After finishing the other Hybrid, I ran downstairs with everything I had left.
I had to get to Sydney and Lucy.
That large Hybrid had gone after them. I kept telling myself they would be fine, that Sydney was fast enough to avoid it and Lucy knew how to handle herself, but the thought did nothing to slow the panic rising in me.
My lungs hurt. Each breath scraped going in. My back, side, and right arm had all turned into one long ache, and my legs felt unsteady after the fall and everything I had forced them through.
I ran anyway.
The connection between the Dullahan Hosts helped. It was faint and unreliable when we were separated by several floors, but I could still sense them well enough to narrow the search. I did not stop to check rooms. I tore down stairwells, taking steps two and three at a time, following that vague awareness of where the others were.
Then I heard gunfire below.
