Jeep pushes past me and winks. “It’ll come to you.”
He steps forward and is swallowed by the ripple.
The Beach of Mu lets out a shrill whistle as if to say, ‘what are you waiting for? Follow him!’, so that’s exactly what I do.
Trust your instinct, trust your instinct, I tell myself while I walk through the slimy stuff.
But all my thoughts come to a halt when I step onto the wooden pathway.
Everything around me looks just as it did when I was looking at it on the screen, but at the same time, it’s totally different. Thanks to the spell, we could only see what Trevor saw. Now I can see everything, and there’s so much more than just the path, the portal and the two holes below. There’s screaming and howling in the distance, but also soft voices saying prayers. The sparks we saw on the road leading here crawl through the sky like snakes. They shoot up from the heavenly hole below, paint artful patterns left and right and touch the souls that drift to us from all around. The smell lingering in the air is a mixture of flowers, fresh apple pie, burnt skin and musk.
It’s all so overwhelming that it takes me a minute to notice Paul is no longer here, and neither is Trevor. Also, three two-headed wolves are pounding my way.
Without realizing what I’m doing, I take the short stick with the small ball from my pocket and thrust it forward with force. The stick extends, and the ball grows considerably in size on its way to the target. In the blink of an eye, it hits the front demon square between the two heads. With a loud yelp, the monster goes down. Well, I guess the spell to make them vanish doesn’t work anymore. Not that it would help. They would just end up here again.
I shake the thoughts from my mind when the two other wolf demons stomp over their comrade’s body without a single pause, their fiery eyes locked on me.
“I’m here,” Vicky’s voice suddenly says on my right. “We’ve got this.”
I haul in my Morningstar–that’s what it’s called!─catching another demon in the rear, and clutch my athame with my other hand.
I wait for my Morningstar to fully fold back, whispering words of courage to myself. Apparently, Vicky doesn’t possess that kind of fear or patience. With a battle cry that frightens even me, she charges the incoming demons.
My muscles tense as I prepare to follow her, but before I can, Gisella tears past me. With a couple of somersaults, she kicks one of the wolves in the heads before piercing its flaming body with her blades. I lower my weapon as I watch the two girls take down three more demons without much trouble.
Charlie nudges my shoulder. “Your mouth is open.”
I close it and swallow a couple of times. “Are you sure I’m not dreaming?”
He smacks me in the back of the head.
“Ouch!”
With a grin, he conjures a ball of grease in his hand and throws it at another charging demon, blinding it so Gisella is able to take it down with one sweep of her arm. “You’re not dreaming.”
I nod at the small army of wolves on fire, creeping along the path, growling like rabid dogs. “In that case, we should give the girls a hand.”
Charlie flicks back his hair. “Love to.”
As one, we move forward, the rest of the Shield close behind. Balls of gel and light fly everywhere, swords reflect the flames on the demons’ bodies and soon instinct takes over my every move.
I’m surprised at the ease with which I fling my Morningstar and lash out with my athame at the same time. I duck before I even know I need to. I throw a lightning ball into the gaping mouth of an incoming monster when my Morningstar gets stuck. When I almost tumble into the flaming pit below, Taylar grabs my hand and pulls me back onto the floating path. I return the favor when he’s knocked onto his back and almost slides off the logs. I jump onto the back of a charging wolf and use its strength to pull my Morningstar free. Immediately, I swing it, and it latches onto the log right next to Taylar, who grabs it and pulls himself back up.
As the wolf turns its heads to bite me, I blind it with a lightning bolt. D’Maeo finishes it off with his sword, and I grin. “We make a great team!”
He gives me a grave nod before turning to face another incoming attack when suddenly the sound of Trevor’s voice rolls toward us. “Drop your weapons now, or she’s dead.”
It’s as if the whole scene before me freezes, and for a split second, I think Maël has used her power to stop time. But the demons are backing up, and everyone on my team is panting hard, even though most of them don’t need to breathe. It must be a habit that’s hard to lose.
