I didn't resist his hold. Instead, I looked him in the eye and said, "You deserve to die. Becoming a shade is fitting punishment, as far as I'm concerned." The problem was, I most definitely didn't think the rest of us deserved it. He dropped me and sank glumly to the ground. Yolo licked him and I caught a whiff of the big animal's breath. It wasn't quite as bad as Vadaemos's.

A hand tugged on my elbow. "What're we going to do?"

I turned to find Elyssa and Pokito looking at me. If only I had an idea. The cherubs, or husks, were clumsy, uncoordinated. How the one had been able to shift into that tentacle underwater, I didn't know. What I did know was they hadn't done it on dry land, so I might be able to lead them away long enough for someone to get the pack. By now, the little monsters were packed against the circle's barrier so tight, I didn't know how to bypass them, much less lead them away.

"What exactly do they want from us, Vadaemos? Life force? Karma?"

"Life force?" He chuckled without mirth. "That's far too general a term for what these…things want from us.

"How about you explain?" Maybe there was some way to bait the terrifying toddlers away from us. A magical lure we could use.

"Explain? I may as well explain physics to Yolo." The left side of his mouth curled into a sneer. "Every being's well is filled with good and bad life force, bright energy and dark. It is the way of balance."

"Yours must be overflowing with the blackest, nastiest stuff," I said, unable to hold my tongue.

"Your assumption highlights your ignorance, you puny speck. Dark and light no more equal good or bad than being tall means one is intelligent, as evidenced by you. They are only different parts of a whole. As Daemos, I can siphon such energy. But I can't break it down into anything more elemental than the combination. Daelissa's kind can." He waved a hand across the swarming husks. "These miserable creatures are empty vessels, eager to be filled."

"They don't have any energy in them?"

"They have only the dark energy. They crave the bright."

"Will they return to normal with bright energy?" Bella asked, her face still blanched and sickly. "Is there some way sate them?"

Vadaemos burst into condescending laughter. "There is no way to restore these things. Not even all of the bright energy within us would provide enough sustenance for a single one to return to normal." He spread his arms wide. "And do you see how many there are?"

By now, the cavern echoed with pitiful wails. The edges of the circle flared black and white. Pokito gripped my arm. "Even with ley lines underpinning the magic in this place, the circle won't hold up much longer. We must retrieve the arch."

"How exactly do you propose we do it?" I asked. "Won't the circle break the second we cross the line?"

"Not if you don't rub out the chalk," Pokito said. "The barrier is passable for us."

"Fine, but even so, I couldn't wade two feet through those creepy little freaks." The moment those words left my mouth Elyssa hopped from the circle and ran on top of the husks, using their tightly jammed bodies as a walkway. "No!" I shouted, my voice frantic. What the hell was she thinking?

Nubby little T-rex arms grabbed for her by the flickering lights of the flares, but she was too fast. Unfortunately, it didn't take the intellect of a genius to figure out where she was going to get into trouble. The shattered boulder Beck had pointed out as the landmark for finding the fanny pack was fifty yards out. The crowd of husks thinned considerably by then. Not enough to run on, but too many to dodge for long.

Only a split second passed in my assessment. I didn't need any more time than that to reach a decision. I leapt from the circle, using the wobbly heads of the cherubs as stepping-stones. It was a lot harder than Elyssa made it look, especially by the flickering lights of the flares I'd thrown into the mob. I was much more coordinated now than I'd ever been, but it was nothing compared to the ninja training Thomas Borathen put his daughter through. A tiny hand snagged my shoe but couldn't hold on. I slipped on the slick surface of one husk and barely avoided tumbling into the mob.

I tried not to think about the horrible fate awaiting me should I find a hole while crowd surfing these creatures. Elyssa reached the rock and scanned the ground, all the while dodging the scattered cherubs wobbling her way. Those toddlers massed at the back turned her way, sensing life force or whatever drew them like moths to flame. I almost lost my footing again and narrowly avoided a gap in the heads. The crowd thinned to the point where I'd no longer be able to use their heads.

Brilliant light exploded across the massive room. I looked back for a split second and saw Pokito pressing his staff into the floor. Bright, yellowish light lanced to the ceiling like a giant laser and coated the ceiling. The cherubs didn't seem to notice.

Elyssa snatched something off the ground—a black nylon pack. She dug through it, all the while dodging husks and racing back for the circle. Her hand emerged with something in it. The arch, she must have found it. A spark of dark violet energy burst from within her clenched hand. Her eyes shot wide and she cried out in pain, but her hand only clenched tighter around the prize.

