body flew across the room and whacked into the opposite wall. Unconscious, he dropped to the floor with a sickening thud.
Selene held herself in wolf form, half her mind watching the doorway and the other half still concentrating on turning off powers where she could.
She felt Lila’s hand tense in her fur as a figure entered the room. But instead of the colossus she was expecting, it was a grey wolf.
“Maddox.” She let out a disgusted growl.
“You should have joined me when I gave you the opportunity,” he growled back at her. “Now I’m afraid I’ll just have to kill you.”
“That would be a shame,” she replied. Something was niggling in the back of her mind. Something to do with where Griffin was.
Maddox prowled further into the room, his head low, his beady eyes trained on his quarry.
“Uh, Selene,” Lila mumbled out of the side of her mouth, her grip tightening in Selene’s fur.
But Selene wasn’t paying attention to her. Her mind was with Griffin… Something was off.
Maddox stalked closer.
The cacophony of sounds inside her head from the battles still being waged was distracting her. She needed silence to concentrate. Selene quickly shifted to human and Lila hopped up with her, placing her hand on Selene’s arm.
Maddox also shifted to human and drew closer… within arm’s length now. Lila’s grip on her arm had tightened to near painful.
Selene ignored him. Instead, she desperately searched for a sign of a power in use anywhere around where Griffin should be. Something was wrong. And Griffin wasn’t talking to her anymore.
Realization smacked into her almost like a physical blow. Her gaze flew to Maddox. “Your blocker still has his power.”
He crowded in closer, and Selene realized her mistake at the last minute - letting him get too close. He leaned in and whispered in her ear, “Yes, though just barely. And I really can’t have you around ruining my best people, love.”
Pain, sharp and ragged, sliced through Selene’s abdomen. As Maddox stepped back, she looked down to see the blade of his knife sliding out of her. Lila gasped. Selene looked up and caught Maddox’s smug smile just before he disappeared from sight.
Selene sank to her knees, her strength seeping out of her body along with the blood. Lila knelt beside her.
“Block the pain,” Selene told her as she pressed her hand to the oozing wound.
“What? We have to get my dad!”
“Block … the … pain.” Selene gritted through her teeth.
“Fine,” Lila grunted, clearly unhappy. A numb feeling washed through Selene’s body.
The relief gave her a small amount of strength. Selene pulled her mind into herself, bolstering her power. She’d fought this blocker before. She concentrated on creating a small bubble of space in the dungeons and then moved that bubble…searching….calling for Griffin.
“Selene,” she suddenly heard Griffin’s voice. “Where’d you go?”
“Get out of there now… The blocker. He’s there somewhere.” Despite the pain control from Lila, Selene could feel herself growing weaker. Griffin’s voice sounded in her mind, but it was as though he were a long way away, down a tunnel maybe. She could barely make out his words.
“Lila, you’ve got to get them out of there,” Selene insisted.
She sank back against the wall. Then she suddenly felt a surge of power move through her and then out of her. Selene opened heavy lidded eyes and glanced at Lila.
“Your eyes are glowing,” Selene mumbled. Her lips felt glued to her teeth.
Chapter 41
As soon as he’d entered the dungeons, Griffin could feel something was wrong. He reached out with his telepathy, only to be greeted by silence.
“Stay close, Ellie,” he murmured in a low voice.
“I feel it, too,” she said. “What’s going on?”
“I’m not sure.” Griffin’s gaze swiveled from side to side as they moved deeper into the long hallway lined with doors. Cautiously, they glanced in each room but found each one empty.
“Try bolstering my power,” Griffin suggested.
He felt his sister’s small hand slip into his. And then nothing.
“Not good. Can you hear anyone?” Ellie asked.
“Griffin!” The sound of Selene’s voice blasted into his mind.
Griffin winced. “Selene? Where’d you go?”
“Get out of there now… The blocker. He’s there somewhere.”
“Get Charlotte,” he called back, but her presence was already fading.
Griffin tugged on Ellie’s hand. “Move!”
Together they ran back toward the door they’d entered through. Just as they were nearing the exit, a mammoth, misshapen thing stepped into their path. They couldn’t tell if it was a man or some sort of metamorph. Ellie and Griffin skidded to a halt and started to back