I have to blink several times to convince myself that what I’m seeing is real.
How did Mom get here? And why isn’t she trying to escape?
Trevor walks up the path to where we’re standing, Mom at his side. He’s wearing a burgundy suit with shiny black shoes under it. His hair is neatly combed to the side. Mom’s face is pale. Her blonde hair is pulled up, and one lock is draped around her face. She’s wearing an evening dress I’ve never seen before. They both look like they’re on their way to the opera or something. Watching them together makes me nauseous.
The demons shrink back to the sides of the path to let them pass. Without a word, me and my friends move closer to form a solid line of defense.
I want to ask Mom if she’s okay, tell her to run, tell her everything will be okay, but my lips are frozen. No sound comes through.
It seems to take forever for them to reach us. It’s as if they’re taking a stroll in the park.
Finally, they come to a halt. With a smirk that’s almost wider than his face, Trevor opens his arms.
“Well well, look who’s here, Susan.” He pats the hand clutching his left arm. “It’s your son. I think he has come to kill me. Tell him how you feel about that, my love.”
My love? Nausea rises in my throat as I watch them approach.
“Mom? What’s going on?”
“I would hate for that to happen,” she says with a smile that looks fake, plastered on. Her face is like a doll’s, stiff and unmoving, her eyes blank. “Hello, Dante. Trevor and I are together. Please don’t kill him.”
Fuming from head to toe, I ball my hands around my weapons. My power core pulses wildly inside my chest. I step forward. “What did you do to her?”
Trevor calmly raises his free hand and inspects his nails. “Nothing. We love each other. Is that so hard to believe?”
“It’s not hard to believe. It’s impossible,” I hiss through clenched teeth while memories of him flood back into my mind. I see him talking to a demon in an alley, threatening the priest we saved and showing his slick smile to Mom at the bird park.
“The potion,” Vicky breathes from behind me. “The love potion we made for that man at the black market, as payment for your pendant.”
Trevor grins and raises an eyebrow. “You got me. I saw you lurking around and decided to have a little chat with that salesman. Offered him a pretty sweet deal to trick you into making a love potion.” He pulls Mom closer, and she throws him a smile, apparently deaf to his foul words. “You didn’t know love potions made by family members of the target are stronger, did you?”
I cross my arms and tilt my head. “You know what? It doesn’t matter. We’ll get her back, no matter what. That potion won’t last forever. And you’re not going to kill her.” I imitate his evil grin. “You love her. So while we fight to save the world from your master, at least I’ll know she’s safe. I should thank you actually, for giving me one less thing to worry about.”
I expect his smile to falter at this, but he still seems very content with himself. He shakes his head like a schoolteacher that’s tired of hearing the wrong answer over and over. “You’re right… and you’re wrong.”
I tap my foot and sigh theatrically. “Is that so?”
He chuckles. “Sure, you got me on the whole ‘you’re not going to hurt her’ part. Of course I would never hurt her. But there was something else you said
… what was it?” He taps his lips with his finger, pretending to think hard. “Something about getting her back no matter what?”
“We will,” I say, balling my fists to keep myself from going for his throat.
“Of course you will,” he calls out jovially. “If you keep out of my business. Otherwise…” He squeezes Mom’s shoulder. “I kind of like the idea of keeping her with me for eternity.” He looks down on her with a nauseating smile. “Wouldn’t that be lovely?”
She smiles back like a frozen doll. “That would be wonderful.”
Trevor presses a kiss on her temple. His eyes flit back to me, inviting me to attack.
Vicky places a hand on my shoulder to keep me from diving forward.
“Oh love,” Trevor says, “isn’t it a beautiful thing?” He turns his back to us and starts walking away, Mom still clinging to his arm.
After two steps, he stops and looks over his shoulder. “Oh, I almost forgot to give you an important piece of information… Susan is only safe because she’s with me. If you kill me…” He traces the line of his neck with his finger.