The ground rocked beneath our feet. I tumbled into the roiling mass of husks, shouting, punching and fighting my way back to my feet as they weeble-wobbled and collapsed to the floor. A huge crack rumbled down the cavern wall a hundred yards away. The rock groaned. Shifted. Exploded outward in a cloud of dust and rubble. Two nostrils set in the end of a narrow muzzle burst through. A ridged forehead and glowing crimson eyes followed shortly after. The giant creature reared back its head and bellowed. A sound like a tuba on the deepest possible note vibrated every molecule of my being and a hot sulfuric odor filled my nostrils.

Our friend, the leyworm had returned.

Chapter 31

Elyssa rolled left as a chunk of ceiling smashed into the floor mere feet away. A cherub grabbed my pants. At first, I thought my clothing was protecting me. Then an icy feeling stabbed into my leg. I grunted and kicked the creature, sent it crashing against more of its comrades.

I sprang to my feet and ran, dodging and kicking the little monsters out of the way. By now, even more were turning from the protective circle and coming our way. Another slab of rock fell two feet from me, crushing cherubs beneath it, and spraying rocky shrapnel in my face. Half blinded, I tripped over my own feet. Jagged rocks dug into my chest. Inches away, a tiny arm flailed from beneath the fallen rock. It was still moving, and I had to wonder if the husks could even be killed. I sprang to my feet as another boulder narrowly missed me.

A scream of pain drew my attention back to my goal. One of the smooth columns of rock running from floor to ceiling had toppled, pinning Elyssa to the floor. The reptilian worm writhed straight for her at a lumbering pace. I put on a burst of speed, plowing through anything in my way. By the time I reached her, Elyssa had freed herself and her broken leg was healing.

"Are you okay?"

"Why did you come out here?" she asked, her eyes blazing. "Now both of us have to make it back."

"Because—" I didn't have a chance to finish my thought. The leyworm continued toward us in what seemed like slow motion, it shiny, black scales scraping the rock with every serpentine undulation of its massive body. Its long narrow muzzle unhinged and widened, scooping up a pile of rubble in its path like a giant reptilian dustpan. Why had it returned? I grabbed Elyssa's arm and ran as fast as she could limp. But the mass of cherubs had broken into a loose swarm—too scattered to use as a path to safety, especially with her injured leg.

"This way," I shouted, pulling her around the massed bodies. "They might be packed tighter on the other side."

The tunnel ahead shattered wide. Another leyworm rumbled through. Elyssa and I ground to a halt. Looked back at leyworm number one. Back at his brother. At the swarm of wobbling husks coming from all directions, arms grasping for sustenance. I stretched my cursing abilities to the max. There was no way out. No way back into the circle. Not across that deadly expanse of ravenous monstrosities.

The light Pokito cast dimmed slowly but surely. I saw him kneeling in the center of the circle, all concentration on his staff. I thought about the arch in the pack. Could I activate it, use it to send Elyssa to safety? Then I could throw it to those in the circle. Maybe they'd escape.

"You've got that look," Elyssa said, delivering a crushing kick to a cherub as it wandered too close and sent it flying to smack off the scaly hide of the leyworm as it inexorably crept its way toward us.

"I can get you out," I said, digging in my pants for a bit of chalk. "I'll activate the arch and you go through it. Then I'll get it to the others."

Her gaze hardened. "And what about you?"

"I'll be fine." I was lying. But she didn't need to know.

Elyssa wasn't stupid. "You have the worst ideas and you're a terrible liar." She face-palmed and shook her head. "You're absolutely hopeless."

"I know. You're the planner. I was just learning to rely on you, too. And then—" I waved my hands around at the chaos. "And then this has to happen."

"I have bad news," she said, punching another husk as we backed away from the encroaching horde and ran left toward a clear area. The leyworms both re-oriented, following us like needles on a compass.

"I can handle bad news. Anything is better than this."

She smiled. "I don't have a plan, hotshot. I can't think of a damned thing to save our asses."

I pulled my pockets inside out. No chalk. "I don't have any chalk, so I can't use my brilliant plan either." I gripped her hand. Kissed it. Considering how close death was, I figured she might not punch me.

Her eyes lingered on mine before drifting down to my lips. She sighed. "We can run for it. Maybe we'll make it. Maybe we won't."

We dodged to the left as a line of husks worked its way toward us. The leyworms shifted again. Why were they following us? What reason could they have? Did I stink? I sniffed an armpit. Somehow, my deodorant was holding up.