by L. Rose
He spun back to me. “What?”
“Magic and—” Doors crashed open. “—demons,” I called over the noise of all different types and sizes of demons rushing into the room snarling, growling. “Ready?”
“Always,” Thorn yelled. His eyes changed to red, while mine shifted to purple as I called my powers forward. Thorn grabbed the guns from his hips and fired at the fast-approaching demons. A lot fell to the floor, but not enough. I swept my hand out, picking up at least ten of them, flinging them into the wall. Bones breaking echoed around the room. My lips moved over a spell, and knives shot out of my palms, aiming at the closest demons.
Thorn’s gun fired over and over until he ran out and threw them to the floor, grabbing two others. I shot off another spell, telling him, “They shouldn’t run out of bullets.”
His grin over his shoulder was wild and wicked since his teeth had sharpened from his ghoul side. “Thanks.” He went back to shooting everything he spotted while I blinded the monsters with a sunshine spell. They screeched and screamed, covering their eyes, giving Thorn more time to shoot a lot of them. When that spell faded, I had another ready. The floor liquefied, and demons sank into it, crying out in surprise. They clawed at the ground once it solidified.
I moved my eyes to the door when another wave of demons crawled, ran, and flew in. They were stronger ones. When a ball of fire flew my way, I swiped it to the side and shot off my own. It hit him, only he smiled as the flames ran over his body.
Fuck.
Since fire didn’t work, I formed a spell for ice and engaged it. The demon’s eyes widened. He dodged right, but I already had another two erupting from my palms. One hit him. He howled in pain and sank to his knees, frosting over.
A hit to my back had me stumbling forward. My back burned. I crafted a spell to heal whatever had me in agony. Pain still laced through me as I turned to see Grace standing there smiling.
“Now,” she yelled, and two other witches stepped up to her sides.
Anger had my feet lifting off the floor, had me spreading my hands, had wild wind whipping around me. My lips moved, but no sound came from them as I locked onto their own spell and broke it apart inch by inch. I managed to glance at Thorn, checking he was okay. His eyes were wide watching me. He wasn’t focused and demons approached.
“Behind you,” I said, my voice hard.
He spun in time to decapitate the two heads off the demon, then sliced another down the middle. He must have lost his guns at some point to be using the swords he’d had strapped to his back.
The witches staggered a step forward, bringing a smile to my face. “You won’t best me,” I told them.
Grace’s brow dipped in concentration. She changed up her spell, and I quickly countered it with my own alteration, using my hands in the air, drawing patterns and swirls.
Grace let out an agitated scream.
“Where is Selma?” I demanded.
Grace swiped at her forehead and laughed. “Not here.” She smiled. “She was never here,” she said, her voice different.
“That’s Selma’s voice,” Thorn called. He leaped to the other side of me and attacked the demons there, his blade effortlessly cutting through an acid ball shot his way.
“Do you know where Selma is?” I asked.
“She had other orders,” a new voice said. A man stepped out of a darkened corner. He licked his lips, his eyes glowing red. “You have delicious power.” He looked at Grace. “I want them both.”
“The mage is strong—”
“You promised to make it happen,” the demon roared.
Grace frowned and nodded.
The demon smiled and gazed up at me. “I’ll be seeing and playing with you both soon.” His eyes shifted to the others in the room. “Those who drag them down into Hell will be rewarded.” Then he vanished.
Grace cried out. A fog floated up around her, and she laughed maniacally.
Jesus, she was gaining more power.
“You don’t have to do this,” I told Grace.
“I feel amazing.” She smiled, then pulled the witch to her left close and sliced her throat open. Grace’s lips moved. She grabbed the other screaming witch and stabbed her in the heart.
Blood magic was the darkest. Fear pierced my chest. I could maybe counter it, but I didn’t have the time, and I had to keep our promise to Paige and Nate.
