impatiently.
“Nah,” Bonebreak said.
He reached for the lock again. Cora’s vision started to fracture. Her fingers, slick with sweat, glided off the lock. On the other side of the door, the Kindred had started talking again, in a way that was slow and confident. Whatever tools they were using to break down the door kept thunking.
“That’s it,” Leon announced. “Time for negotiations is over.”
He gave a bellow. It shook the room as he seemed to draw into himself and then thrust out his arms like he was ripping space itself. The two Mosca underlings holding him were thrown backward to the floor. They scrambled, but with their flat back armor and spindly legs, they only skittered around like overturned beetles.
Mali launched herself at the nearest Mosca. She moved so fast Cora couldn’t follow the arc of her arms and legs, and in seconds the Mosca’s neck was twisted, its masked head flopping unnaturally.
In the space of one breath, it was a battle.
Mali tore Bonebreak away from the door. She was half his size but quick. Anya still looked slightly dazed, though she managed to twist out of the Mosca underling’s grasp.
“Cora!” Nok called. “Get the door!”
In a daze, Cora turned her eyes toward the massive lock. It was opening on its own, little by little. Whatever the Kindred guards on the other side were doing was working. She threw herself on the lock, shoving it back into place. It bucked against her hand.
“I can’t hold it for long!”
Mali came charging across the warehouse room to help, dodging Leon, who was rolling on the ground with two of the Mosca, but one of the overturned Mosca snaked out a hand and grabbed her ankle. As she slammed to the floor, the Mosca pulled out a knife.
“Mali, watch out!” Cora yelled. She fought the instinct to let go of the lock and dive for the knife. Even now, it took all her strength to hold the door.
Nok and Rolf were trying to drag Lucky to the safety of the hallway, but at Cora’s cry, Nok’s eyes latched onto the knife in the Mosca’s hand, and she hurled herself at it.
“Nok, be careful!” Rolf let go of Lucky, who slumped against the wall, barely conscious. Rolf wrapped his hands around the Mosca’s neck, pounding his fist against the creature’s head. Nok sank her teeth into the Mosca’s wrinkled gray skin. The Mosca let out a scream and dropped the knife, but another one picked it up before she could grab it. Lucky blinked awake just long enough to stretch out a leg, tripping the Mosca before it reached Nok. The Mosca fell on top of Lucky’s midsection, hard. There was a crack like a bone breaking, and Cora winced.
“Keep an eye on Lucky!” she yelled, though everyone was occupied except Anya, who stood in the center of the room, watching everything with big eyes. “Anya, help!”
Anya looked at Lucky, who’d fallen unconscious again, but didn’t move.
The lock cut into Cora’s palm. Her muscles couldn’t take much more.
“It’s giving!” she yelled. As she pressed against the door, she threw a look over her shoulder to make sure Lucky was okay, but then the lock slipped, and she shoved against it harder. Behind her, Mali had knocked out at least three Mosca and was launching herself at another. Leon’s right arm was covered in blood, as he swung his left fist with a roar. Nok and Rolf were trying to hold off the rest with the knife that they’d finally managed to wrench away. And Bonebreak . . .
“Where’s Bonebreak?” Cora yelled.
A half second later, a figure barreled out of the shadows. Bonebreak threw himself against her. The lock slid open two inches before Cora could shove it closed.
Bonebreak straightened—as much as he could with his hunchback—and flexed his massive fist. He raised it, and time seemed to slow. Beyond him, the fight was turning in the Mosca’s favor; Mali was breathing so hard she looked faint. Leon’s pace had slowed. Anya still stood wide-eyed in the center of the room. One of the Mosca got the knife from Nok and pinned her and Rolf to the ground. Leon’s bloody arm hung limply by his side.
A terrible certainty gripped Cora.
We’re going to lose.
She spun toward the only person left and yelled, “Anya, do something!”
Time sped back to the present, just as Bonebreak swiped up one of the planks and slammed it down. Cora hurled herself toward the floor, throwing herself over Lucky to protect him from