by Linsey Hall
“Ready to light this thing up?” Aidan asked.
I moved to be closer to the portal. Everyone except Aidan and Cass followed.
“Try it now,” I said.
Aidan and Cass conjured three fireballs each, directing them at the pillars. The flames flew through the air, each fireball landing on top of a pillar at the same time. Flames burst to life on top of each pillar. The flames raced down the side of the pillar and across the ground, following the oil.
The pool of oil in the middle of the platform blazed six feet tall. Heat singed my skin. I kept my sight riveted to the flame as it followed the stream of oil to the door.
When it reached the portal, magic took over. The flame turned blue and bright, racing across the outline of the door and lighting up the star. The glow was so strong that it hurt my eyes. It spread across the stone, making the whole thing glow blue.
“I think it’s working,” Roarke murmured.
“This is what it looked like when the demons took me through,” Cade said.
“Then let’s go.” Roarke stepped forward. “It may only last as long as the flame. Partner up.”
I reached for Nix’s hand. Roarke and I were usually the only ones who could help other people cross into the Underworld, but this time, Cade could lend a hand, given that he was half demon like Roarke.
Nix gripped my hand, and we stepped forward. Roarke, holding Aidan’s hand, stopped us.
“Insist on going first?” I asked.
He grinned, then walked through with Aidan. Nix and I followed immediately, letting the ether suck us into hell.
Chapter Thirteen
As soon as I stepped out into the barren hellscape beyond, I gasped. The earth was black as pitch, the sky a deep, dark gray. A moon gleamed in the distance, barely shedding any light at all on our surroundings.
“Oh yeah, this is hell,” Nix said.
Cade stepped through a moment later, bringing Claire. He nodded. “This is it.”
“It sucks,” I said.
He shrugged. “It’s the official headquarters of a group called the Shadows who are evil incarnate.”
I nodded. “Yeah, okay. It fits.”
While Roarke and Cade returned to Earth for Cass and Connor, I took in our surroundings. Cade had told us that the actual headquarters was about five miles away, and in the gloom, I couldn’t see it.
“I’m worried about what’s coming,” Nix said.
“Me too,” Claire said. “Cade clearly hasn’t seen everything this world has to offer.”
The rest of our party joined us a second later, and I turned to Cade. “Your demon escorts protected you from the enchantments guarding the oasis. Do you know if there are any here?”
He shook his head. “I was always escorted. So there could be anything.”
My stomach sank. We’d come prepared for obstacles, but who knew what the Shadows would send at us?
“Might as well get a move on, then.” I gestured to Cade. “If you’ll lead the way?”
“Hang on.” For the first time ever, his magic swirled around him. It was vaguely similar to Roarke’s, though a bit weaker. The tornado of black dust that enclosed him was a lighter color, as well. More of a gray.
But when he’d finally shifted, the resemblance was uncanny. He was slightly smaller and his wings were a different shape, but he was clearly Roarke’s brother.
“It might be best for everyone to shift into their strongest form,” Cade said.
As Roarke and Aidan changed, I debated adopting my Phantom form. But Roarke and Cade blended into the dark. Even Aidan had turned into a black griffin, though he usually favored gold.
“I’m going to wait to shift,” I said. “I’ll light up the night in my Phantom form.”
“Smart,” Roarke said.
The rest of us stayed human, though I could tell that Cass was ready to shift at a moment’s notice if necessary. Because she was a Mirror Mage, not a natural-born shifter, being an animal wasn’t necessarily her strongest form.
“Hang on.” Nix conjured two black jackets. She handed one off to Connor, who slipped it on over his pale blue shirt. Immediately, he blended in with the dark surroundings. She tugged on the other jacket, covering her pink T-shirt. I tugged my own jacket on.
Nix frowned. “Our faces are like beacons.”
She had a point. We were pasty as Minnesotans in February.
Her magic swelled again, and she handed out a couple pots of dark gray powder. We smeared it on our faces.
