Gradually, the hole in the portal starts to close as the whirlwind spins slower.
I hold out my hand. “Wait! Where’s Jeep?”
“He was right behind me,” Charlie says.
“Mona, can you see Jeep?” I call out to the whirlwind.
She doesn’t answer, but more sparks rise from her and dive deeper into the vortex as it spins and spins. At the end of it, I can make out the vague form of the wooden pathway and the dark sky of Purgatory, until a black bowler hat blocks my view.
“There he is!”
The sparks shoot forward, but when they reach the spot, the hat is gone.
“Jeep!” I yell. “Can you hear us?”
When there’s no answer, I turn to face the others. “I have to go in to get him.”
I take a deep breath, but before I can make a move, Charlie grabs my shirt. “Wait! Look!”
I follow his gaze and gasp. The scenery at the end of the vortex is changing. Purgatory moves out of sight bit by bit as something else slides into its place.
“Guys?” A low voice echoes through the tunnel.
“We’re here!” three of us yell at the same time.
For a second, I see something resembling a stretched-out hand. Then a shrill howl makes us slam our hands against our ears. A cold wind extinguishes every single spark with one violent blast. The whirlwind is shot out of the portal with such force that it knocks us all off our feet.
Mona lands in a heap against the back wall of the tunnel and doesn’t move.
The rest of us are scratched up, but otherwise fine.
Gisella hurries over to Mona while I try to stay on my swaying feet. I must have hit my head harder than I thought. There are now two vortexes instead of one. That is, until I blink several times, and they merge into one again.
I breathe in sharply. “It’s closing!”
Vicky throws herself forward. “No! Jeep!”
We squint into the darkening hole in front of us, but there’s no sign of him or his hat.
Our hands find each other, and we exchange a quick look. Then we face the portal again and jump… only to bump into a solid black wall.
Vicky drops down to her knees, tears falling from her eyes. “It took him! It took Jeep!”
I squat down next to her and pull her head against my shoulder, searching for words of hope.
There must be something we can do to get him back. A way to go after him.
But we don’t even know where he went. We don’t even know if his soul is still intact. Even if we can open this portal again, the world behind it will have changed.
I close my eyes as visions of Jeep being ripped apart swim before my eyes. Another memory returns to me. The memory of my body and mind being taken over by cold. And I realize an important rule was broken. There was a chapter 13. A chapter that I should’ve skipped in my story. But I didn’t realize I was in it at the time. The Shield warned me never to write a thirteenth chapter. And now, because I did, bad luck has found us. It found us, and it took Jeep. We’ve lost him. We’ve lost a member of the Shield.
CHAPTER 28
My hands form into fists as I squeeze Vicky harder. No, I think to myself. No more negative thoughts. We have accomplished impossible things before, so we can do it again. Jeep is not lost yet.
Wiping the tears from my eyes, I kiss Vicky on her forehead, get up and pull out Dad’s notebook. I flip through it at record speed.
Vicky looks up at me in confusion. “What are you doing?”
“Looking for a lost and found spell of course. We have magic. We can get Jeep back.”
“You know there’s nothing I want more than that right now,” she says, pushing herself to her feet, “but he’ll have to wait.”
Without looking up from the notebook, I shake my head. “No. We have no idea where he went. He might be fighting a whole army of demons right now. We can’t leave him.”
“There’s no other choice right now.” Vicky sounds desperate, and I lower the book to meet her eye.
“Sure there is. We try everything we can think of until we have him back in one piece.”
Another tear forms in the corner of her eye. “What about the soul, Dante? The fifth soul? Shouldn’t we save that first? We’re already way behind on Trevor. He’s got dozens of minions looking for it.”
“She is right, Jeep will have to wait.” Maël pulls Mona to her feet. They both look tired.
When I drop my gaze back to the book in my hands, Maël continues. “You know there is a reason why Lucifer keeps hunting these souls. Evidently, he is able to use them even if he fails to obtain them all. Another soul will bring him closer to his goal. We cannot let that happen, Dante.”