As I watch them walk away from us, anger shoots through me in waves of heat. My fingers hurt from the force with which I clench my fists.
“We’ll get her back,” Vicky says softly.
A tear escapes my eye when I blink. “I can’t let him walk away with her like that. I just… can’t.”
As Jeep grabs my left arm, Vicky holds the right. “You have to. He won’t harm her.”
I’m panting with the effort to stay where I am. “What if he forces her to… you know.”
Silence answers me. When I finally manage to tear my gaze from the two figures walking away from us, I find Vicky gritting her teeth so hard they squeak in protest.
“You’re right,” she says as she lets go of my arm. “We can’t let them leave.”
I breathe a sigh of relief. “So, you’re with me?”
“I’m always with you.” She points at our friends behind us, who step forward with determined looks and raised weapons. “We all are.”
CHAPTER 26
As if on cue, the Beach of Mu swoops down from somewhere above our heads. In the blink of an eye, it has reached Trevor and Mom and picked her up as if she’s as light as a feather. They both give a surprised cry and reach for each other, but the sand eagle is already too high up.
Mom struggles to break free while the beach carries her back above the path.
“Don’t fight, Mom!” I yell at her. “He’s with us. He’s trying to save you!”
To my relief, she stops kicking and wriggling. That is, until Trevor interferes.
“Susan! Don’t let it take you from me!”
She reaches up and pulls at the bird’s claws.
“Mom, don’t!” I call out, but the effects of the love potion are too strong. She pulls one toe loose, then another.
They both drop down several inches, and Mom dangles from one claw.
The beach tries to grab her again, but she keeps wriggling.
“Mom, listen to me!” I yell as loud as I can. “You have to stay still, or you’ll get hurt.”
She doesn’t respond and reaches up again to wrench loose the other claw.
“Beach of Mu, fly lower!” I shout.
It obeys, swaying as Mom kicks her feet.
Behind them, Trevor shouts a command at a particularly large wolf demon. It leaps as Mom’s feet get closer to the floating pathway.
“Watch out!” I yell.
The beach makes a sudden turn, and Mom sways left just as the demon pounces. But one of its jaws catches the tail of the sand eagle. Instinctively, it changes form, and Mom slips from its grip.
It all seems to happen in slow motion. Mom’s eyes go wide as she reaches for a handhold that isn’t there. A collective ‘No!’ from Trevor, me and Vicky mixes in the air. I throw myself forward, even though I know I’ll be too late to catch her.
Fear takes a hold of Mom’s face as the momentum of the turn carries her over the edge of the floating pathway. A cold hand folds around my heart when she plunges toward the hole that leads to Hell. I drop onto my belly and reach for her, but she’s already too far away. Tears of panic run down her cheek, and her mouth forms a cry for help that is lost in the noise of the raging fires below.
The Beach of Mu dives after her, back in its eagle form. I haul myself back onto my feet and take a deep breath.
When I close my eyes, ready to leap, a hand wraps around my wrist.
“What are you doing?” Vicky asks.
I tear myself loose and shoot her an angry look. “Going after her! What else?”
A sad smile slides across her face. “Well of course, silly. But you aren’t planning on going alone, are you? We’re in this together. Wherever you go, I go.”
A voice dripping with sarcasm makes me turn my head. “Oh, that’s so sweet!”
Trevor has caught up with us. His eyes are full of hate but hidden beneath that is real hurt and worry. If I had any doubts about his feelings for Mom, they would vanish now.
“No really, it’s sweet,” he says. “But it won’t do you much good to go after her. You won’t last long in there. There’s a welcoming committee in the form of an army of demons waiting at the bottom of that pit.”
I raise my eyebrows. “Is that so?”
“It is. That’s why I am going in there. The demons won’t harm me. I can get her out.”
I feel my mouth dropping open, but I can’t stop it. Is he seriously trying to save us now?
