8 Gone is the Witch (48 page)
Read 8 Gone is the Witch Online
Authors: Dana E. Donovan
“I’ll get it.
”
“
Tony, no!” I grabbed his sleeve, but the material slipped from my hand.
He started in a backwards trot. “Don’t worry, Lilith. I can do this. Just make sure you get everyone back.”
Carlos yelled out, “Tony! Don’t!”
Dominic yelled, “It’s just a ninety second fuse!”
By then, he was yelling at the back of Tony’s head.
I started after him. Carlos pulled me back.
“Lilith. He can do this.”
“But Carlos, I..
.”
“
I said get back. Everyone!”
Ursula and Leona retreated to the street.
I couldn’t go with them. Instead, I tugged against Carlos’ hold to move forward again, drawn to the building as if pulled by magnets.
“Lilith.” I
felt a yank on my collar. Another on my arm. It was Carlos and Dominic, both reeling me in. Seconds later, I saw Tony in the window up on the second floor. He’d found the witch’s key. He held it to the window and smiled triumphantly.
“
Good,” I screamed. “Now run, you idiot! RUN!”
I tugged again against the pull on my collar and shirtsleeve. Carlos and Dominic would not let me
go. Tony faded back from the window.
Just then
, a tremendous explosion and fireball ripped through the entire second floor, blowing out the windows and blasting half the roof off the building.
The concussion from the blast knocked
us all to the ground. The heat wave that followed singed the hairs on my arms and scorched the trees lining the parking lot.
Bits of brownstone, glass and burning timbers rained down all around us
. I stood, cut and gashed, numb to the pain of my wounds. My knees were shaking; my eyes red from the broken blood vessels in them and blood from the lesions in my head running down my face.
I started toward the building in a zombie
-like gait, deaf to Carlos’s call, but not the incessant ringing in my ears. “Tony,” I said, so softly that the syllables barely parted my lips.
The heavy shroud of smoke began lift
ing from the facade of the building, as the thickest pack of dust began to settle. I could see the devastation. The entire second floor was gone. Only three of the old oak step treads remained as a ghostly reminder that the staircase was ever there.
“Tony?” I heard myself
choke. The syllables came out louder. Stronger. Yet the name sounded strange to my ears.
I felt a hand upon my shoulder. A big hand, soft and gentle.
“Lilith.”
It was Carlos. I
rolled my shoulder to shake it off me and started toward the building at a faster clip.
“Tony,” I said.
Carlos stopped me again. “Lilith.”
“Tony.”
“Lilith, please.”
“TONY!”
Carlos spun me around and held me in a bear hug so tightly I could hardly breathe. Or maybe it was the compounding weight of grief crushing my chest. I surrendered to Carlos and collapsed in his arms.
“Carlos, please tell me he...”
“Shhh...” He placed his hand behind my head and pressed my cheek to his shoulder. “Lilith.” His mighty arms were shaking. His voice was soft. Tender. Compassionate. It wooed the ringing in my ears like a whispered dream. “I’m so sorry, Lilith.”
“Don’t say it,” I said, or
maybe I thought it.
He
stiffened his arms and his embrace, lifting my feet off the ground. I felt his staggered breath on my neck. He cleared his throat and tried to swallow. Couldn’t. Still, the words came out. “Lilith, I’m sorry.”
“Carlos. Don’t say it.”
He squeezed me tighter. My tears rolled heavily on his shoulder and would not stop. “Tony’s––”
“Carlos. Don’t
say it! Please, please… don’t say it.”
“G
one.”
Author’s note:
Thank you for reading Gone
is The Witch. Your continued support is what keeps this author writing. I love hearing from you all. Your kind words have contributed immensely to making this series what it is today. Your affection for Tony, Lilith, Carlos and the others warms me greatly.
Oh, and regarding Tony, I know s
ome of you may speculate that the ending of this book signals the end of the series. It doesn’t. That is not to say that Tony will be back, however. After all, there are some things that even a witch cannot do. Still, as with any mystery, it’s the not knowing that keeps things interesting, so stay tuned and we’ll see what happens.
Also, if you leave a review
for this book (and I
sincerely hope you do), please remember not to include any spoilers. It would not be fair to those who have not yet read it.
As for book nine in the series, I have already
begun writing it. I anticipate its release sometime in the fall of 2013. You can follow its progress on my facebook page. Just click like and I’ll keep you up to date.
Author Dana E. Donovan on facebook