D’Maeo clears his throat, and I know nothing good will come out of his mouth.
I’m right.
“I hate to say this, but I agree. Jeep will have to take care of himself until we have saved the fifth soul.”
“And he wouldn’t want it any other way,” Taylar adds. “He would want us to finish what we started together. To keep fighting.”
Vicky pushes my arm with the book down. “Yes, he would.”
I sigh. “Fine. We’ll find the soul first. But as soon as it’s safe, we’re going after Jeep and Mom. We’re not giving up on anyone. That’s an order.” I give them all a stern look, and they nod, even Charlie and Gisella, who aren’t obliged to obey me.
“Good.” I tap the book in my hand. “So, what now? We can’t simply go after that soul. If we do, the chances of getting my mother back are slim. A cloaking spell probably won’t hold for very long.”
There’s a moment of silence in which everyone straightens their clothes and hair and frowns or mumbles to themselves.
Then Mona suddenly raises a finger. “I’ve got it!”
A handful of sparks hops from her hands onto her head and jumps down, showering her in light. When the sparks touch the ground, Mona doesn’t look like Mona anymore. She’s a ten-year-old girl with pigtails and a dress covered in ribbons.
Gisella grins and claps. “That’s amazing, Mona!”
I frown. “It is, but can you do that to all of us at the same time? And can you keep our fake appearances up for hours on end?”
Mona clicks the heels of her shoes together and changes back into her perfect self. “I cannot. But…” she gives me a wide smile, “I’ve got friends.” She shoos us back through the porthole. “Have something to eat and drink while I find some help. Go on!”
After one last look at the closed portal, I step into the hidden room at Darkwood Manor. Immediately, a weight seems to fall from my shoulders. I close the porthole behind Mona and pull her into a hug.
She utters a muffled cry of surprise.
“Thanks for saving us,” I whisper.
“Oh, honey, there’s no need to thank me for that. It’s my job. I wish I could do more.”
I kiss her on the cheek. “You do plenty. We’re blessed to have you around.”
She glistens from head to toe, both literally and figuratively. “Well, you’re very welcome. Now hurry downstairs, and I’ll go see some of my friends.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
She giggles and goes up in sparks.
When I walk into the kitchen, the others are pulling all kinds of snacks from the closets while Vicky heats up water for tea. Soon we’re all sitting in our usual spots around the table. Except for me, because I’m staring at the two empty chairs where Mom and Jeep should be sitting.
I squeeze my eyes shut to drive out the vivid images of them both suffering.
They’re fine. Mom is under Trevor’s protection, and Jeep can handle himself. They’ll be okay for now.
A flash of the closing portal passes before my eyes. I gasp.
“What’s wrong?” Vicky asks.
Slowly, I close my mouth and open my eyes. Everyone’s attention is focused on me.
“It suddenly hit me,” I say. “The
reason why those wolf demons were trying to open the portal in the silver mine.”
Vicky frowns. “Why?”
I drop down onto my chair and stare at the table. “The vortex behind that portal rotates past different worlds.” I pause and look around the table, but no one seems to grasp what I’m trying to say, so I explain further. “Eventually, it will pass Hell too. That’s what the demons were preparing for. They probably know when the vortex passes Hell, and they want to make sure it’s open then.”
D’Maeo scratches his sideburn. “That doesn’t make sense. If someone from Hell wanted to get through, they could do so just as easily as we did now from Purgatory.”
Maël nods. “Opening gateways from Hell to Earth is not easy. I think the demons were not only opening the portal, they were also trying to steer it in the right direction.”
I press my temples with both hands. The Devil is planning to enter Earth through a portal in my town. And we’re the only ones who can stop him.
I slam my hands on the table, startling everyone. “Well, it’s a good thing we found out about this, because now we can do something about it. We were already keeping the portal closed using the Bell of Izme, but now we can figure out a way to keep the vortex from reaching Hell. This is actually good news.”
“Sure, if we ever get to it,” Charlie sulks.
