I never felt worse in my life."

  "Shadow Wraiths do that to everyone," Xavier said. "Well, except for full demons. They're the only ones who can hang out and have parties with them. Are you sure none of them touched you?"

  More sirens went off. The firefighters had called for backup to deal with the collapsed building. I managed to peel myself from the wall as the headache faded. We were out of the full sunlight but I was guaranteed to not feel really good until the sun went down, period. And I was hungry. All the fighting we'd done today had drained me. I was pretty sure this apartment complex didn't have any freezers lying around with what I needed.

  "He's going to ask you this about fifty times," I said.

  "I'm sure. Sure, sure, sure, sure..." She went on to repeat her answer about fifty times.

  "Good," Xavier said. "Now we can figure out how we're going to get out of here. Thoreau knows we can't go far right now."

  "Sorry," I said.

  "It's not your fault," Xavier told me, wrapping his arm around me from behind and pulling me close to him. "It's Russell Fox's fault for doing this to you. I think you still would have been a good fighter without this."

  Janine's mouth fell open as Xavier helped me walk to the basement steps. The air was cooler down here but I almost felt warm. Xavier had never put his arm around me before and I wasn't sure what to think about that. This could just be one comrade helping another.

  But it didn't feel like that.

  Janine trailed behind us. The sirens outside got louder. I wondered if police would knock on all the apartment doors, searching for us. It wouldn't take Thoreau long. If that banshee had found us on the street, there was no doubt he had an even better ability at that.

  The cool air wrapped around me, soothing my skin, but it was far from relieving. "There's no exit to this basement," I said, pointing down the hall with my cane that led to the other side of the building. Peoples' storage units were packed high with stuff and the laundry machines were open and empty.

  "We can hide in those," Xavier said, pointing. "Sorry. Just kidding. Thoreau would smell us. Demons have good senses of smell."

  "Can't we tell people Thoreau burned my apartment down?" Janine asked. "He burned my apartment down!"

  "He doesn't care," Xavier said. "Alyssa and I are trying to kill him. Now, we need an exit."

  "Alyssa?" Janine asked.

  "My real name," I confessed.

  "Maybe you already killed him," Janine said.

  "We didn't," Xavier said. "If we had, we'd have a new mark on our arms. Another sword. We get one for each demon we kill." Xavier checked out his arm, but it only had the same crossed swords that I had. "Now, an exit. Janine, you know of one?"

  She thought. "The sewer runs under this but it's blocked off under all the buildings. I'll show you where it is. Can you blast walls down?"

  "We can try," I said.

  A knock sounded on the door up above. I knew what would happen. Thoreau had emerged and told another lie, that he'd been there asking for donations for the old folks' home and Xavier and I were there waiting to attack him. I was sure we'd be at fault for the fire and the building collapse.

  Janine led us down the hall and stopped in front of a steel, closed maintenance door that was locked. I looked at Xavier. "Can you break that down?" I asked.

  "I'm a bit drained." He gulped. "I'll try."

  We both were. I felt the weakness creeping into my limbs and my stomach rumbled with hunger pangs. Janine had eaten nothing through the day. Thoreau must have gotten there early in the morning and not let her go to the fridge. Not that being around Shadow Wraiths made anyone want to eat. And Xavier...even his wood smoke smell was less. We all needed more sustenance.

  The knock came again, louder, and then the door to the apartment opened so hard the door hit the wall.

  "Are you in here?" Thoreau asked, teasing. "There are three distinct scents."

  We weren't going to fight him in our state. Xavier raised his fist and let the magenta glow explode around it. He threw the fireball at the door and something in it clicked, but the door refused to budge.

  I kicked and the lock broke, but the door still refused to go in.

  "Something's blocking it," Xavier said.

  "Hurry," Janine whispered.

  Thoreau's heavy footsteps drew closer. He was on top of the stairwell, still out of sight.

  I kicked again. He said nothing. The air was heating and Xavier cursed. It reminded me of Leon
. I knew what was next. Fire. Real fire.

  "Feel familiar?" Thoreau asked. "I imagine that it does.

  “Do something!" Janine screamed.

  I pushed again. There was definitely something on the other side of the door. Whoever had set up this system wanted to make sure no one got into the sewer system.

  The footsteps got louder. Thoreau was coming. I caught a glimpse of his feet on the stairs and I rammed my shoulder into the door again only to have the entire thing fall through on me.

