The Witch's Daughter - Laken Cane Page 0,13
then sucked at Rune’s wrist like a leech.
There wasn’t enough time to let her drink her fill. Rune took her wrist away after a few seconds, catching Roma when she started to topple over.
“That’s all I can do for now,” she told the girl. “Stay here. We’ll be back for you.”
And she ran like there was not even a hint of sickness within her.
She ran for Z.
She wasn’t losing him again.
Not to the fucking witch.
She found them in seconds—Blue and Z stood back to back, battling a dozen hideous legislators.
She dove into the skirmish and fought like the monster she was, but even then she could feel the weakness slowly returning and her strength running out of her like sand through a funnel.
Her monster would be enough to defeat the group of Legislators, and that’s all she needed at that moment.
As she killed, she drank. Constant streams of blood kept refilling her power meter until at last, she stood with Z and Blue over their dead enemies.
Bloodied and triumphant, they shivered in the hot sun and silently catalogued their injuries until a distant voice brought them out of their battle haze.
“It’s Roma,” Blue said, her eyebrows high. “She’s alive.”
Rune turned to watch as Roma trotted toward them. She was still bloody, still slow with injury, but she was better, and she was alive.
Rune smiled and took Z’s hand. “We won.”
“Yes,” he said, quietly. “For now.”
“One fight at a time,” she replied.
“Legislators. More of them are coming.” Blue hesitated and glanced at Rune. “And they’ve brought friends.”
“Let’s go,” Z said, and with Roma beside them, they continued on toward the cemetery.
There was a hand to find and a dead army to raise.
And if they didn’t manage to complete either of those tasks, they would have to face worse things than the legislators.
“They’ve brought friends.”
Rune didn’t have to ask Blue what she meant.
She knew.
The crawlers were coming.
Chapter Eight
The farther they went into the city, the thicker the crowds became until eventually, they had to shove their way through knots of people who were sick, injured, or unresponsive.
The stench was nearly unbearable—she wasn’t accustomed to such a thick, ripe smell concentrated in one place, and her sensitive nose picked up every single odor.
Her throat thickened with the need to vomit. She didn’t dare to so much as gag. If she gagged, she’d throw up, and then she’d lose some of Roma’s blood.
“On the plus side,” Blue said, “the enemy will have trouble scenting us in this mess.”
Yeah. There was that.
Fucking rotting disease. If she hadn’t been sick, the legislators wouldn’t have had a chance.
Maybe they still didn’t, but the crawlers…
The crawlers would.
The small crew of four was halted three times by desperate people. Not people who wanted to hurt them, but people who needed help.
“Please,” they cried. “Save us.”
“Working on it,” Rune answered, and went on.
It was all she could do.
Screams and thumps and cries of pain sounded from all different directions, but Rune couldn’t save all the people the legislators were destroying.
Later. Later, she would kill the legislators.
“Almost there,” Blue panted, at last. “A couple more minutes.”
And finally, they reached the gates of the cemetery and rushed inside.
“My God,” Rune whispered. “This is Wormwood.”
“Yes,” Z replied. His voice was soft. “Wormwood is everywhere.”
It made sense.
Wormwood was full of magic. It was the thread that connected them all.
“Wormwood,” she breathed. It felt like home.
Gunnar?
Her silent call went unanswered, though she wouldn’t have been surprised had the ghoul stepped out into her path.
If she could just round a tree and see her crew standing there, smiling, waiting…
“Fuck,” she murmured.
“I know the feeling,” Z said.
Yeah. He would.
“What’s this one called?”
“Wormwood,” Blue said. “It’s called Wormwood.”
“I imagine they’re all called Wormwood,” Z said.
“There’s only one Wormwood,” Rune said, knowing somehow that she spoke the truth. “And it’s in every world.”
Roma walked with them but seemed somehow distant. Apart from them. She was silent, working on her slingshot.
“Can you fix it?” Z asked.
She shrugged and continued manipulating her weapon, but every few seconds she looked up and darted a quick look around.
On guard.
“Give it to me,” Nadaline said, stepping out from a copse of trees. “I’ll fix it.” She held her hand out for the slingshot, but Roma narrowed her eyes and clutched the weapon to her chest.
“Naddy,” Z said, relief in his voice.
“Did you see any sign of the hand?” Rune asked. Then she looked at Roma. “Give her the slingshot, for God’s sake. She’s not going to eat it.”
Roma immediately tossed Nadaline the weapon. No