“We will. We’ve gotten this far and conquered some situations that seemed impossible before.” I raise my mug high. “So I want to make a toast…” I wait for the others to raise their mugs too. “To our golden team. We will succeed, no matter what!”
My words are greeted by cheering, and when everyone takes a sip, I see Vicky giving me a curious look.
“What?” I ask.
“You’ve changed.”
I lean closer to her. “Is that a good thing?”
She grins. “I have to admit, I like this new positive attitude. And it’s a good trait for a leader.”
I put away my mug with the intention of kissing her when there’s a loud whoosh.
We all look up and shield our eyes as seven women arrive in whirls of different colors.
They’re all different, but all as perfect as Mona is: smooth skin, unwrinkled clothes, not a single hair out of place and glowing from within as they touch down in a row next to the kitchen table.
I hastily get to my feet and bow. “Welcome. We are grateful for your presence.”
They bow back in unison, and Mona steps up next to me. “I have found some friends who are willing to help us. May I introduce…” She gestures at the beautiful women. “Hanna, Bella, Emma, Flora, Donna and Kara.”
We all mumble our hellos. Mona smiles brightly. “I’ve given them a quick summary of what happened. Each of them will put a spell on one of you. This way, the magic won’t run out too soon. You will have plenty of time to search for the soul, save it, send all the souls from Purgatory back and find your mother. Once you’ve got her back, you won’t need our spell anymore.” She lifts her right foot, takes of her shoe and holds it up. “I think you all know the story of Cinderella. Of course, it was twisted a little. In the story, the spell on her shoes isn’t broken when the magic runs out. In reality, your shoes will be the first to return to normal, so please keep an eye on them.” She puts her shoe back on and searches for something in her pockets. “Hold on, it’s here somewhere. Ah! Here it is.” Showing us a yellow ring, she continues her instructions. “You will all be given a ring for the duration of the spell. This ring belongs to the fairy godmother who enchants you, and with it, you can summon her in case something goes wrong.” She walks over to D’Maeo and slides the ring onto his finger.
“I had imagined a different setting for this,” D’Maeo jokes. “And shouldn’t there be a proposal first?”
Mona’s cheeks turn bright red, and she fiddles with her hair.
D’Maeo kisses her on the lips and sparks rise from her chest.
“We’ll get to that later,” he whispers in her ear, loud enough for me to hear it across the table.
All the other fairy godmothers are watching the scene with upturned mouths, like dolls. It’s a good thing I know Mona so well, otherwise I would’ve thought they were robots. Still, seeing them together gives me an uneasy feeling. They’re just too perfect to be real.
“Anyway,” Mona continues when she manages to pull free from D’Maeo. “Each ring has the color of the godmother’s sparks. Mine is yellow.”
“Wait, your sparks all have different colors?”
Mona nods at the godmothers, who throw a handful of sparks in the air one by one.
It’s like watching fireworks. Red, blue, purple, pink, orange and green clouds fill the kitchen, and we all gasp.
“Each ring is made of two parts. Turn the upper part three times to the left and two times to the right to contact your temporary fairy godmother. Go ahead, try it.” She vanishes, and D’Maeo studies the ring.
He turns the upper part to the left until it clicks three times, then he turns it back two clicks.
In a cloud of yellow, Mona lands in front of him. “Yes, like that! Easy, right?”
“But please only do this in case of an emergency,” the second godmother says. “We all have our own charges to take care of too.”
“Of course,” I say hastily. “We won’t bother you unless it’s absolutely necessary. I can’t thank you all enough for stepping in on such short notice and helping us out like this.”
“You’re very welcome,” they all say in unison, showing rows of perfect white teeth.
Mona slams her hands together. “Okay, if everyone is ready, we can start. No time to lose, right?”
CHAPTER 29
The fairy godmothers each pick a person to change. I end up with a stout, dark-haired woman.
I’m relieved when she introduces herself again. “Hi, I’m Flora.”
“I’m Dante, it’s nice to meet you.”