  “Get in here,” Trish said. “Hurry, or we’re all going to die.”

  Chapter Ten

  The three of us piled into the doorway and my gray vision snapped back into place. We were in a long hallway lined with rusty pipes that smelled like it hadn’t been opened in months. I didn’t know how Trish had found us or how she’d gotten here, but I wasn’t going to argue with it.

  Fire exploded behind us.

  Janine screamed.

  I turned and made sure she was in the tunnel with us. Check. Xavier closed the door and blocked out the flames—the real flames—that came jetting through the little hallway. Something exploded—probably one of the gas dryers—and shook the door. Smoke was everywhere, acrid and disgusting. I’d had enough of fire for one day.

  “Run,” Trish instructed.

  We did as we were told, darting further into the tunnel. Trish grabbed Janine’s hand and led her along. I took Xavier’s. There were two of us here who could see in the dark. Another loud explosion followed out in the basement as we bolted down a set of stairs. We didn’t have much time. Thoreau would figure out we weren’t dead soon enough.

  “Make a right when we reach the sewer,” Trish yelled, pulling Janine through a tunnel that got narrower and narrower. The smells here were horrible. This was where the toilets up above led to.

  Another burst of fire roared against the door. He was trying to be thorough. So much for wanting me for this Dark Pentragram thing. Janine went quiet and the sound of running water sounded up ahead. There was a broken screen gate at the end of the tunnel with a DANGER sign hanging from it. Trish had broken it down.

  And then, banging sounded on the door we'd left.

  He was coming through.

  Trish stopped at the edge of the water, which was flowing. “Everyone in,” she ordered.

  “I can't swim!” Janine shouted.

  The water smelled disgusting at least to me. I hoped Xavier and Janine couldn't pick up on the smell. Trish held her nose and waited for us to dive in. The water was moving fast. We'd have to hold onto each other. I could hold my breath for several minutes, but Janine and Xavier...they were going to have a hard time.

  “I'll hold onto you,” I said to Xavier as Trish gripped Janine's arm.

  The door banged open far back and a fiery glow followed. I felt like the Infernal Dimension itself was rolling towards us. I dared to look back to see a dark figure before the flames, advancing with complete confidence. Thoreau's form was different now. Bigger. Winged. He looked like the stereotypical demon you saw in musty old history books.

  Janine and Trish jumped.

  Xavier and I followed.

  The water forced its way up my nose. It was sickening. Xavier coughed next to me as I kept my head above the water. There was all sorts of gross stuff in here. Behind us, flames filled the tunnel and heat washed over me. It wasn't close enough to be painful.

  The water swept us faster than it should have. We passed under a yellow light hanging from the tunnel above. It was strong, so strong that there was no fighting against it. I held Xavier's hand tight and caught a glimpse of Janine barely keeping her head above the water next to Trish. Her adrenaline filled the air. My feet wouldn't touch the floor and even if they could, there was no stopping this.

  A loud roar sounded from far back, echoing down the tunnel towards us. Thoreau was furious. We were getting away. I did everything I could to keep my head above the rushing water, which only got faster as we slid downhill. Janine screamed. There was nothing in this tunnel to grab onto. No platforms. No ladders. We were headed into some underground lake or something and we all might drown down there.

  Even me.

  And if Xavier drowned, I died along with him.

  "How you doing?" Xavier asked, coughing next to me. He squeezed my hand. We were still linked. "This is fun, isn't it?"

  "Loads," I shouted. Janine screamed as the water flowed faster, faster...and then slowed.

  Up ahead there was a giant screen blocking the way ahead. Garbage and paper towels and other debris lay against it.

  And there was a ladder.

  "We've hit the end," Trish shouted. She hit the grate and blocked the way for Janine so she didn't go sailing into the metal cage. Instead, she banged into Trish and coughed. She was crying. I felt so horrible for her, as if I'd dragged her into this.

  No. Thoreau had and now Janine knew everything.

  The two of them started swimming for the ladder as Xavier and I paddled towards the shore. Well, the ladder that led up to a small platform and another metal door. This one was unlabeled with a handle, as if city workers had prepared for someone to land here and have to escape. Of course. They needed exits in case workers fell into the current.

