Face Of The Void (Desa Kincaid Book 3) by R.S. Penney

Author:R.S. Penney [Penney, R.S.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Next Chapter
Published: 2021-05-19T22:00:00+00:00

The End of Part 1

Part II

16

The world trembled.

Stumbling down the stairs, Dalen threw his hands against the wall and grimaced. All this shaking left a queasiness in his belly. He was just grateful that he hadn’t fallen over. A man could break his neck in this chaos.

With careful steps, he made his way to the first floor, but another tremor flung him into the wall again. He braced his hands against the plaster. “Hurry!” he called to those behind him. “But be careful!”

Zoe was five stairs up, clinging to the railing with teeth bared. “Easy for you to say,” she muttered, descending one more step.

Jim was behind her, trying desperately to stay on his feet, and Victor brought up the rear. The door to the first-floor apartment opened, and Mrs. Carmichael spilled out. She staggered a few steps and nearly crashed into him.

“Goodness!” she gasped, crossing arms in front of herself to hide her robe? Dalen wondered at that. Wasn’t the whole purpose of a robe to hide whatever was underneath? This forced modesty seemed a tad redundant.

Her trembling hands cranked the deadbolt, and she pulled the front door open, falling on her backside as the world shook. Zoe reached the foot of the stairs, collapsing into Dalen’s arms. He steadied her and urged her to follow their landlady out into the street.

Jim was next.

Dalen reached for him, taking the man’s hand and guiding him down. He went with the others out into the night.

Victor was frozen on the fourth stair, clutching the railing. His face was flushed as he shook his head. “The whole place is coming down!”

“Come on!” Dalen urged.

“I…I…can’t.”

Scrambling up the steps, the quake nearly knocking him off his feet, Dalen seized the other man’s shoulder. A few insistent tugs got Victor in motion again. Together, they ran out the front door.

Stone steps shook beneath them as they dashed out onto the cobblestone street. Despite the chill, Dalen saw half a dozen people standing on the road in their nightclothes. No one wanted to be inside during an earthquake.

He turned to the west, staring off to the edge of the city where the others had gone. Somehow, he knew they were mixed up in all this. But how? What kind of Field Binding could unleash such fury?

Not Field Binding, he realized. This is something else.

Abruptly, the tremors stopped.

Dalen bent double with his hands on his knees, muscles aching, nerves racked. He gave his head a shake to clear away the dizziness. “All right,” he said, forcing himself to stand up straight. “Is anyone hurt?”

He turned around to find a handful of terrified people standing in the street, all staring at him with wide eyes. They weren’t sure of what to make of all this. Neither was Dalen. He scanned his memory for some clue as to what might have happened. Was New Beloran on a faultline? Had he ever read anything to that effect? Somehow, he didn’t think so.

For many of these people, this might have been their first encounter with a quake.

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