Adne scrambled from beneath me. “Oh my God. What’s happened?”

“They found us,” Connor said, drawing his swords. “The Keepers found us.”

“Adne? Connor?” Ethan loomed out of the smoke, cradling an unconscious Sabine in his arms. Isaac had joined beside Ethan. Both of them brandished weapons, but their faces were bleak.

“Damn it.” Connor peered into the smoke.

“What happened?” I asked, staring at Sabine’s limp body.

“The building is coming down,” Ethan said, thrusting his hand toward an immense pile of debris. “A whole section of the roof fell right as we came through the door. She was hit in the head. I lost the wolves trying to get out of the way. I don’t know where they are. They may have been buried underneath.”

“Incoming! Ethan, back up!” Connor held his swords low, but his eyes went flat and hopeless as the wraith approached. “Calla, stay behind me!”

“Adne, open a door!” Ethan screamed. “Get us out of here!”

The wraith was only a few feet away now.

There was still no sign of Shay or the rest of the pack. Were they buried under the rubble? Had they already been taken? Who led this attack? How had the Keepers found Purgatory?

“We aren’t going to make it.” Connor grimaced, placing himself between our huddled group and the wraith.

“Some of us are,” Isaac murmured. He shoved Connor back and leapt onto the wraith.

“No!” Ethan shouted as inky shadows wrapped around Isaac while the rest of us stood frozen in horror.

Isaac made no sound. His body only crumpled in on itself as the Keepers’ creature took him.

“Adne!” Connor moved between us and the horrible sight.

“It’s open!” Adne shouted. I turned to see a new door shimmering behind her.

“Go!” Connor jerked his head and Ethan, with Sabine, bolted through the passage.

“You too.” Connor took Adne’s hand.

“I won’t go until you do,” she said.

“This isn’t a discussion,” Connor said. “If we aren’t there in two minutes, you close the door. Understand?”

Her eyes brimmed, but she nodded and vanished into the doorway.

“Shay!” I screamed, desperately peering into the smoke for any sign of him or the others. “Ansel!”

“Through the door.” Connor reached for me, but I darted away. “They came for him. They’ve probably already taken him. You have to go now!”

“I’m not leaving them!” I yelled, coughing as smoke tore at my lungs.

Several dark shapes appeared in the shifting gray clouds. Connor swore, looking from me to the door.

“I don’t know how many more wraiths there are, but we can’t wait to find out.” He took my arm, drawing me back.

“Please,” I sobbed. “I have to find them.”

The silhouettes of four wolves materialized from the smoke—speeding toward us. My choked cry became a shriek of joy. Shay shifted forms and his arms were around me, pulling me tight against him. Then Bryn, Mason, and Nev stood beside him, their eyes wild and faces pale.

“Thank God you’re okay,” Shay whispered, pressing his face into my hair. “We’ve been running through the hideout like some crazy maze, dodging the wraiths.”

“Where’s Ansel?” Bryn was crying. “All the smoke, I couldn’t track his scent. . . . I couldn’t find him.”

“I don’t know where he is.” My stomach knotted. Had I abandoned my own brother to wraiths?

“Get your asses through that portal!” Connor ripped Shay away from me, shoving him through the glimmering door. “We have to get it closed before the other wraiths find us.”

“But—” Bryn began, eyes moving over the smoke, searching for any signs of Ansel.

Mason and Nev shifted forms again, sniffing the air and whining.

“That’s it,” Connor hissed, reaching for Bryn. “No more waiting.”

“I knew you’d leave me behind.” Silas’s voice cut through the smoke. “Bastard.”

He was slumped over Ansel’s shoulders. My brother stumbled forward, supporting the Scribe’s weight.

“Ansel!” I searched his body for signs of injury. “Are you okay?”

He nodded, not raising his eyes to mine.

“You hurt?” Connor asked Silas.

“Fell down the stairs when they showed up . . . I think I twisted my ankle. Lucky this one came along,” Silas replied, nodding at Ansel.

“Get him to the other side,” Connor said, turning away stiffly from the Scribe, but I saw relief wash over his face at Silas’s appearance. “We’re all leaving. Right now.”

Ansel kept his eyes on the floor but nodded, dragging Silas into the shimmering portal. Bryn rushed after them. Shay kept his arms around me and we moved toward the door together with Mason and Nev at our heels. Behind us I heard a crash, followed by a thundering blast. An explosion threw us forward, ripping me from Shay’s arms. I faded out of consciousness as I watched the bodies of my companions falling into the portal’s light like shadows flickering against the sun.

TWENTY-FIVE

I WAS ON MY BACK, staring up at a dull gray sky. Bits of ash floated through the air, settling on my skin and melting.

Melting?

I took a deep breath, feeling icy cold pour into my lungs. Scattered flakes of snow continued to float down steadily. A rustling sound was all around me. The pressing heat of flames and suffocating smoke were gone. I rolled over, crouching, trying to make sense of where I was.