Within These Wicked Walls(66)

Saba hugged herself tightly and turned away, heading down the hall before stumbling to a stop. From the corner of my eye I saw her standing there, bent over herself, unable to go further either way.

Another minute of strokes down. Accurate, but I wished I was as fast as Jember. Because now I needed this amulet done sooner. I didn’t have an hour. Saba didn’t have an hour. The door certainly didn’t, if it kept—

Another slam, this time with a dull crack of wood, and Saba came toward me.

“It’ll all be over soon,” I wanted to assure her. “You won’t have to obey the Evil Eye ever again after tonight—” But her hand was turning the knob and I only had time to stumble in front of Kelela before a mass of black shadow rushed at me. It slammed into my shield, darted to get around it. I backed up, herding Kelela back with me, despite her screaming in my ears.

Saba grabbed the hyena by its haunches and dragged it backward.

“My room,” I said, shoving Kelela in the right direction, just as the hyena snapped at Saba and got loose. My amulet took the full force as it charged at us, its head shifting an entire foot forward.

My blood ran cold, but only for an instant. That much of my shield gone at once?

Saba grabbed the hyena around the neck, wrestling it to the ground, and I got back to work on my amulet immediately. But I’d only done three strokes before the giant paw clawed Saba’s arm, breaking it off at the shoulder. She kept it at bay with her other arm for another two strokes. And then it bit down on her chin, breaking most of her face off and throwing it across the hall.

Kelela and I ran in opposite directions at once. She’d shut herself inside my room by the time I reached Saba’s face—thank God she tended to break in larger pieces instead of shattering into shards. The hyena tore at the floor in front of my room, scraping deep lines into the wood like it was trying to dig a hole underneath the door. Instead of handing Saba her face, I got back to work on the amulet. Two strokes. Saba reattached her arm and face and took a few steps toward my room. I ran ahead to block her way.

“Don’t do it, Saba.” I held out my hands to block her from getting around me. “It can’t get inside there without your help. Leave it alone to try, that’ll buy time for me to finish sealing it.”

Saba gripped her stomach, like she’d been stabbed. Her face was straining, her eyes blurring with tears.

“Don’t listen to it, Saba,” I shouted, grabbing her arms and shaking her. “Please, you have to fight back!”

She burst into tears, shoving me out of the way to get to the door.

This plan should’ve been simple. Why was everything going wrong?

I ran and rammed into the hyena’s side, my shield knocking it out of the way just as Saba opened the door.

But it was on its feet a second later, ignoring me for Kelela. It ran into my room, and I cringed at the screaming.

“Help, help!” she kept repeating, more and more frantic each time. I pulled my knife, dodging out of the way as the hyena backed out of my bedroom door, snapping its jaws and clawing at the fireplace poker Kelela was swinging at it. “Andromeda!”

I stabbed the hyena in the back so it would turn on me, but—oh God—Kelela ran away from my room instead of back inside, and I had no time to say anything but “Stop!”

The hyena lunged at her, colliding with her shield, but fear sent her screaming and stumbling backward. She fell hard onto the stairs and tumbled down, and I skidded in front just in time to stop the hyena from chasing after her. It knocked into my shield, shattering another few inches of it. I couldn’t keep getting so close—my shield was already down to a foot and a half, and if I had to fight and run all night there was no way I’d finish this amulet before the Evil Eye went dormant again.

A loud bang broke through the wind, so distinct that I paused in my work to look. Peggy stood just outside the closet door, holding a gun steady with both her hands.

The hyena tipped its head, shifting its eyes in an almost-eye-roll. It swung around, away from me, and charged at Peggy, despite the gunshots. The bullets weren’t stopping it. They weren’t even hurting it. Saba ran after the monster, right on its tail. I ran after Saba, not nearly as fast as her, but far more desperate.

“Peggy!” I shouted, my voice cracking, killing my volume. By the time I swallowed and finished, “Get back inside—” her terrified scream drowned out my voice again.

The hyena leapt at Peggy with a force that slammed them both against the back wall of the closet. Saba didn’t follow them inside, instead skidding to a stop, nearly hitting the wall as she shoved and held the door shut. And then there was nothing but shrill, tearing screams.

I tripped to my knees, gaping. Panting. My well-developed survival adrenaline zapped from me. Oh God. This wasn’t supposed to happen. What—?

My heart pounding in my ears blocked out Peggy’s horrible screams, allowing me to engage my survival instincts again.

There’s nothing you can do, Andi. Finish the amulet while you can. There’s nothing else you can do.

I took a deep breath and ran up to the door, grabbing Saba’s arm. “Get away from here. Go downstairs or outside. Hurry, before it’s done with her.”

Before it’s done with her.

There was no time to hate myself for that command.

Saba backed away from me, but too slowly. I shoved her to get her moving, and she finally ran.