“Oh!” She presses both hands against her cheeks and stares at me wide-eyed. “I’ve got the chosen one? Oh jolly!” She bends over until her nose nearly touches mine and whispers, “I’ll give you the best transformation I’ve ever done. Don’t you worry.”
“I’m not worried,” I say truthfully.
“Good.” She straightens up and taps my nose gently. “Now stand up, close your eyes and relax.”
I do as she says. Through my eyelids, I can see pink flashes of light moving around me. My whole body tingles, and I have to concentrate to keep myself from moving or opening my eyes.
“A bit more hair,” Flora mumbles. “How about a beard?”
Something soft moves over my chin.
“Apparently not.”
The feeling disappears, and I feel fabric wrapping around my arms.
“Very nice,” Flora says to herself. “Let me see…”
Her hand touches the hair on my head. “I think, maybe…” There’s a breath of air, and suddenly my head feels colder.
“Yes, that’s it.”
Mona’s voice interrupts her musings. “You could add some hair to the back. It will make him blend in better.”
“Great idea!” Flora answers cheerfully, and the back of my head gets a bit warmer again.
“And a bit of stretching to finish it up,” she mumbles. Something pulls at my limbs, and I grunt, although it’s more a strange than a painful feeling.
“Alright, Dante,” Flora says, grabbing my hands. “I think you’re all done.”
As soon as I open my eyes, pink sparks dance along Flora’s hand, revealing a mirror, which she holds up to me.
I recoil. “Wow!”
Blue eyes stare back at me from a frowning fortyish face. Most of my hair is gone, except for thin layers on the sides and back of my head and some stubbles on my chin and under my nose. I’m wearing jeans, a plain dark blue T-shirt and a black leather jacket. My sneakers have changed into brown leather shoes.
“This is amazing, Flora. Thank you,
” I say. I tilt my head. “Hey, I still sound like me.”
“Only to us, love,” she says with a wink. “To everyone else, you sound like a forty-three-year-old tough guy.” She lowers the mirror.
“Dude, you look like an action hero!”
I narrow my eyes at the guy using Charlie’s voice. He’s no longer a young, blond surfer. “You’re Asian!”
Next to him, a pretty young woman with short black hair leans forward. “So am I.”
“Gisella?” I shake my head. “This is crazy!”
“Where are you from?” I ask.
“We were both born here in the United States, which is why we don’t speak Japanese,” Charlie says with a wink. “Our families are from Japan though, and we’d like to visit our relatives there one day.”
I chuckle. “Very convincing.”
My gaze shifts to the other unfamiliar faces at the table. It’s a good thing all of us always sit in the same spot at the kitchen table, or I’d have no idea who was who.
On my left, next to Charlie, there’s a pale, chubby man with glasses, dressed in a cheap black suit. I’m not sure what stands out more, the coffee stain on his shirt or the way his brown hair is glued to his head. He’s got a sulky expression on his face, and he keeps pushing his glasses higher up his nose.
I stare at him until he finally sighs and says, “Yes, it’s me, Taylar. I look like an idiot.”
Charlie looks him up and down with a grin. “You look like a man who has seen nothing but the inside of an office for years.”
“Oh good!” the fairy godmother with the wavy red hair calls out. “That’s what I was going for.”
The grumpy office guy crosses his arms and stares at the empty mug in front of him.
I look up to the head of the table, across from my seat, where D’Maeo was sitting several minutes ago. He’s the only one who has been made younger. Instead of sixtyish, he’s now around fifty years old. He stands up and turns as if he’s in a fashion show.
We all applaud, except for Taylar, who’s still sulking.
Mona took away some of D’Maeo’s arm muscle and added some length, making him taller and more slender than my fake appearance. I love how he still looks like the leader of the Shield. His unwrinkled face and pristine suit somehow scream ‘manager’, and I have a feeling that was exactly what Mona was going for.
The Fifth Portal: a supernatural urban fantasy action adventure (Cards of Death book 5) Page 17
