Free Refuge by Karen Lynch Page B

out of here?”
    The bazerat to my left gave a low hiss that did
not sound friendly.
    “Okay, so no truce. Suit yourself.” I walked
slowly toward the hissing as I released my power into the air
around me. When I was three feet from the seats, I stopped. My
plan, if it worked, was to draw the creature to me. It was
certainly preferable to going under those seats after it.
    A loud thumping made me jump, and my heart
leapt in my throat before I realized it was someone banging on the
door.
    “Are you taking a nap in there or what?”
Celine called, and I could hear the laugher in her voice. “If you
need some help, just let us know.”
    “No thanks. I’m doing great,” I called back,
wishing it was true. I peered under the seats and thought I saw a
patch of darkness that might be the bazerat, but I couldn’t be
sure . I bet the
others will have no problem seeing in here. Callum kept
telling me that my vision and hearing would be enhanced if I
learned to use my Mori’s power.
    “Hey there, little guy. Why don’t you stop
all that noise and come out here so we can become friends?” I sent
a wave of power toward the spot where I believed the creature was.
“I know you’re scared of people after they put you in a cage and I
don’t blame you for being upset, but I won’t hurt you.” If you don’t hurt
me.
    Something shuffled under the seats, and I was
about to smile when I realized that instead of approaching me, the
bazerat was moving away from me. I frowned. When had a creature
ever run from my power? I didn’t know anything about bazerats
except for what Celine had told us, but they looked like large
rodents and I knew for sure that my power worked on rats.
    I moved forward until my hand was touching
the seats. Then I bent and strained to see through the darkness. It
looked like I was going to have to go in after it. Wonderful. No so
long ago, I had stood up to my chest in freezing sea water facing a
pack of possessed wharf rats. I’d rather go back and do that all
over again than go under these seats. If I could get close enough
to touch the bazerat, I should be able to calm him – if he didn’t
try to eat me first. I just hoped the other one kept his distance
until I worked my magic on his brother.
    The world sounded hollow under the seats, and
every move I made seemed to resonate in my ears, though I was going
as quietly as possible. It wasn’t as dark as I thought now that I
was down here and my eyes were getting used to the gloom. Light
from the windows made its way between the seats to create lighter
patches, and I tried to stick to them as much as possible.
Unfortunately, the bazerat kept away from them, which meant I was
going to have to leave them as well.
    All right, where the heck are you? I stopped and
listened, but the room was silent. Taking two more steps, I stopped
again and stared ahead of me at the dark shape huddled a few feet
away. It wasn’t running away so at least that was something. Now if
it would only stay still . . .
    A thump followed by the sounds of scurrying
on the other side of the room made me whirl around, fearful of an
attack from that direction. My head knocked against the bottom of a
seat, and I stumbled before I tripped over my own feet and fell
forward. I landed on my stomach, knocking the air from my lungs and
sending the knife skidding across the floor. Letting out a moan, I
looked up into the furry face of the bazerat standing less than a
foot away. Before I could move, its mouth opened impossibly wide,
like it was on hinges, and I got a close-up look at the rows of
sharp teeth inside.
    “Oh shit!” I squealed as it leapt at my
face.
    My arms came up to protect my head, and one
of the long incisors scraped my palm, leaving a shallow cut that
burned like the devil. There was no time to worry what kind of
venom the bazerat might have because I was too preoccupied with
wrapping my hands around its neck to hold it away from my face.
    As soon as I touched it, the bazerat