Trevor grins and smacks me on the back hard. “Don’t confuse common sense with caring, boy. I put some protection on Susan, in case I lost sight of her.” He winks. “We’re in a dangerous place, after all. And in case you showed up, I put in an extra… fail safe, so to speak.” He laughs out loud, but it doesn’t sound very cheerful. I’m not sure whether he’s trying to fool me into thinking everything is fine, or himself. “If you or any of your lovely friends touch her, the protection will shatter. Therefore, it’s in Susan’s best interest if I go down there to get her back, and you stay here.” He smirks. “Or wherever you like, as long as it’s far away from us.”
“He’s bluffing,” Jeep says.
Maël steps forward. “I do not think he is. When the Beach of Mu lifted your mother, I sensed something. I could not put my finger on it, but this must have been what I felt. I think he is telling the truth, Dante.”
“He is,” Vicky confirms, looking into Trevor’s eyes.
Trevor lifts his hands and claps in mock admiration. “Well observed. I guess that’s settled then.”
He turns to the pit below and waves. “It was lovely to see you all again. I hope it is the last time.”
“So do I,” I say through gritted teeth.
Trevor nods at the wolf demons, ready to pounce us again. “You probably won’t last long. Meanwhile, stay out of my business. If you meddle with our plans again, you will never see your mother again.” He takes a deep breath and steps off the path. Without a sound, he drops into the smoldering hole below and disappears from sight.
Vicky gives my hand a comforting squeeze. “She’ll be fine. The Beach of Mu will keep an eye on her too.”
“Great,” I sigh and turn away from the gaping hole below. It’s probably best to focus on something else. “Let’s close this portal and get the souls that he sent to Earth back, okay?”
“We can’t,” Charlie says. “He told us not to meddle anymore, remember? Which means we can’t do anything until we get your mom back.”
“Sure we can,” Vicky responds with glinting eyes. “Because he didn’t say anything about someone else interfering.”
When we all stare at her blankly, she pulls Dad’s notebook from behind my waistband and waves it around. “We’ve used the cloaking spell several times. What if we use it again but cloak ourselves with different appearances this time?”
“That’s brilliant!” I c
all out. There’s more I want to say, but behind Vicky, the demons are moving. I pull Dad’s notebook out of her hands and stuff it back behind my waistband while Vicky turns to see what’s happening.
“I guess we have some fighting to do before we can cast the spell,” I say.
A look over my shoulder tells me the others are ready for another round of slaying. They all have determined expressions on their faces and weapons in their hands.
Just in time too, because with a loud growl, the remaining group of demons pounces. Within seconds, it’s as if the fight has never stopped. Trevor pushed pause, and now that he’s gone, the scene comes to life again.
Since my Morningstar is still stuck in the spot where Taylar almost went over the edge, I swing my athame with my right hand and throw bolts of lightning from my left hand.
When a wolf knocks me over from behind, I turn onto my back quickly and hit its two heads with lightning. The monster howls in pain and backs up, but not before setting my pants on fire with its flaming fur. I roll over in an attempt to extinguish it and bump into Charlie, who loses his balance.
My hand shoots forward and catches his ankle just before he tumbles from the pathway.
“Help!” I yell, dropping my athame so I can use both hands to hold his weight. I could probably haul him up by myself if it wasn’t for another demon towering over me. Its left head shoots down and misses my head by half an inch as I pull it back.
“Somebody?” I shout, using one hand to fire several balls of lightning at the demon.
This monster is more agile than the others. Not a single ball hits it as it moves left and right, and from behind it, another wolf steps forward, licking its lips.
“Pull me up!” Charlie yells.
I shoot some lightning at the second demon, and it backs up a little. “I can’t! I need one hand to keep these demons away!”
With a whoosh, Maël’s staff splits the air between me and the wolf. It looks up a fraction too late. The tip of the staff hits it in the chin hard, and it tips over sideways. Maël slams the wand down onto one of the second demon’s heads before taking care of the first.
The Fifth Portal: a supernatural urban fantasy action adventure (Cards of Death book 5) Page 15
