Lupi 08 - Death Magic

head somehow anchored themselves so others could dangle, hands gripping hands or feet, some upside down, some rightside up, all assembling themselves so quickly it was like magic.
    Maybe it was magic—of a different sort. One that called for skill, not power.
    One brownie climbed down that living ladder . . . which dangled right over the great elemental’s mouth.
    That mouth opened wide and wider, a horrible, gaping maw. The elemental flung its head once as if it was nodding emphatically—and the chain of brownies swept out, then in. Right into its mouth. Which closed—but brownies spurted out even as it did. With delicious, desperate speed they shot out, slipped out like watermelon seeds, and scampered down stony, segmented sides. Down and down and . . .
    The elemental stopped moving.
    “Oh,” Deborah murmured. “Ohh . . . that tasted nasty, but it feels so full now. Content.”
    Escape artists , Lily thought. That’s what Rule had called them. Brownies valued nothing so much as a great escape—and oh, what an escape that had been!
    Slowly the elemental began to subside. The stony mass lost its shape gradually, even gracefully, clods of dirt, rocks, and sticks breaking loose to fall to the ground as it sank itself back into the earth.
    It was gone.
    Lily looked toward the east end of what used to be the National Mall. There were a few patches of grass left, but no people. They’d fled or been killed.
    Except at the far end. Where the fighting had stopped.
    She shivered. He was alive, she knew he was alive, but how badly hurt? How many others were dead? She glanced at Deborah, at Scott so still on the ground. “Take care of him,” she pleaded. And set off at a run yet again.

FORTY
     

     
    RULE lay flat on the ground, his eyes closed. He felt her coming. At last. At last.
    Cullen was loosening the tourniquet he’d tied high on Rule’s left leg. “Bleeding’s stopped,” he announced with satisfaction. “Or almost. It’s a godawful mess, but you aren’t bleeding anymore.”
    Good. He’d lost so much blood he couldn’t sit up. Best if he held on to what was left.
    “I wish I knew what was happening inside . . . but if the artery’s stopped bleeding, you’ll be healing up whatever was causing the internal bleeding pretty quick now, if you haven’t already.”
    “Don’t . . . mention the ... internal bleeding to her.” Gods, but talking hurt.
    Cullen snorted. “She’ll cripple me good if I lie. But if it doesn’t come up . . .”
    Rule nodded slightly. That was good enough.
    I’ll live if you will , she’d said. He’d done his best, but for a while it had seemed he’d default on his end of the bargain.
    She was nearly here . . .
    And then she was. “Rule.” She took his hand. Warmth and ease spread through him in a sigh of contentment. “You’re a mess.” Her laugh was shaky. “A really bloody mess. Can you see at all?”
    “One eye is just swollen shut. The other . . .” He stopped to gather enough energy to finish. “That one will have to regrow.”
    “I guess you didn’t see the brownies, then.”
    Brownies? Not since Harry’s troop stood on the edges of the crowd, letting themselves be seen for once, yelling at everyone to “run this way!” Brownies were good at giving warnings, after all. And they’d helped, directing people where to go...
    “They’re heroes. The most incredible heroes. I’ll tell you about it in a minute.” The sound of Lily’s voice suggested she’d turned her head. “His leg?”
    Cullen answered. “Broken. The femoral artery got ripped open, but the bleeding’s stopped.”
    He heard her swallow.
    Cullen’s voice went soft, as it so rarely did. “He’ll be okay, Lily. Not able to do much, not for a while, even with his super-duper speedy healing. But he’ll be okay.”
    That was good to know.
    The sirens he’d been hearing were close now. Good. They’d need a lot of ambulances. So many injured . . .
    “And the others?” Lily asked, her voice low and raw. “I see some of them, but . . . Karonski. Did anyone ever find him?”
    “He’s alive. Got knocked out, but Mike found him and brought him out.”
    “And Chris?”
    Silence.
    So many dead . . .
    “They converged on us,” Cullen said after a moment. “About the time that giant elemental Fagin had been keeping as a pet rose up, all of the demon wolves came after Rule. The rest of us were just obstacles. There’d be more dead if they’d cared about killing us, but they