The Fallen Star

“To the car. The key’s in the ignition. Try to find your way back to Adessa’s. She’ll be able to help you, at least until someone gets there.”

Yeah, fat chance that was ever going to happen, seeing is how it was dark when we’d driven out to Vegas, and I had a really bad sense of direction.

A loud thud. It sounded close—maybe even inside the house.

“Don’t come out until you know it’s safe,” he whispered, before dropping the door shut.

Darkness suffocated me. I reached up and fumbled around until I found the lock. It took me a minute to get the key in it, but I managed. Above me, I could hear a lot of banging. The cold had crystallized the air and was biting against my skin. I shivered 500/695

and chattered and every one of my senses felt hyperaware. I couldn’t see the outcome of this situation ending well—Laylen up there alone, trying to fight who knows how many Death Walkers without the Sword of Immortality, while I hid down here, freezing to death. Even if the Death Walkers didn’t kill me, the cold probably would.

Okay, so I don’t know if you’ve ever hidden in a trapdoor before, but let me just say, for those of you who haven’t, considered yourself lucky. With absolutely no light, and no way to see above me, I had no clue as to what the heck was going on. There was a lot of thumping and scrapping, and all I could do was stay hidden, crossing my fingers, hoping that by some miracle Laylen would suddenly throw open the door and tell me it was okay to come up.

Of course that never happened, though.

501/695

The noises did start to dwindle down, which made me start to consider going back up. I mean, what other option did I have? I couldn’t just hide down here forever. Laylen had said to wait until it was safe. Quiet had to mean safe, right? Yeah, that might have been a little bit of a stretch, but I was going with it.

I took a trembling breath, trying to calm my nerves. My hand quivered as I felt around and found the lock, the metal frost-ing my fingertips. So not a good sign. I slid the key in and unlocked the door. Okay, you can do this.I let out a breath and pushed on the door. It didn’t budge. I tried again. Nothing. Something was on top of it. That something I hoped was the rug. I put the knife into the back pocket of my skirt, and using both my hands, I shoved as hard as I could against the door, grunting and cursing, until the thing finally flew open, hitting the floor with a loud thud, which was so not a 502/695

good start. My gut twisted, and I could feel the eggs I’d eaten earlier on the verge of forcing their way back up. I waited a second, listening for any warning sounds, but everything had grown eerily still. A good sign or bad one, I wasn’t sure. But there was only one way to find out. With shaky arms, I heaved myself out of the hole and scrambled to my feet. I did a quick scan of the room.

The window was shattered, the bright sunlight seeping inside. Books were strewn about the floor, but Laylen had done that early. The most terrifying thing was the icicles hanging from the ceiling, long and pointy and sharp.

The Death Walkers had to be close.

I needed to come up with a plan. And quick. I knew what I was supposed to do—run out to the car and go to Adessa’s—but the thought of leaving Laylen behind was gnawing at my insides. So 503/695

instead, I did something really stupid. I started for the door to go find Laylen.

I took the knife out of my back pocket and cracked opened the door. Peeking out into the hall, I could see my breath rising in a cloud in front of me.

Another bad sign.

I inched the door open and glanced up and down the hallway. The coast looked clear. I opened up the door the rest of the way and stepped out.

The floor was glazed with ice, giving it an ice-skating rink effect. Now as you all know, I am not Miss Coordinated by any means, so I had to brace my hand against the wall as I slowly crept down the hallway toward the back of the house, my feet slipping with every step. I made it about halfway when it occurred to me just how dumb of an idea this was. Why, you ask, was it a dumb idea? Well, because a Death Walker had suddenly appeared at the end of the hallway, and at the 504/695

pace I was moving, it was going to take a heck of a lot of time for me to make it anywhere.

I spun around as quickly as my legs would allow me to. I lost my balance for a split second and almost ended up face planting it. Almost though, but not quite. Keeping my hand pressed to the wall, I glided across the icy floor, making my way back down the hall.

The front door wasn’t that far off, but when I turned to check on the Death Walker, it was darting effortlessly toward me, and I knew there was a slim to none chance I was going make it to the front door. Panicking, I made a hasty decision to go back inside the room I’d just come out of. I slammed the door behind me and locked it, knowing full well that locking it wasn’t going to do much to stop the monstrous beast. All I could hope for was that it would slow it down enough for 505/695

me to make it out the window and to the garage.

But I only made it halfway across the room when the door came crashing in. I took off, ru

I had to jump back or else I’d have been frozen over with ice myself.

Seconds later, the window was completely sealed off by a thick wall of ice. I tried chipping away at the ice with my knife, but it was useless. The wall was way too thick. I was trapped.

A cold chill shot up my spine, and I slowly turned around. The Death Walker towered ominously in front of me. My breathing faltered out as I stared my death in 506/695

the eyes—its yellow, soulless eyes that held the passion to kill.

My death was coming.

No.I couldn’t give up. Not with the fate of the world resting in my hands. Or inside me I should say. I had to save myself in order to save the world.

I could feel the cold handle of the knife pressing into the palm of my hand, and without a glitch of hesitation, I swung it forward, aiming the blade straight at the Death Walker’s heart, just like Laylen had told me to do. Now I’m not going to lie and say that I wasn’t the least bit surprised when the knife actually dove into the monsters chest.

The Death Walker let out an ear clawing shriek, and its eyes fired up beneath its black cloak before burning out into to black holes I’d done it. I’d freaking done the impossible. I’d been able to take one of them down.

Or at least that’s what I thought.

507/695

Moments later, I learned a very important lesson. Never assume anything because, in the snap of a finger, the Death Walker lunged at me, huffing out a fog of frost-bitten air that hit me directly in the chest. Every ounce of my oxygen was sucked out of me.

Struggling to breathe, I collapsed to the floor, my body paralyzed with cold and fear.

Lightheaded and unable to move, I waited for it to attack again, this time finishing me off.

The monster staggered toward me, swaying like a drunken man as it tipped backwards, then forwards, before finally losing its balance altogether and toppling to the ground, landing only inches away from me.

I let out a wheeze. Was it dead? Had I killed it? No, don’t assume anything. Laylen said that stabbing a Death Walker would only slow it down. I needed to get my butt off the floor and make a run for the car while I still could. Problem was my legs and arms 508/695

weren’t having any part of it. They wouldn’t budge. What on earth had the thing breathed on me? Was that what was causing me to be paralyzed? Or was I just freezing to death from the cold?