“Thorn, to me,” I yelled, landing back on the floor. Thorn wrapped his arms around me. I went to transport us out, but nothing happened. The floor beneath us vanished as Grace opened a portal straight to Hell. I gripped Thorn to me and floated above it. Demons surrounded us. I pushed them back magically, but more ran in. There was a pop—my protective bubble fell away. Three demons jumped at us before I could get us high enough. They locked their arms around our legs, and then there was a clap and we were being dragged into the portal.
Into Hell.
Blackness surrounded us as we kept falling. Thorn released his hold and pushed off me to wrap himself around a demon and sliced over and over with his claws at his chest. The demon screamed in pain and fury before exploding. He went for the next, all while we still fell, and I took on the last.
As our backs hit the solid ground with a grunt, the demons were dead. The blackness around us evaporated into nothing. The first thing that hit me was the heat; the next I noticed was the dirt-covered ground since a few jagged rocks pushed into my back and butt.
Groaning, I rolled to the side to find Thorn slowly sitting up.
I did the same, wincing from the pain in my back, chest, and ass. Glancing around, I took in the street we’d landed in.
Wait… Hell had streets?
My eyes widened; shock radiated throughout me. It seemed Hell had more than just streets. Hell looked a lot like Vegas. In the distance, there were lights flashing, music played, and I sensed the magic surrounding the city.
All in Hell.
Thorn and I were in the desert part of Vegas Hell. The heat beat down on me. I hated blistering warm days. I shielded my eyes and looked up into the sunny sky. Was all of this magic? An illusion? It couldn’t be because I could only sense the magic coming from the city area.
Glancing back to Thorn, I said, “Paige is going to kill us.”
He snorted out a laugh and stood, his hands going to his waist while he stretched. “Christ, you’re right. So we’d better find a way back to her quickly.”
Standing, I brushed at my clothes. “I have a feeling we’ll find the only way back in that place.” I pointed to the city. He looked behind him and cursed.
“Are we really going into a city full of demons?” he asked.
“We’ll have to.”
He cursed again. “For Paige,” he said.
I nodded. “For Paige. Hey, maybe Lucifer will be in there somewhere and take us with him since he wants to see Paige soon anyway.”
Thorn slapped me on the back as I stopped beside him. “Your optimism is outstanding.” I shrugged. He added, “Great fighting back there.”
I knew my cheeks were warmer than just from the sun; I didn’t do well with compliments. “I didn’t do much.”
He scoffed and slung his arm around my shoulders, as if he’d done it a million times before. We started walking before he said, “Not much… yeah, we’ll go with that.”
“Your fighting skills are… ah, amazing.” Which they were.
He glanced down at me and smiled. “Thanks.” He released his arm from around me. “You ready to jog?”
I hated jogging. “Sure.” I nodded as my lips thinned. For some reason, Thorn found it amusing and started laughing.
Alex glanced at me again, after we’d been running for a little while, and after I’d kept him from tripping about five times. His good mood and optimism seemed long gone since he was scowling around the area. Finally, he got up the courage to ask, “Why are you smiling? We had our asses handed to us. Grace, with an extra boost of blood magic, is probably on the way back to the community to
harm Paige. Selma is still God knows where. Your men weren’t even there. We’re stuck in Hell, running into a city where there will be millions of demons who would take great pleasure in killing us.”
“We’re alive. We fought well together. Paige will be protected with Asher and Nate. Plus, there’re all the people she’s charmed, even in the short amount of time she’s been there. Selma will reappear, and we’ll take care of her then.” My smile faded. “My men did their duty. They knew, like I did, what would be involved. Battles can be lost. It saddens me deeply this was one of them, and when we get home, I’ll grieve with the rest of my men for their losses. Now isn’t the time.”
“I’m sorry,” he blurted, and I knew he meant it. I could hear it and see it in his frown and furrowed brows.