  Xavier gripped the ladder first and climbed out, dripping. He still looked amazing even so. His clothes just hugged him tighter. He had the body of a Greek statue, just clothed. I couldn't help but stare as he wrung his shirt out, then shook my head and tossed my sword up onto the platform.

  I still had it. It had kept the form of a sword now. That was a bad sign. Xavier must be running out of energy and couldn't even maintain the glamour anymore. Either that, or he didn't have the attention. Either way, we were in bad shape.

  "My mom's going to be home in an hour," Janine said. "She's going to think I was in the building." She leaned against the door and sighed. "I have no way to tell her I'm safe."

  Trish was soaking and her blue Victorian dress hugged her legs like a deflated balloon. "We're not safe," she said. "Thoreau may not like running water but if he's so determined to find you, that won't stop him." Trish eyed me with suspicion. "Do you have anything to do with him? There must be a reason he's tracking you."

  "No," I said. "He just tried to kill both of us." I almost told her about the banshee's word, that I was supposed to be or represent some Dark Pentagram, but she was already staring at me like I was going to stab her. It wasn't a good idea, especially since I didn't even know what that was.

  Trish opened the door. Yep. Emergency exit. "Follow me," she said. There was a ladder on the other side. "Thoreau has access to all the sewer maps. He'll find out about this in no time."

  We followed Trish through the door. I wrung out my shirt. I needed a shower before we figured out how we were going to break into Thoreau's building.

  * * * * *

  Our journey carried us through another series of main tunnels and Trish took us through turn after turn. These weren't sewers, which made our now-awful scent stand out more. They were more like maintenance tunnels that ran just under the city, complete with doors, boxes, and names of businesses on some of them. We passed ladders and old trash cans where some people had thrown perfectly good cupcakes. We even passed under something that smelled like a restaurant, or at least the people did.

  Distant footsteps sounded from behind us, but they weren't the heavy ones of Thoreau. A box slid. I was going to pass out from hunger.

  I wouldn't think about that. "How did you find us?" I asked.

  "Your blood," Trish said. She faced me, fished into her dress pocket and pulled out a red amulet attached to a golden chain. "It was all over Allunna's sword. I took it to Elsina and had this made. Normally it's illegal to make a blood charm for someone without their permission, but this was an exception. I knew Xavier would be with you and I had to find him again."

  So I was the gateway to Xavier. Trish seemed to have a huge protective streak for him. I guessed it was good that someone was looki
ng out for him. He said nothing, almost like he was embarrassed.

  "Watch," Trish said, holding up the amulet so that it dangled.

  "What does it do?" Janine asked.

  Trish didn't answer her. The amulet moved on its own, pointing right at me. I jumped as the red jewel tried to pull out of Trish's hand in an effort to get to me.

  "Whoa," Janine said. "That's pretty sweet."

  "Not evil?" Trish asked, facing her. "Not the work of the Infernal Dimension?"

  "No. No," Janine said, taking a step back. She was scared of Trish. I didn't blame her. Trish wouldn't have a problem drinking from the source and since she didn't want to hurt Xavier, Janine was the only option. I might have to step in but I was getting weak. "I think this kind of stuff is cool. My second cousin got bit by a werewolf when he was fourteen and I've been interested in this ever since. The thing is, I'm afraid to talk about this with anyone."

  "What happened to him?" Trish asked. She sounded really concerned.

  We started walking again. "He hid it," Janine said. "Well, his transformations. He'd go out to the family cabin when they were coming and pretend he was off to party with friends. He confided in me at our last family reunion. I don't think he even told his parents. His name's George. He's a pretty cool guy who deejays at parties. He lives right outside Cumberland."

  "That's typical," Trish said, but her tone was sad, not judging. "Tell him he can join us down here in Abnormals Underground. If he's willing to embrace his nature, that is."

  "I don't know if he's going to do that," Janine said. "He's really ashamed." Then she faced me. "I was scared to ask you, Roslyn, about...what you are. I kind of knew. That's why I bought the Migraine Blanket for you to hide under. It's just...you reminded me of my second cousin and how he had to hide. It's not fair."

  I stopped. "You...knew?"

  "Well, not at first. I figured it out two weeks after we met. You never eat and well, don't go out in the sun. Other kids were starting to talk about you since you were on the soccer team and missing practices. I told Maisha that you just had migraines. I think she believed me. I've been trying to cover for you. I told Coach Lancey you had the stomach flu yesterday when she called to ask about you."