I reach behind me, expecting to feel Jhamal, but there’s no one there. A cough claws its way up my throat, and I spot the door Patrol was guarding earlier. The exit—he was guarding the way out of this death trap. It’s wide open. I catch a glimpse of Jhamal and dart in that direction. Something hot sears my arm and it’s warm and runny to the touch. I try to look back, but the hall is a cloud of dust, bits and pieces of walls crumbling. Jhamal has a Patrolman in a headlock, arms twisted behind his back, and he’s using him as a shield. Kai is steps away, pulling her dagger out of someone’s throat.

“Through there, the exit is that way, let’s go!” I point at the open door and signal for them to go behind me. “I’ll try to buy us a few minutes.”

Jhamal pulls Kai off another Patrolman and they disappear at my back. The words… It’s been so long. Spells are like recipes, if you haven’t used them in a while they get foggy.

“C-co… cokenzae…” Shit, how does this one go? “Co… quinzae…” Magic buzzes through me, hot, ready to burst, waiting for the command to dictate its form. “Coquinzayea a’yi!”

Droplets of fire swirl in one hand and a transparent ball of gas in the other. I slam them together and thrust. The hallway explodes. I fly backward through the doorway.

“P-pwas…,” I say, sliding my palm down the splintered wood, trying to remember. “Pwas… pwastomee!”

The door shudders before turning to stone, locking the guards in the hallway with the flames and smoke. I stumble up and run.

The exit is actually a long corridor that empties into a domed room with a glass ceiling. Like a large foyer off the main street aboveground. The quiet says we’ve outrun them for the time being. They can’t get through an enchanted stone wall easily. Even with magic.

In the center of the domed foyer is a stage of some sort with seating around the perimeter. Safe for the moment, Kai is there wrapping her leg. She pours a liquid on top of the bandaged wound and bites down, flinching.

“Are you okay?” I ask.

“I am.” She gestures over her shoulder. “Jhamal is checking the halls that lead to this room. Are you alright?” She skims me up and down and it’s only then I notice I’m bleeding heavily from my arm.

“I think so.”