The thing Garret had become stepped into the air, as though climbing an invisible staircase, moving to intercept the whale-thing descending like a falling mountain of tumorous flesh. He raised one hand, palm up, then closed it into a fist. A puff of inky smoke shot outward and wrapped the whale-thing completely in dark mists. The pale green lights vanished, and Alice’s heart leaped.

He did it! He—

The pall of black smoke shivered. The shadow-creature cocked its head, as if curious.

Then the bulk of the whale-thing hurtled out of the cloud. A huge wound on its flank trailed a streamer of blue-black blood, but that didn’t seem to slow it down. Its mouth opened, yawning wider and wider until its whole head had levered itself apart, the ring of teeth forming a perfect circle, like the jaws of a bear trap.

Garret raised his hands, but too late. The whale-thing was already on top of him, and its jaws snapped closed with unbelievable speed, as though they really were a bear trap and Garret had taken the bait. Teeth met with a clack like a gunshot, and Garret was simply gone, vanished inside the creature’s huge bulk as if he were no more than a passing fly.

Alice heard Ellen scream. The whale-thing descended toward the bridge, plummeting almost straight down, its broad tail lashing wildly. The apprentices ran in both directions, sprinting for the relative safety of the towers at either end of the span.

“Isaac!” Alice’s shout was lost in the crunch and clatter as the creature hit the bridge. Huge blocks of stone groaned and fell away. It tore away a section fifty feet wide, and the surviving ends began to crumble, unable to support their own weight. A billowing cloud of pulverized rock kept her from seeing what became of the others, aside from glimpses of shrouded figures running for dear life.

She was so focused on trying to see what was happening below that she didn’t see the whale-thing’s tail coming until it was too late. It snapped up and slammed against the bridge she was standing on with colossal force. The impact threw Alice into the air and clear of the walkway entirely, with nothing beneath her but empty space. Too stunned even to scream, she could only close her eyes as the endless fall began.

Chapter Twelve: Invitation

CHAPTER TWELVE

INVITATION

ALICE HIT A flat stone floor, but not very hard, as though she’d accidentally rolled out of bed. She lay absolutely still for a moment, spread-eagled on her back, her breath coming shallow and quick and her heart hammering like it might explode. In her mind she heard the clack of the monster’s teeth coming together as it swallowed Garret, over and over, followed by the crunch of stone as the bridge came apart while she stood watching, frozen and helpless.