Alex hadn’t meant it. He’d spoken without thinking, and I reacted. Their loss sat in my gut, churning painfully, but I had to push it aside. I had to think positive because it all counted to help us get home. So I offered him a smile—it was weak, but there—and he returned one just as weak.
I went on answering his concerns. “We may be in Hell, but Lucifer does want to meet Paige, and hopefully he wants an ally in her, so maybe he’ll keep us safe. We may have to fight again, but I’m confident in our skills.”
He harrumphed, unsure of my words, but I believed them. Alex was a powerful mage, one who kicked ass against three witches and demons easily, without even breaking into a sweat. I was glad he was on our side. If it wasn’t for the blood magic he seemed fearful of, then we would have walked out of that place.
“Who do you think that other demon was?” he asked, helping me push away the mournful thoughts of losing my men by changing the subject. I valued him for it. Alex was slightly puffing and sweating from jogging. We were miles away from the city, though, and I wondered if he’d make it. I would mention to Nate to up Alex’s physical activities. He caught me looking at him since I hadn’t answered him; he glared, but his cheeks were pink. “If I wasn’t sure they’d sense me using my magic, I’d transport us or float all the way there.”
Yep, he needed to not rely on his powers, something he might be realizing since he was suffering from exercise. Although, it had me wondering how his body was so fit when he didn’t seem to like to work out.
For now, I’d let it slide. I had a feeling he’d listen to Nate and Asher more than me, until we got to know one another better.
“To answer your question, I think the demon is one who’s trying to rise up in ranks here. However, he seemed weak on earth, which was why either he or Grace sought each other out to help one another. Grace probably promised him helpful minions, and in return, he gave her all the power he had to open the portal to Hell. He’d be here rejuvenating his strength somewhere, expecting us to be dragged into his lair. Then Grace would have felt drained opening the portal, which was why she had to use blood magic, in the end, to make sure the portal stayed open long enough to get us here. If we hadn’t killed the demons on the way down, they would have delivered us to their master for the reward they were promised. If somehow they managed to get us to him, then right about now, he’d probably be stripping us of our power.”
Alex stumbled over some loose rocks again. I caught his arm and found him staring at me in shock. “That sounded really accurate.”
I grinned. “I’ve been in the brotherhood for a very long time. I’ve learnt how people think and strategize a lot of outcomes before they can even happen. Usually I’m spot on, which was how I became the commander of them all and had an ear to the former queen.”
He nodded. “That makes sense.”
Asher had spoken to me before about Alex, how he’d been the best in school and sought after from the council for many teams, but Asher had been the first captain to approach him personally. He’d picked their team right after. He’d told me how he was young in mage years, but still had a lot to learn, not in work, but within himself. He wasn’t confident of his worth. He was shy around people who interested him, yet he’d grown in the month since Paige had come into our lives.
He interested me like Asher and Nate had.
Our family couldn’t have been more perfectly put together than if I’d tried to do so myself.
I was pleased to have him in my life. Pleased and happy to have the family I now had, and I would do anything to protect them all.
“Can I ask you something?”
“Sure, anything,” he answered.
That made me smile, yet I wasn’t sure he’d like my line of questions, and it annoyed me to even think of upsetting him. Still, it was something all of us should know about him. “Blood magic, you seemed disgusted by it.”
He glanced off to the side and sighed. His eyes returned to in front of him, which was probably good; he wasn’t the steadiest on his feet while running. “I’ve studied it, had a cousin lost to it, but shockingly, I’ve never had to fight against it.”
“You’re strong, Alex,” I told him.
He shrugged. “My cousin killed his whole family because of it. I’ve never wanted anything to do with blood magic, but with the life we now have… I’ll have to make sure I know everything there is to counter any type of blood magic.” He almost looked green from the thought.
“Do you believe you can counter it?”
“I’m not sure, which is what scares me most.”
“I’ll help you find out somehow.”
He shot me a quick look of surprise before tripping, and I had to grab him again. “You will?”
