The Last Smile in Sunder City (The Fetch Phillips Archives #1) - Luke Arnold Page 0,103

bones for breakfast.

Eileen’s eyes were red and puffy. It looked like she’d been crying. Someone must have filled her in on what she was going to find here.

“Help me with the hatch!” she said, and we both bent down to close the trapdoor. I wasn’t much use with one broken arm and a hand that had lost all feeling, so we were struggling to even lift it off the floor.

“You know what’s happened?” I asked.

“Yeah. Jeremy filled me in.”

The door slipped from our fingers. The screaming below us got louder.

“Jeremy?”

“Yeah. He’s a Human who works with the League.”

Flyboy. That’s where he’d gone; off to Eileen, to pick her brain about any underground chambers that Rye might have crawled into.

And there he was. Jeremy. Racing towards us from the front door, holding some kind of lantern.

“Give us a hand,” I said to him, terrified that Rye would rise out of the depths at any second. Eileen and I had the door up to shoulder height and it was just about to tip forward when Flyboy raised a boot and kicked us back.

Eileen and I hit the deck beside the hatch. More pain shot through my body. More panic.

The lantern that Flyboy was holding looked like a glass ball. It wasn’t made for illumination. There was too much liquid swilling around inside.

“No!” screamed Eileen. Whatever he had told her was going to happen once they got here, it wasn’t this. Before either of us could get to our feet, Flyboy raised the burning ball over his head and threw it down into the basement.

The smash of broken glass. The whoosh of flames hitting fuel. The glow of orange light shooting up from the hole.

Jeremy stepped back as the fire lit up the grim determination on his face.

“Get it closed!” I screamed, reaching down again for the trapdoor. There was moaning below. Smoke bellowed up around us. Eileen had a good hold of the door but I was next to useless.

Then, I saw another flame in Flyboy’s hands. He was holding a lighter out to the stack of books by the door. Even without orders from the League, he’d decided to dispose of all the evidence.

I left Eileen with the hatch and ran forward. The pain grew with every step but I did my best to block it out.

I led with my shoulder, ready to charge, then WHACK! Flyboy spun around, maneuvering out of the way while sending a roundhouse kick into the side of my head.

I crashed into a bookcase and it toppled over. There were stars in my eyes. And sparks. More fire.

I found my feet again. I got ready to lunge but he was far too fast for me. Too agile. One punch under my ribs. One across my face. I tumbled back, twisting my ankle.

SLAM! The trapdoor closed, trapping the monster.

Good news.

SLAM! The front door closed, trapping us.

Bad, bad news.

Flyboy was gone and there was fire all around me, too close to the door and burning too fast. The old books were passing flames to each other with wild generosity so I stumbled to my feet and backed up into the center of the room. I searched for something heavy to put over the trapdoor but everything was catching fire or too far away. There was no time.

“We have to go up!” I called, but Eileen was way ahead of me, already off towards the back wall. This time, she went up the ladder first and when she got to the top, I was only halfway there. There was another bang below us and the trapdoor was flung open.

I didn’t look back. It was enough to see the horror on Eileen’s face. But it did give me the impetus I needed to use both feet, despite the pain, to push myself up.

Roars of fire and beast joined together in a terrifying symphony. When I rolled on to the landing and looked back, Rye was flailing in the center of the room, trying to put out the fire that covered his body. A lot of his skin was gone. His flesh was bubbling and black. The downside to having a body strengthened by magic is that it can push past pain that would kill a mortal ten times over.

The heat was becoming too much to bear, especially since we were right above the fire. Eileen went into Rye’s old room and I crawled behind. It was overcast, but a hint of morning sun came in the windows. Hot air and