bones into a lung. Before she could try any magic, I shoved it into her again and kept stabbing into her chest as she fell to the floor. I didn’t realize I was screaming until Raphael grabbed the back of my shirt and pulled me off her, forcing me to his chest.
“She’s dead. She’s dead, Kaliya,” he whispered urgently.
I was shaking as I pulled away from him, looking down at my bloody hands.
“Yeah, I know,” I finally replied, shoving the knife back into my boot. I unsheathed my talwar instead, hoping for better weaponry for the next fight if there was one. My family had given it to me, and for a moment, I let that comfort me.
She’s dead, and I’m still here with my skin attached. That’s a win. She won’t be doing that to anyone ever again. That’s a win.
It took several deep breaths to be ready to move again.
“Let’s get back down the stairs and get the fuck out of here,” I ordered, forcing my feet to move.
“Kaliya—”
“We’ll talk in the car,” I said with more snap than necessary.
I started jogging, deep, unsettling fear forcing me to move faster and faster until I was flat out running, Raphael barely able to keep up.
I liked to think of myself as powerful and capable, but there was only so much one person could handle in a day. With the amount of powerful, dangerous people kept in the prison, I knew this was a losing battle on my own. Korey was right. Eliphas was right. I needed to get the hell out and onto my own turf. I needed to organize the other Executioners on the outside to help clean this up. There was no way in hell I was going to be able to take them all down on my own.
Hopefully, she was the only one hunting for me. Hopefully, none of them were as smart as her to find a place where she was able to use her magic. Incredibly unlikely but fucking hopefully.
I found the stairs again and went down, three steps at a time, and burst through the door. Without slowing, I ran through the halls, and this time, I found the exit. I didn’t bother stopping to check with the two guards standing there or stop to consider the dead bodies lining the hall. The guards stepped out of the way, and that was all I needed.
I struggled to get my keys out of my pocket, looking back to make sure Raphael was there as I unlocked the BMW. He jumped into the passenger’s seat as I got behind the wheel.
“What’s next?” he asked seriously. “Korey said Code Black. Who do you need me to call?”
“We need to get out of the prison’s territory before either of our phones work.” I appreciated his enthusiasm to help, but there was still work to be done. I got the engine running and backed out of our spot. “I want you to try to get anyone from Cassius’ place once we’re clear, Leith or whoever. I don’t care. He needs to know what’s happened, and they’re our best bet at finding him. I can get everyone in Phoenix on a group call. Then I need to call someone from the Tribunal. Hopefully, the security system here got something out, or everyone on the outside is in the dark.”
I hit the gas and pulled out of the parking lot, hitting fifty. On the long road out of the prison, I reached seventy. I flew past the unmanned guardhouse, not paying its emptiness any mind. They must have been called to help with the breakout. Korey was right; I needed to turn my thoughts to who got out, not who was being killed and detained on the inside.
“Kaliya?”
I didn’t know why he sounded confused that my eyes focused on the road. I didn’t want to end up rolling in the desert, so I needed to stay on track.
“Kaliya!” There was more urgency.
“What?” I growled.
“Look!” I saw him out of the corner of my eye and how he was hunched over to look out the top of the front window. I followed his eyes up and saw the storm brewing.
“Oh, for fuck’s sake,” I muttered. The sky had been clear earlier, not a cloud in sight. Now, there were dark clouds brewing, and lightning flashed as I watched. “Levi.”
“Levi?”
“Leviathan. His real name is fucking Levi. He’s a witch proficient in weather magic, and the only one who knows how to summon