When she disappeared around the last corner, I waited for a few breaths. There was a flash of light that made everything blot out into a blur of white and then an unearthly roar that shook up my blood. The walls of the lighthouse seemed to throb as it descended into chaos and I took the opportunity to run up the rest of the way, unheard amidst the noise.
When I got to the landing, where the bulb was now blasting out rays of cold, stark light, I saw a flurry of gold and black swirling around it and that black hole began to form in the middle. I could barely make out a beast, his blackened fur obscured by Pippa’s fury. She was opening up the same door where she sent Abby and if I wasn’t careful, I was going to get sucked in.
And so was Dex.
I looked to the corner of the room and saw him lying there on the floor, face-down in blood.
My heart skipped a beat and came crashing back hard. Dex.
I ran over to him, pushing through the wind, until I was almost at his side.
As if sensing me coming, he raised his head and looked at me. His face contorted in surprise and then sadness.
Dex! I cried out and for that moment, I was so happy to see him that I didn’t block it. I went down to grab him but his eyes widened and suddenly I was being ripped to the side, kelp wrapped around my waist.
The smell of rot and sea water filled my nose.
Nice to have you again, a decrepit voice said in my ear, slimy kelp shooting around my throat and pressing on the wounds where the demon had choked me the night before.
I immediately swung my fist back, trying to knock a hole into what I knew would be the skeleton face of Old Roddy, but the kelp was too tight and the helpless sense of déjà vu didn’t help.
Choking for air, the world going black, I looked back to the ground, to Dex for help, but he was lying there lifeless again. Oh shit, oh god no. I was so close, so fucking close!
I kicked back at Old Roddy, fighting for life, determined to win against him again. But I just couldn’t get the leverage, couldn’t find the strength. So much of what had been done to me earlier was starting to take its toll.
Suddenly the wind from the vacuum that Pippa was creating kicked into high gear, spinning me and Old Roddy around and around like we were doing a dizzying waltz, while pulling us to the middle of the room.
Just as I was losing the feeling in my hands and feet, the sense of evil permeating my bones and dragging me under, I was knocked out of Roddy’s grip and flung to the floor. While the world spun and I continued to be dragged away, I looked up and saw a flash of Dex, his hands wrapped around the kelp and pulling it around Roddy’s neck, choking him. Dex’s arms flexed and with one big tug, he snapped the kelp so tight that Roddy’s head went bouncing off and into the black hole.
The next thing I knew was Pippa’s voice was in my head, telling me to run, and Dex was at my side, hauling me to my feet.
“Fancy meeting you here, kiddo,” he said. Blood had dried around his throat but I still heard him clear as day, the sense of awe and relief coming through. Then he grabbed me and pulled me along, the both of us trying to make a run for the stairs. Unfortunately, the hole that Pippa was wielding was blocking the way as she tried to drag the beast who had masqueraded as Michael into it.
“Only one way out!” Dex yelled over the noise, his eyes darting to the window. “Second times a charm, right?”
I could only nod. I had him. I could do anything.
We ran for the window, hand in hand, and jumped through it, the glass cracking all around us. Beneath us the darkness turned to rocks and turned into waves and we were falling stories upon stories.
Just when I thought we were going to smash into the rocks, a wave swept up, lifting us away like cold, wet claws, dragging us out to sea. I floundered in the water, trying to stay afloat, trying to grab onto Dex, but the current was too strong. Then I felt his grip around my waist and I was tugged up and onto shore, rough rocks beneath my skin and the waves crashed at my feet.
Dex pulled me up further until we were away from the shore as he could take us, rocks turning to cool dune grass, and he collapsed beside me.
I wanted to cry but I couldn’t. Not yet. Not while we were still here. I rolled over, grappling for his touch, to feel him, to know I had him.
“I’m here, baby,” he said with a sharp cough, grabbing my hand.
“Dex,” I whimpered, holding on tight and rolling onto my side so I could stare at him, absorb the sight of him moving, seeming to be alive. Please god, let this work.
He tilted his head to look at me, his chest heaving up and down. “Is it just me, or is Hell a million versions of fucked up?”
A shaky smile broke my face. “It’s not just you,” I said, moving closer to him. Pain shot its way through me in bursts but I pushed it aside until I was right up against him.