I smiled. “Of course. We’re family now. We help each other out.”
“Thank you,” he mumbled, his cheeks tinting once again.
“Anything at any time, Alex, I’m there.”
He bit on his bottom lip, but I saw his grin. “Are you happy with…?”
“Everything that’s happened?” He nodded. “Yes. Hell yes. Paige is amazing, perfect really. I wasn’t sure we’d all get along; it worried me. I didn’t even think any of you liked me. Especially Nate, but how he’s claimed me, changed that.”
“Nate’s prickly. He always has been, and I think he always will be, but that’s just him. He’s changed a bit since, um, claiming us.”
I laughed. “I can tell. He’s almost sweet, in a possessive way toward you. I look forward to knowing you all more.”
“Same with you, I mean, getting to know you.”
I bumped his shoulder. Once again, he tripped, but my arm went out around his waist, steadying him. I gave it a squeeze before letting go as we kept up our steady pace. “The future looks bright, even with everything still to deal with.”
He nodded, smiling again. “It does.”
My ears picked up on a sound. I grabbed Alex’s arm and pulled him to a stop. He looked at me, and I held my finger up to my lips. Even over his heavy breaths, I heard it again—a howl.
I spun back the way we’d come. “Fuck.”
“What?” Alex snapped.
“Hellhounds and demons running this way.” I glanced down at him. “They’ve got our scent.”
“They’re hunting us,” he concluded.
I nodded. We both started running again.
“Should we risk me using my magic?”
“Let’s save it for our last resort.”
“Thorn….”
I glanced at him from over my shoulder; they were gaining on us quickly. “Yeah?”
“I’m not fast, and I won’t be able to keep going for much longer,” he admitted. Shame shone in his eyes before he looked ahead of us. We were about a mile out. I wasn’t sure we’d make it without being caught and either ripped apart—because there were a lot of those fuckers—or taken to someone who could be stronger than the both of us.
“Sorry,” I said.
“What for?” He gasped when I picked him up and flung him over my shoulder. He held on as I changed to ghoul and sped over the terrain—triple the speed of what we’d been running.
“This… is… humiliating,” Alex panted. He grabbed th
e top of my jeans, holding on and trying to steady his bouncing.
“It’s not. Keep an eye on them. If they get close, it’ll be you saving our asses.”
“You… have… a nice one… to save.”
It was my turn to almost trip. I righted us and laughed. “Are you seriously checking me out while we’re running for our lives?”
“No,” he fired back quickly, bringing out another laugh from me. Him admitting that he liked how I looked was something to explore another time—when we weren’t running to save ourselves.
After a while, I asked, “How we doing?”
“They’re closing in, but we’re still far enough away.”
“Okay,” I clipped. It was good having Alex watching them because all I had to do was concentrate on getting us to the city. Fuck. As we drew close, I caught the bustling city and also the sentries who stood surrounding the place.
There were too many. We couldn’t take them all on.
They spotted us. A roar erupted through the thick, warm air. Stopping, I placed Alex on his feet.
“What?” he said, then looked to where I was. I heard his gulp as they raced toward us.
We were surrounded.
“Time to use my magic?” Alex asked.
A snort dropped from my lips unexpectedly. “Yeah. Can you get us in there?”
“I can. We’ll just have to see if we’ll be detected afterward.”
They grew closer.
“Let’s do it.”
Alex’s power rose. His eyes changed to purple, the shade glowing, the air chilling, and yet he waited.
“What are you doing?” I asked anxiously. They were nearly upon us.
“Hold on to me,” he said, his voice thicker, deeper.
I wrapped my arms around his waist just as a blast shot out of him and slid over the desert. I witnessed the surrounding army fall to the ground just before light shone around us, and that same feeling of being transported took over me.
I opened my eyes to see we now stood in a small, darkened room. The light under the door shone enough for me to make out we were in a broom closet. “Are you okay?” I asked when Alex stumbled forward after I released him.
