spine, and a nearby table rocked as it brushed by, almost toppling the lamps and sending their pull cords chiming against their brass bases.
A shadow caught at the corner of my vision. I tensed and spun around. Nothing was there.
The dog’s pants grew closer. The stink made me dizzy and I struggled to focus. We needed a safer place to hide. Across the room, bookcases lined the wall, and there was a balcony right above them. “Follow me,” I whispered over my shoulder.
Nick scooted closer. “To where?”
“See that balcony?” I pointed to it. “We can hide.”
“How are we getting up there?” Afton said.
“We have to climb the bookcases.” I eyed Afton’s sandals. “I think you should ditch the spikes or you won’t make it.”
“Crap. These are my faves.” She unbuckled the straps and removed them. “Okay, ready.”
I scooted around the corner and smacked straight into a guy resting on the heels of his boots and peering around the side of the cabinet. It was like running into a muscled barrier—he barely swayed. Intense dark eyes stared at me from the eyeholes of a knight-like helmet with gold wings. Threaded through the straps of a small shield, his arm bent across his chest for protection. The ornately textured handle of a sword stuck out of a metal scabbard at his side.
I fell back on my butt, gasping, and scrambled away from him.
He raised his finger to his lips to silence me, and, like a tracking panther, slipped around the corner and sneaked off in the direction of the animal’s sounds.
In a flash, an Asian girl appeared and sank to her knees beside me. She wore a black leather catsuit and a black-and-jade samurai helmet with a mask that covered half her face. A katana with a green corded handle balanced upright in her hands. She nodded at me and then slithered after the guy. Three other teenage boys, all wearing a cross between biker and knight-like gear, hurried past me.
“Where did they go? And why do they have swords?” Nick stretched up and peeked over the top of the cabinet. “I can’t see them. Is anyone else concerned they have weapons?”
A crash sounded across the massive room, then scrambling feet, grunts, and an animal wail. Paws pounded against the floor and headed in our direction.
The security dog sniffed the floor on the other side of the cabinet. A staple dislodged as I strangled the stapler with nervous hands. The dog bumped against the cabinet, almost tipping it over on us.
“Come on. We have to get out of here.” I jumped up—stapler in hand—and froze.
Not. A. Dog. I jumped back and hit the wall. The beast resembled a rhino, with a large tusk curving up from its snout. Blood oozed from cuts in its side. With each shake of its head, gooey saliva showered everything. Its sharp horns stabbed the cabinet and then tossed the crumpled wood to the side. What the— I must have hit my head. Hard. I was hallucinating.
Its crazed red eyes fixed on me. I hurled the stapler at its snout, then threw a front kick while it was distracted, the ball of my foot landing squarely on its jaw. The damn thing didn’t even flinch. It snorted and readied itself to charge.
“Run!” I yelled to Nick and Afton.
My heart racing, I sprinted after them. A bookshelf exploded behind me and splinters pelted my calves; searing pain fired across my skin.
“Shit. That hurt.”
Nick darted glances over his shoulder. “Hurry, Gia!”
We scrambled onto a table, thumped across the length of it, and pounced onto the next one, each spring propelling us farther down the row. The beast’s hooves stomped behind me. Thwack. Thwack. Thwack. It crashed into the tables as it charged after us, leaving broken furniture in its wake.
Nick and Afton climbed one of the bookcases against the wall, clambered over a banister, and thudded onto the balcony. I scaled the shelves after them and latched onto two newels of the banister.
I held tight, clenching my teeth, straining not to let go. I’m going to die!
The beast rammed the bookcase, and I lost my footing on the shelf. Books tumbled out as the solid case collapsed onto the creature’s back. It twisted upright, eyes set on me.
With my legs dangling just above its head, my sweaty hands began to slip down the rails. “Help!” I brought my knees up to prevent the loss of my feet.