Anya Bast - Witch Heart

Her fingers slipped and adrenaline surged through Adam's veins as it did through Claire's. Fingertips scrabbled for purchase, found it, gripped. She inched to the left, little by little, the side of the building scraping through her clothing against her stomach and chest. Then Claire stopped, staring at the red brick in front of her. She drew a breath, steadied herself…

And leapt backward like a diver off the high board.

Falling. No, plummeting toward the ground. Wind whipped at Claire's clothes. Long, dark hair streamed around her head.

Fear rose in Adam's throat. In the bed, his fingernails gouged his palms, drawing blood. Pain surged up his arms.

"No, no, no, no ."

It was all he could chant in the two seconds it took for her to fall. Seconds that seemed like forever. He braced for the impact.

Magick flared, tingling through his chest. For a moment he thought he'd called it and then realized it was only a ghost of Claire's body.

She struck. The ground gave like a mound of feather pillows, cushioning her and bringing her to an easy, careful halt.

Earth magick. Of course. She'd used magick to make the pavement of the parking lot soft and pliant, like a big mattress.

Thank the gods.

She lay for a moment, undoubtedly recovering from the hard, fast plunge. Blue sky spread overhead. Wind rustled the trees behind her and somewhere from a lofty limb a bird sang. The sun was halfway up in the sky — midmorning. Wherever Claire was, it was in the same time zone. That alone was helpful information.

She got up, the ground beneath her once again hard pavement. One long look at the building she'd jumped from yielded a little more information. It was big, red brick and, from the looks of the broken, dirty windows and its weed-choked base, was abandoned.

She turned and was off. Her boots, still the same ones she'd been wearing when she'd been taken, crunched over the parking lot and into the forest. Dried, fallen pine needles gave away to broken branches, leaves, and a tangle of undergrowth as she plunged past trees in an effort to get as far from the building as possible.

Earth magick flared as she used it to help her move foliage out of her way. In the distance, an overgrown road came into view. Farther still a gate, padlocked with heavy chains and a sign…

Something behind Claire roared. A monster in the forest, gaining on her fast. Claire's adrenaline spiked, as did Adam's.

Gods, she was so close to getting away.

Claire halted and turned, ready to fight. Tevan and Kai both ran through the forest toward her, murder on their demon faces — eyes red, teeth extended into ripping points.

Clare didn't mess around. She went straight for the elium.

Nausea exploded through Adam as she tapped it. Brutal, shattering spikes of pain blossomed through his body. Still, it was just a ghost of what Claire felt.

That was what it was like to access the elium?

The magick seemed to implode her body. It radiated out in a wave. Tevan and Kai stopped short and another force smashed into Claire, knocking her backward. Her breath woofed out of her as she made impact. Darkness flickered over her vision like a curtain coming down.

The last thing Adam saw through Claire's eyes was Tevan standing over her.

Adam rolled off the bed and hit his bedroom floor running. It appeared Claire's escape attempt hadn't been successful, but one good thing had come of it.

He'd been able to read the sign.

How badly did Adam wish he could fly?

He would've given anything for a pair of fast wings or the demonic ability to jump. It was all he could think about for the entire drive to Tennessee.

It hadn't taken Micah long to locate the abandoned hospital where the demons were keeping Claire. Typing the name of it into Google had brought up a wealth of ghost hunting websites. Apparently the building was famous for things that went bump in the night and the regional ghost-hunting societies frequently visited to document activity.

How tickled would those non-magickals be to know that real, live demons had decided it was a good place to torture a witch?

In his research, Micah had verified some places over the world where demon magick might work the best. The part of Tennessee where the hospital was located was in just such a place. Micah had mentioned that there were parts of the building itself where Tevan and Kai's magick would also have a greater impact, but he'd had no time to determine where these places might be, even though he worked nonstop in the back of the cargo van, hunched over his books and notes, flashlight in hand, and laptop beside him. If Micah couldn't figure it out by the time they arrived, they would have to search the immense hospital floor by floor.

Adam just itched to get there, itched for action. He wanted into that building so he could do something to find and rescue Claire. Anything. Otherwise he was surely going to go insane.

It would kill him to be too late this time.

Every moment of the trip Adam sat in brooding, silent rage and fear for Claire. Every moment he wished for the ability to fly. And though Adam had not slept even a few minutes since Claire had been taken, he couldn't close his eyes, even for a minute.

They'd brought an army of witches with them, all well fortified with copper weapons. They got there in record time, making a trip that should have taken seven hours in five and a half. It was still too long.

They arrived in Tennessee that afternoon.

When the sun had begun to paint the sky in the rosy hues of dusk, they went in. The Coven witches parked their vehicles at the bottom of the hill where the Our Sisters of Mercy Veterans Hospital was located and made their way through the woods that surrounded it.

By the time they'd reached the building, not a demon had stirred. Adam wasn't sure that was a good thing… or a bad thing.

Gods, please let them still be there.

On Thomas's command, they entered the building in well-coordinated groups, all of them groaning when they hit the dampening wards. Adam went on his own, unable to take orders from anyone at the moment, not even Thomas Monahan.

The lobby — or what had been the lobby — was empty save for a few pieces of abandoned and broken furniture, refuse collecting in the corners, and some graffiti on the walls. It looked like teenagers or homeless people had set up a place to hang out in one area. A big moldy green couch sat there and some dirty needles lay on the floor.

"Charming," muttered Jack to his left.

"You don't need to babysit me," Adam muttered, moving across the lobby to the stairs. His boot accidentally kicked an old can and sent it sliding across the floor, making a metallic sound. The sword sheathed to his back felt heavy.

"Who's babysitting? I'm just sweeping like everyone else. You just happen to be in my way."

Adam said nothing. He just moved to the door of the stairwell and opened it. He had to trust his intuition now, that psychic connection Mira thought he shared with Claire.

The landing of the stairwell reminded him of the first hospital he and Claire had been in together. That had been the beginning of the nightmare. Dare he hope this could be the end?

He gazed upward at all the floors. The electricity didn't work here, but light filtered in from somewhere… just enough to see by.

"Where do you think she is?" Jack said, stepping in after him.

"Gods, Jack. You fucking scared me." Their voices echoed.

"Sorry. So, where?"

"Up high. When I saw through Claire's eyes, she was probably on the top floor."

Jack whistled, looking upward. "That looks like a good cardio workout to me." He moved to the stairs. "Let's get up there."