Knight saw the chaos ahead, and spread his wings. “I’ll fly over the top to get a look at what we’re working with.”

  “Be careful,” Marmalade said, touching his shoulder.

  In a graceful arc, he soared over the building, scanning it for entrances they could exploit. The horses caged in the parking lot tossed their heads up and watched him in awe. He swooped over the flaming building and summoned the wind to start extinguishing it. Some of the officers on the ground fired on him, but he was too high up to aim at properly. He quickly flapped back up toward the group before they got their big guns out.

  “Back doors are a no go. They’re all heavily guarded and there’s too many captives crowding them,” Knight relayed.

  “I hope everyone here knows how to make an entrance. We’re going through the front,” Orion said.

  Lilith spat on the ground, shook out her mane, and darted down the hill, the others right behind her.

  “I told you to stay back!” Orion shouted.

  She looked back at him, but didn’t stop hurtling down the hill. “I’m still within eyesight, slowpoke!”

  Marmalade tried to force the fence gate open, but it was hard even for her to break the latch. The sentries on the towers above them started firing, and Knight swiftly enclosed her in his wings to protect her. She pulled the latch apart at last, and they poured into the lot, crowds of horses rushing away from them in a panic. Officers began to push through and surround them, but Lilith used her magic to shield them from the bullets. They raced to the front doors, Marmalade pushing her way through the horses in the front.

  “Get back, Oliver!” shouted an officer.

  A one-eyed bay Appaloosa stallion had shoved his way to them and had his head lifted over the crowd. “You’re here for Laci, aren’t you? Let me help you!”

  Lilith seemed to recognize the odd stallion.

  “Who is that? Will he be of any use?” Orion asked her.

  She cocked her head. “Oliver’s a certified delinquent in their eyes. His help would be nice, but I’m curious about his motivations. Rumor has it, Laci’s the one who took his eye.”

  “Filly! I need your shoe pullers,” he called out. One of the officers tried to fire at him, but he ducked down just in time.

  Lilith grabbed the metal pullers from the folds of her cloak and tossed them over. He caught them in his teeth and kicked out at an officer to get her off his tail, then squeezed into their shielded area to pull his shoes. Orion busted through the glass on the front door.

  “Knight and I will stay here and cover your back,” Marmalade said, forming a barricade with her magic.

  Orion nodded and led the other three horses into the building. Nathan was standing behind the desk, and immediately aimed his weapon.

  “Tabitha? What on Earth-”

  She let her magic take hold of him and crush him against the wall again, harder than the first time. “Say that again, I dare you.”

  Ariel busted out laughing behind her. “I knew your real name wasn’t Lilith!”

  “Shut up!” she shouted.

  A pulse of her energy squeezed Nathan’s head further into the wall, choking him. He gasped for air and reached for his throat desperately.

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  “Lilith, put him down. Get him to open this door,” Orion said, pulling on the metal door to the East wing.

  Reluctantly, she relaxed her grip on Nathan. “Where’s your keycard?”

  “You don’t know what you’re walking into,” he said.

  Orion laid his ears back and walked right up to Nathan’s face. “I am the only one who can fix this, and I think you know that.”

  “No one can control her. Chase couldn’t break her,” Nathan whispered, barely able to talk from the pressure on his throat. “If you want to get yourselves killed, be my guest. I’m trying to help you.”

  “Who will go but me?” Orion said.

  He ripped his keycard off his breastplate and threw it at him, and Lilith dropped him back onto the floor in a heap. They reached for the door, but Nathan stopped them.

  “Wait,” he said weakly. “I’m coming with you.”

  Orion pricked his ears. “What stake do you have in this game?”

  “You’re not the only one with eyes on her. If anyone should take her, it’s you. But you’re a fool if you think you’re not leaving here without a scratch on you.”

  Orion helped him up from the floor. “Under one condition. You live with us and swear to help our cause from now on.”

  He nodded solemnly. “Alright. Deal. Whatever gets her out of this hell.”

  Past the door, the air was thick with the smell of smoke. They traced the scent down a narrow hallway, into a laboratory-like room. It had been swiftly abandoned, papers strewn on the floor and a tool tray knocked over. A black rubber mat covered the floor in the center, with countless rips in its corners. On one side of the room stood the metal cattle crush, glittering red in the emergency lighting. Lilith seemed hesitant to enter, and Rune had to fight visions the whole way through.

  “What is this place?” Orion remarked, picking up the leather farrier’s gloves on the lab bench.

  “Intake bay,” Nathan said. “Some horses call it Breaker Beach. They shoe horses here, and test their blood.”

  Orion opened the door at the end of the hall and peeked through. There were bodies of horses lined up all along the hall, and there were bloody hoofprints scattered everywhere in an intricate dance. Three of them for every eight were shod. Parts of horses were torn straight from their bodies-hearts, lungs, heads, legs. The walls were stained red, rolling down in thickening drops, bubbling, foaming. He shut the door with a trembling hoof.

  “Ariel, stay with Lilith. I’m going to-”

  A beckoning whinny called out from the other side of the door. Hoofbeats pounded closer. Orion was frozen in place, helpless to stop the metal door from flying off its hinges and through the side wall. Sultan burst through the gateway, baring his teeth and swiveling his ears, searching.

  “Stay absolutely silent,” Rhapsody advised.

  Orion was shocked by his appearance. Eighteen hands tall, withering and sharp, with bones showing on every limb and surface. His coat glowed crimson under the flickering lights, and dark blood drained from his face. There were long cuts that went down to the muscle all over the front of him, yet he seemed unfazed. No one moved as he slowly walked closer, every movement calculated.

  “Get ready to let me go,” Rhapsody told Ariel, shaking out her mane.

  Rune shrieked as visions exploded with color inside his mind.

  Sultan’s long ears jolted to attention, and he screamed with his whole chest as he dove for Rune. He reached for his neck, but missed as Rune turned and kicked out at him. Enthralled with the game, Sultan dove in again, tracking and dodging Rune’s kicks expertly. He pushed Rune to the floor and prepared to break his ribs.

  “Quit!” a voice boomed.

  The red stallion’s head snapped up, whining psychotically and refusing to leave Rune alone. His attention was divided, one ear turned to the voice, the other to Rune. His wild dark eyes darted around Rhapsody, starting to recognize her. He felt a hoof smack against his face, and snorted from fear, backing off of Rune.

  “Stand up there,” the voice said, quieter and more familiar.

  Sultan’s skin quivered, and his tail wrung nervously. He curled his head down, and the blood dripping from his nose began to slow. Orion painstakingly grabbed Rune by the mane and dragged him over to the door. His visions never stopped, snapping his teeth and screaming uncontrollably. Somehow, Sultan remained fixed on Rhapsody, whimpering in a low voice and approaching her.

  “That’s it. It’s just me,” Rhapsody whispered.

  His head wrenched up in realization, and his eyes were wide with fear and anger. He hissed at her and flattened his ears. She struck him again, this time on the chest, and pinned her own ears back at him. He retreated, but his neck was still arched in fury. Sultan’s demeanor had changed, more aware and calculated than before. It was as if seeing Rhapsody had woken him up from some kind of enraged trance. He snorted and spat blood on the floor beside him.

  “I’ll kill you before I fall for your siren’s song again,” he purred.