“Hell camo,” I said.
With our black clothes and the makeup, we blended well into the dark. Though Connor had brought enough invisibility potion for each of us, the stuff only lasted an hour. We had to save it for the castle.
We set off across the rocky black ground. There wasn’t a single tree or bush to hide behind. The perfect place for a castle you meant to defend.
“This is like the surface of the moon,” Connor said.
“But deadlier,” I said.
We hiked in silence, everyone on high alert. Occasionally, the ground shifted beneath our feet, but no monsters popped up. I kept my ice magic charged and ready, though.
Something red glowed against the ground ahead, like thousands of gallons of glowing paint thrown across the landscape.
“What is that?” Roarke asked.
“Lava,” Cade said. “But there’s a path.”
“And I bet it’s a delightful stroll,” Claire added.
I chuckled, but the laughter died as we neared. The heat was intense, the glow of the lava brilliant. I swallowed hard.
Cade pointed. “That way.”
We followed his lead, going single file across a wide strip of stone. Lava bubbled on all sides. In the distance, there were little rock islands. All the movies I’d ever seen about people drowning in this stuff flashed in my mind. I was desperate to shift to my Phantom form, but I couldn’t risk us being seen.
No one said a word as we raced across the bridge. Lava popped and bubbled beside us.
When we hit a magical barrier that prickled against my skin, the ground began to shift, cracking and separating. My heart leaped into my throat. Nix gasped.
“Shit.” Connor jumped as the rock split ahead of us.
The ground underfoot broke up like an ice cap with a polar bear upon it. And that never went well for the polar bear. The stone that I stood upon tilted slightly. Sweat broke out on my skin, and my heart raced.
“Hang on,” Roarke said.
Our winged companions took to the air, each picking up one of us as the ground broke. Even Cass shifted into a griffin, grabbing Nix. Roarke swooped me up, and Connor scrambled onto Aidan’s broad back while Cade picked up Claire right before her slab of rock tilted into the lava.
I clung to Roarke as he flew us to the safety of the other side. Though ‘safety’ was relative. The heat rose, making sweat drip down my skin and my grip slippery on Roarke. Lava bubbled below. My stomach turned.
My heart was racing by the time he dropped me off. Once all my friends were standing on solid ground, I almost collapsed in relief.
But there was no time.
In the distance, a hoard of bats burst into the air, their wings fluttering in the night.
“What the hell?” Claire hissed. She hated bats.
Unfortunately for all of us, they weren’t bats. As the figures neared, they grew larger.
Winged demons.
Strikingly familiar winged demons. They looked like Roarke and Cade, only with larger horns and uglier faces. Roarke’s mom must have been really pretty. It was a stupid thought when fifty winged demons were charging.
“Shit!” Connor fumbled in his potion bag. “Time for invisibility.”
I glanced around, but there was nowhere to run. Nowhere to hide. Though we’d hoped to save the stuff…
“Yeah, now’s the time,” I said.
Connor handed around the small vials. “Sniff before you drink. Should smell like oranges.”
/> Oh crap. In the dark, he couldn’t be sure which potions he was handing out.
I took mine and uncorked it. Immediately, I was hit by the scent of orange, so I chugged. It tasted like mud, but at this rate, I didn’t care. Cass and Aidan shifted into their human forms and drank their potions.
Once everyone was invisible, we set off running. I used my stolen magic from the Whispa Demon to muffle the sound of our footsteps.
If only we could sneak past the demons…
For a little while, it worked. We could even see the castle on the horizon, growing closer and closer. It was pitch-black in color and seemed to be hazy—as if it, too, were made of shadows.
We just had to get there. Then we’d do our usual—sneak in and get the bad guy. Bad guys, plural, in this case.
I pushed myself harder, relying on my new magic to muffle the sounds of our footsteps and heavy breathing. The demons flew overhead, searching for us, but they had no luck. Apparently their sense of smell was terrible, or it’d been burned out by the acrid scent of this hellscape.
