Alice doubled over, as though she’d been kicked in the stomach, and slapped one hand over her mouth to keep from throwing up. Spike had died—not just died, been snuffed out like a candle, all at once—and the same weird suction had taken a chunk of her energy. Her fingers and toes prickled, as though she’d dunked them in ice water, and her vision went gray at the edges.

“Sister Alice!” Dex struggled to her feet, pulling Alice with her. “Get up!”

Isaac had his eyes closed, and Alice could hear just the edge of the Siren’s melody, the hypnotic song directed into the cloud of dust. Jen had her bird hovering over her head, and Michael stood at the center of a swarm of tiny metal shards, buzzing around him like silver bees.

“It’s not working,” Isaac muttered. “It feels like there’s nothing there at all.”

Garret was up, his cape shredded and burning, hair askew, bloodless cuts and tears all over from Spike’s horns and Dex’s sword. His grin was still there, but his eyes were just empty holes.

“Now!” Jen shouted. Her hawk dove, tearing its claws into Garret’s face. Michael pointed, and the silver shards zipped toward Garret in a single stream, slashing at him and impaling him like the spines of a porcupine. Isaac, giving up on the Siren, sent a blizzard of sharp-edged ice fragments blasting into the creature’s face.

The hawk snapped its beak at him, coming away with a flapping, torn piece of something, like a ripped cloth. Garret’s hand shot up, grabbing the bird by the throat, and it screeched in protest. Then it melted, losing focus and flowing into Garret’s hand like colored smoke. Jen gave a choking cry; her eyes rolled up and she collapsed, Michael only just catching her before her head hit the flagstones. Isaac backed away, letting the icy wind fade for a moment, and Alice gasped.

Half of Garret’s face was gone, torn away by the hawk, and the rest dangled in strips and flaps. There was no blood—it was as though he’d been wearing a rubber mask, and beneath it was only blank, black nothingness. His clothes were falling away, revealing more of the same, as though inside the outer shell that looked like Garret was a hole in the world, a void in the shape of a man.

“If at first you don’t succeed,” the creature said, the half of its mouth that was left twisting horribly, “then you die.”

“Alice?” Isaac said. “Any ideas?”

“Run,” Alice said. “Back into the aisles. Isaac, help Michael with Jen.”

“But—”

“I’ll be right behind you, don’t worry,” Alice said. “Go!”

They did as they were told. Between them, Isaac and Michael lifted Jen, her head lolling, and hustled her away, with Dex following behind. Alice backed up to the table as the creature advanced.