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“Dying?” the creature said, in a plaintive voice that wrenched atfor this creature? All we shared was our blood I owed it nothing, not even sympathy

“I’m sorry” Diaz nodded, his eyes lowered, his o Who made you?”

“White Mother,” it answered, its eyes glazed with a o What to take” It blinked again, its eyes flitting about the roo “White Mother sends us again and again She sends so ht”

Many brothers? Tonight?

“Where are they now?” Diaz asked, his voice so soft that I nearly

The homunculus writhed and twitched on the table, as if wracked by soony It was in the throes of death Its head slaainst the table as its neck bent back Then, like a rubber band released, the tension left the thing’s body, and it collapsed against the table again, soft, loose, languid It smiled, then it whispered

“They’re here”

Diaz stepped back, his face a mask of shock, and Asher yelled as he tore his hands away, the necroers The hooo, its skin and round I watched as the Heartstopper rolled off the table and clattered into a puddle of gore

Then the door burst open Heads spun as we turned to face our attackers My heart pounded like war druht in my throat

First five, then ten, then at least two dozenthe saleeful leer, each mouth locked in an expression of de the hu bones and faces with ths of pipe The ho precision, expertly singling out everytheir injuries and deaths

We scattered The va into the ho back when they found that the creatures were equipped with strength that far surpassed hu spells across the roo homunculi off their feet

Sterling, Asher, and I stuck together in our own unit, our backs towards each other for protection I knew I heard Sterling atte out over the roar and clamor of battle

More of the ho lanced at ht moment to tear ive in exchange for the nified eldritch power of the Dark Room

Between studying and waiting for an opening, I sole homunculi had stayed out of the thick of battle Now it strode confidently for the center of the roo like a distant star

It was a ge, white opal