We were half a mile away when the air just ahead of us shimmered.
Shit.
Magical barrier.
I tried to pull to a halt, but it was too late. A shiver rippled over me. A demon shrieked, pointing to us.
“We’re visible,” Connor said.
“Oh, hell.” I spun, looking up into the dark sky.
Fifty winged demons whirled to face us.
“I’ll try illusion!” Cass cried. She’d stolen the power last summer and was well practiced with it. Hopefully she’d be able to conceal us from their eyes. Her magic swelled briefly on the air, but nothing happened. “Can’t! It won’t work.”
“The barrier must block any kind of invisibility or stealth approach,” I said.
“Shit,” Aidan said. “That’s complex magic for a place this big. These guys are powerful if they can pull that off.”
He was right. We hadn’t expected something this advanced.
That left us with outright warfare, if we wanted to survive.
The demons converged on us.
“We fight,” Roarke said.
We’d agreed on it this morning. The Shadows needed me—but not my friends. Capture could mean death.
So fighting it was.
Already in their demon forms, Roarke and Cade took off into the air, their claws outstretched and snarls twisting their faces. Aidan shifted and followed, ready to rend flesh from bone.
Cass hurled a massive fireball at the demons. It collided with one, sending him flying ass over wings and straight into another demon.
Quickly, I shifted into my Phantom form, then threw an icicle at the nearest demon. It pierced him through the middle. Our winged friends protected Nix, Claire, Connor, and me as we hurled whatever weapons we had—arrows, potion bombs, icicles.
We did a damned good job, too, taking out nearly two dozen demons. But this was far more than we’d anticipated. Cade’s recon hadn’t suggested there would be fifty winged guards. But he was fighting as hard as Roarke, blood pouring from claw wounds to his chest and back.
He hadn’t betrayed us. We’d just gotten unlucky.
And unlucky in war sucked.
Sweat poured down my face as I hurled my icy weapons. The battle raged, bodies falling from the sky. Fortunately, they were all enemies who fell, but our side was struggling. Even in the dim light, I could see the blood pouring off Roarke, Aidan, and Cade.
Though my magic flagged from overuse, I kept going.
“I’m running low,” Connor said. His potion bag was nearly empty.
“I can conjure more.” Nix’s magic swelled. “Nothing fancy. Acid bombs.”
“It’ll do.”
Nix handed over the acid bombs, and Connor threw them, his accuracy incredible. He hit a demon from forty yards away. The acid bomb exploded, green and bright, and the demon shrieked.
We were close. There were only twenty demons left in the sky.
“We’ve got this!” I cried. Though how we were going to sneak in at this point, I had no idea. That was a problem for another time.
I charged up an icicle and sent it at the nearest demon. It plowed through his middle and then went through the demon behind. Nix fired her arrows, her aim deadly, while Connor and Claire continued to hurl acid bombs.
There were only five demons left in the sky when I caught sight of a figure floating across the ground toward us. A Shadow.
The dark power that emanated from him made me shudder. Before I could turn my attack toward him, he hurled a glowing yellow orb at us.
“Duck!” I yelled.
But it didn’t matter. As soon as the orb hovered above us, it exploded, sending a magical sonic boom through the air that froze my muscles solid. Even the demons in the air froze, dropping like stones.
Horror rose as I watched Aidan, Roarke, and Cade plummet, then crash against the ground. No matter how I struggled, I couldn’t break free.
We stood frozen for ages, until, finally, a small army of demons tromped across the horizon. There were probably about twenty of them, and they were all massive—at least seven feet tall. My heart thundered as I waited, my gaze racing around, trying to take stock of my friends. I thought everyone was mostly okay, though I couldn’t tell.
When the demons arrived, they swept us up in their arms like planks of wood, hauling us across the moonlike ground and up to the black castle.
