Under the Altswood Sky (The Altswood Saga #2)

Chapter 24 - Abyss

Chapter 24 - Abyss

This wasn't happening.

This wasn't happening.

This was happening.

Gabriel gasped for breath, a shaky sort of sound that snagged on his every inhale. He staggered back, then folded to the floor, blinking, blinking, blinking at the knife that protruded from his chest.

I had been wrong. Gabriel hadn't been hit in the heart—Joshua had stabbed blindly, and created a wound too centred.

"Unfortunate," Joshua remarked simply, coming to the same conclusion.

If help arrived, Gabriel would survive. The only way I could help him now was not by crying and rushing to his side like I wanted to, trying to stop the gushing blood with nothing but the power of hope. It was by keeping Joshua away from him.

"You monster," I hissed.

I pulled out my taser. Flicked the ON switch with a vicious snap.

But Joshua was faster. At the electric sound, he snapped his head up and grinned, reminding me of a feral wolf. One flash there, one flash elsewhere. He ducked right as the taser discharged, and the electrodes fell limply to the floor instead, only shocking the space where he had stood.

Desperate, I tried to recharge the taser and try again, but I never got the chance.

I didn't even see him coming. It took me a delayed moment to register that Joshua was even in front of me, and by then, he was slamming my arm against a nearby mirror. One hit was all it took for the taser to drop with a crunch.

"No!"

Before I could recover, Joshua had kicked the taser far from my reach. It flew to the other side of the maze centre, and in my haste to retrieve it, I was distracted enough that Joshua landed a merciless hit across my jaw.

I sprawled to the floor, head spinning, hands stinging. The moment that my palms made contact with solid ground, I flipped around, trying to figure out my next move.

But then Joshua—who I had thought needed my help, who I had thought was just as ruined as I was by these murders, who I had mourned for—pinned me down. His fingers dug into my shoulders. His knees locked down my hips. His manic eyes were bright.

"There were never any files, were there?" I spat. "You made it up."

Joshua's only response was a grin. I could smell something incredibly sweet—too sweet—from his breath as he hovered an inch above me. His touch felt like needles were entering my skin.

I cringed, throwing my head to the side. Through the nearest reflection, I caught sight of Gabriel, who had managed to press himself to a mirror surface, sitting upright but not quite. The sight of him brought tears to my eyes.

Joshua had left the knife in. It would slow the bleeding, but it was still a direct impaling, and Gabriel didn't have long. I fought back a sob that threatened to rise. Dad was listening to all of this through the wire. He would have called for help. He must have.

It was like Joshua could read my mind.

"What is this?" he asked casually.

His knee shifted, and pressed down hard on the transmitter hidden in my waistband. I fought to stop him, but he had grasped the foreign object and yanked harshly, bringing it up to the light.

The silver wires looped and fluttered in his grip. It looked as if he clutched a broken butterfly, one that tore into pieces as Joshua smashed the transmitter to the floor, over and over until the microphone detached.