Chapter 22

Lucy's POV I floated in darkness, awareness coming in fragments: heat, pain, and the sensation of falling. Then, strong arms wrapped around me, and the familiar scent of ozone and midnight filled the air. "I've got you." Felix's voice seemed to come from everywhere and nowhere. "Hold on, Lucy. Just hold on." My eyes flickered open to chaos. Felix was carrying me, ghost-walking through the bat's attacks. Each of its seven heads spewed different-colored flames, turning the chamber into a kaleidoscope of destruction. "Fool!" The bat's voices thundered. "She made her choice! The trial demands sacrifice!" "She's sacrificed enough." Felix's power crackled around us like living lightning. "We all have." I tried to speak, but my throat was too burned. Felix glanced down at me, his silver eyes blazing with something that looked almost like fear. "Stay with me," he whispered. "I'm getting us out of here." The bat launched itself at us, its massive form defying physics as all seven heads