Page 36 of The Monsters We Are
Xavier yanked open the shop’s door as they reached it. “Inside!” he shouted, barely audible over the whistles and moans of the wind.
Wynter hurried the others into the store and then helped Xavier drag the fey inside. As Xavier slammed the door shut, she put shaking fingers to the fey’s throat to feel for a pulse, but they were too numb to sense anything.
The shopkeeper hurried toward them. “He’s alive, I can hear his heartbeat. What’s going on out there?”
Wynter shoved her tangled hair away from her face and dropped her bags on the floor. “Adam,” she replied simply, her cold lips trembling.
The woman’s eyes widened. “He’s here?”
“I doubt it, or he wouldn’t have bothered doing one of his little cloud broadcasts, he would have shouted at us from wherever he stood.” Wynter frantically brushed at the flakes of snow and hailstones that peppered her skin, hair, and clothes. It didn’t help much. Plenty had already melted into her hoodie and jeans, leaving them damp and icy.
Blowing out a breath, she took stock of herself and her coven. They were all covered in scrapes, cuts, and welts. At least they’d heal pretty fast.
Anabel, her hands jammed under her armpits, shivered as she said, “He most likely sent other Aeons to do his dirty work.”
Wynter gave a jerky nod. “They’ll be somewhere just beyond the boundaries.” And with any luck, the scouts had spotted them and already alerted the Ancients.
Shuddering, Xavier adjusted his collar and dropped his chin down to his chest. “I know Adam said he’d punish the town but, great mother of fuck, I was not expecting a blizzard.”
Wynter pulled her limbs tight to her body. “Me neither.” She rubbed her hands together, enjoying the brief flashes of warmth that came from the friction.
Delilah exhaled heavily over her cupped hands and then tugged down her sleeves to cover them. “I can’t feel my fingers.”
Her arms wrapped around her body, Hattie stamped her feet. “My toes are like ice.”
Flexing her own toes inside her shoes, Wynter slung an arm around the old woman’s shoulders. “At the very least,oneof the Ancients will intervene soon.”
The entire coven stood close, sharing body heat, as they turned toward the window and stared at the scene playing out outside. The wind continued to howl and drone. The force of it made the door rattle. Pebble-sized hailstones pattered the building and drummed at the windows.
She was glad that the vehicles were kept inside the warehouse, or she had the feeling that they would be flipping over and skidding along the pavement.
No one moved. No one spoke. They could only stand and watch the storm reign, a little shaken by the show of power that—
A shimmering blast clashed hard into the wind. Rolled around it. Engulfed it somehow. And, soon enough, the gust calmed as the hailstones became locusts.
Cain.
The swarm of insects gathered in a tornado-like swirl that grew and grew and grew . . . only to then zoom away and disappear over the mountains.
Wynter blew out a relieved breath. The howling wind and hailstones were gone. It was over.Thank God.If the storm had gone on much longer, it might have damaged the utility structures and possibly knocked out the town’s power.
“Come on,” Wynter said to her coven before pulling open the door. She stepped outside, snow crunching beneath her shoes, and looked around. God, it was like a blanket of white covered the town, weighing down trees, layering rooftops, and carpeting the roads and sidewalks. People would need to dig out some salt and shovels for sure.
She had the fleeting thought that this same damage would have been done during the battles if the Ancients weren’t so tip-fucking-top at countering the Aeons’ strikes.
Now that the temperature was no longer so bitterly low, the snow and pellets would likely thaw fast. But a slight chill still lingered in the air courtesy of the white coating that fell over the town.
The clouds had cleared, and the moonlight danced over the snow. She might have found it pretty if she wasn’t so pissed right now. She was no longer freezing, but she was wet and cold and wanted to peel off Adam’s flesh like an orange. While he was alive. And howling in agony.
Wynter turned toward the manor, and there stood Cain on the roof with Seth and Dantalion. The other Ancients began to gather behind them, seemingly too late to be of any assistance.
Xavier scratched his temple. “That was a lot of elemental power. But Adam could have done way worse than that, right?”
Wynter nodded. “He must have sent other Aeons to issue this ‘punishment’ on his behalf.”
“What kind of damage should we expect him to do if he does ever come here personally?”
“We should expect him to destroy every last inch of Devil’s Cradle. My opinion? He’d stand for nothing less.”