I’d never felt evil like what radiated from the structure looming ahead. It actually was made of shadows, but also black stone. Turrets and towers rose high into the gray sky. Black mist hovered around the structure. It was like a fairytale castle warped and twisted by evil.
As they carried us through the massive gate, I tried to reach out for my friends. But I couldn’t. I was so stiff and solid I wondered if I’d ever move again.
I screamed inside as they carried my friends away from me, toward another part of the castle. Cade had described this place as best he could, though he’d only visited a few rooms.
He’d never been to a dungeon, but I prayed that’s where they were going. Anywhere except to the executioner.
I strained to take in everything around me as the big demon hauled me across the courtyard and up a massive flight of stairs. Even inside, everything was dark. The light that glimmered from wall sconces was almost gray. It was all as Cade had described it, though he hadn’t managed to convey the sense of hopelessness that welled over a person when they entered a place like this.
Instead of a dungeon, they took me to a library.
It was horrible.
I’d thought I could love any library.
I’d been so wrong. Every book in there was bound in tar-black leather. I’d have put big money down in Vegas that these books were bound in human and demon skin. Whatever secrets they contained, I didn’t want to know.
The demon tossed me on the ground in front of a fireplace that flickered with black flame. Immediately, a Shadow swept into the room. It was dressed in the usual black cloak that shimmered at the edges.
The demon bowed low, then slipped out of the library.
The sudden silence was oppressive. It took everything I had to calm my raging mind and focus on my surroundings. Now was not the time to freak out.
One thing was immediately clear.
This wasn’t the Shadow who had cursed Cade, and therefore, me. Cade had said I’d be able to feel it. I felt nothing but pure evil from this one as it drifted over to hover in front of me. When it waved a shadowy hand, the magic that bound me disappeared.
Immediately, my muscles ached. I rolled to my feet, drawing my sword from the ether.
The Shadow thrust out his right hand, palm toward me. I slammed back into a big wooden chair. No matter how I strained, I couldn’t escape.
“Body control?” I choked out.
He inclined his head.
The other Shadow that I’d fought had been able to whip out parts of his shadowy form like octopu
s tentacles. But they all appeared to have different talents.
Inside, I screamed for Draka.
I got nothing.
“So good of you to join us.” The voice was low and silky. The fact that it was a pleasant tone was somehow worse.
I glanced around and tried to subtly suck in a stabilizing breath. “Don’t you think this place is a bit overdone? I mean, I get that you’re called the Shadows and all, but this is a bit much.”
“I have no interest in your jokes.”
“I’ve got nothing but time, considering I can’t move.” I had no idea if heckling him was a good idea, but I wanted to throw him off his guard.
Perhaps I could call for Pond Flower as a distraction. But she wasn’t a fraction as strong as Draka. I hated to bring her into this while I was frozen, unable to help her.
“You once wanted to be part of this.” The Shadow’s words threw me for a loop. “You will want to be part of it again.”
“What?”
“Watch.” He waved his arm in front of him. An image appeared.
My parents sat on a couch, with me sitting on a small cushion at their feet. A fire flickered in the hearth at my back and a tea set sat on the ornate table at our side. It was the single most homey scene I’d ever seen with them. My heart twisted in my chest.
I was young in this scene—it must have taken place before they’d given me to the Monster.
“You will open the portal, Delphine.” My mother’s voice resonated with power. Though the scene was homey, her tone was not.
“How, Mother?” The excitement in my young voice made me wince.
“It is your fated gift. You know that we are World Walkers, able to cross from hell to Earth. But you. You are the strongest of them all. When you have mastered your power, you will be able to tear down the barrier between the Underworld and Earth.”
“The whole barrier?” My eyes gleamed with excitement.
How could I like the idea of that? Even as a child? Not to mention—holy shit. My mysterious superpower was basically destroying the world?
Ugh. That sucked.
“You are the only one who can do it. You will create a portal large enough to transport all the demons to Earth. They won’t need an Earthbound supernatural to help them, and no additional magic. They will be free to cross.”
