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The manticore screamed.
Lucian grabbed my Glock. He leveled it at the materia beneath the manticore, which now looked like a kind of alchemical soup.
“Shoot! Everyone shoot the armor!”
Miles, Derrick, and Lucian fired in unison, while Selena and I kept the ice concentrated on the bubbling liquid, now brittle, like glass. As the bullets tore through it, the armor shattered.
The manticore howled. All of its eyes were on me, and I felt like every inch of its immortal malice was aimed in my direction. I could hear something, a word, maybe, trapped within its scream. But I couldn’t make it out.
Everyone kept shooting.
The armor dissolved into countless fragments, charred and smoking. The manticore became golden smoke once more, still screaming as it began to dissipate.
Becka switched on the overhead fans. There was a powerful rush of air, and what was left of the manticore was sucked into the vents, screaming all the way.
The fire alarm wouldn’t stop. I stared at the black patch on the floor that used to be Sabine. Braxton had left only his head behind, mouth gaping, staring at nothing. The rest was somewhere in the manticore’s spectral guts.
Lucian put his arm around me. “Are you okay?”
I looked at Mia. She seemed torn between two realities. She wanted to run to me, like I was really her mother. But a part of her held back. I could see the misgiving in her eyes now. She didn’t trust me fully anymore.
And all I could hear were the manticore’s last words. About belonging. About power, and what it promised.
“I’m something,” I told him simply.
Afterthought
Three things happened after we cleaned up the Nerve.
Luiz Ordeño’s treaty between the Dark Parliament and the Vampire Nation was ratified by Deonara Valesco, the new Prime Solium. With Lord Nightingale’s blessing. Mia started locking the door to her room. To keep me out. And I called up an old ally named Mr. Corvid, who knew where my father was.
He said it would be his pleasure to help me.
About the Author
Jes Battis was born in Vancouver, British Columbia. He teaches and writes in Regina,
Saskatchewan. Visit his website at [http://www.authorjesbattis.com] www.authorjesbattis.com.
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