No sound comes from the other side and I want to scream out to him. I turn to my group and they’re all facing away from me with weapons drawn, guarding Gavin and I.
Alexa turns and her wet eyes watch me. “Open the door with your powers, El. You have so much in you to use. Just forget the pain,” she pleads with me silently. I know she wants me to save her brother, but I feel inadequate.
I have no intention of giving up, though, so I pull small amounts of energy from deep inside of me. I don’t want to overwhelm my weak body, so I try my best to do as little as possible.
I place both of my hands on the rock that surrounds the thick hinges on the left of the metal door. With the heat inside of me, I push it all to my palms and close my eyes.
My body shakes from the fatigue and pain of being without my Intended, but I push through it. Ignore the pain. The rock wall begins to crumble and separate from the metal, almost dissolving entirely. I feel like the disconnected door will fall on me if I continue, so I release the earth and step away.
My head spins, but I can see that my power created an opening into the cave about as wide and tall as the bulky Uncle Jack. Wow. Without hesitation, I dive into the dark room and land beside my Intended.
Gavin is lying on the floor, seemingly dead, but I can feel his life connected to mine. I rub my hand through his hair and pull him onto my lap so he is facing up. Leaning down, I place gentle kisses all over his face, and just the feel of his skin brings life back into me.
“Gavin. Wake up please. I love you so much.” I stroke his cheek, hoping to feed him some of my energy.
Slowly, Gavin’s eyes flicker and look up at me confused. “Aella. You’re here again? Just don’t worry about me, okay? I’ll try to get out and find you.” He studies my face, thinking I’m just another vision.
I shake my head. “I’m here, Gavin. I’m really here with you.” I bend again and kiss his lips Spider-Man style, and I can feel him kiss me back hesitantly.
I pull away from him and his eyes finally see me for real, widening fully. He gingerly slides off of my lap and sits up on the cold floor. I move around to the front of him and wrap my arms around his neck, feeling him hold me back with arms much weaker than mine.
I study his body and he is in torn clothes, with cuts on his cheek and forehead. “Are you okay? Can you walk?” He just stares at me, and I worry that he’s upset with me for coming.
His hand comes to my cheek and he runs his thumb along my skin, the tingling intense after being away from him. “I have to be dreaming. You shouldn’t be in this place, love.”
Jed clears his throat to my right as his head pokes through the hole in the wall. “You’re not dreaming, cuz. But we should really get going.” He is smiling from ear to ear at us sitting entwined on the floor. “Like, now,” he adds and disappears again.
Gavin’s forehead falls against mine and he sighs. “I don’t think I have the energy to go with you.”
I lift his head so he has to look me in the eyes. “You’re coming with us, Gavin. You’re my husband, remember? I brought Uncle Jack so he’ll carry you if he has to, but we are leaving Hell together.”
To add to my conviction, I kiss him for real this time, deep and full of the ache I’ve felt for the past twenty-four hours. I snake my hands into his dirty hair and grip onto him, pressing my chest against his.
Gavin groans against me and his arms pull me tightly to him as his lips take control of mine. Heat builds inside of me again, but not the fire I felt on our wedding night. This heat feels strong and soothing. The magic makes its own way between mine and Gavin’s lips with a shocking zap.
Holy crap!
I jump away from Gavin and cover my tingling lips with my hands. His eyes are wide as he watches me and he actually laughs. “Wow. Now that was a kiss.”
My mouth drops open and I shrug. “What the heck just happened? Did I hurt you?”
He shakes his head. “I think you actually healed me.” He slowly stands and hops in place a few times. I freaking healed him.
A loud crash sounds outside the cave and Gavin pulls me from the ground. “Time to go!” he says and we run to the others.
As soon as we reach the group, they grab onto us and turn to run in the direction we came in. No “hellos,” just “let’s get the hell out of Hell.”
I notice a demon lying lifeless on the ground in front of the ruined cave. I don’t ask questions, I just run with the rest of them, and Gavin keeps up as if he was never hurt to begin with.
It’s only seconds before shouting echoes through the tunnel from behind us. Uncle Jack lifts his sword and takes charge. “Be ready to fight! I think it’s going to be a rough exit.”
He runs at inhuman speeds and I have to hold onto Gavin’s hand to keep up with the rest of them. We exit the tunnel back into the main cavern that holds the throng of lower demons.
Seemingly nobody cares that we’re making our way through the disgusting marketplace, and I start to feel like we might just make it.
As Neo runs in front of me, he turns a corner around a shack that we passed after exiting the tunnel from the forest. Before he can follow Alexa into the rocky tunnel, he’s hit by a flying rock and falls to the ground.
“Humans!” A demon yells from about a hundred yards away.
Chaos erupts in hell and the creatures all run in opposite directions. Nobody knows which ones are the humans and they all begin to fight one another, tearing their neighbors to pieces.
I flinch at the sight but Gavin and I try to pull Neo to his feet and get away from the chaos and into the tunnel.
Someone grabs me from behind and I throw my head back into their face. I turn to see the female demon that found us only hours ago.
Her nose is bleeding and she sneers at me. “You’re not from around here, child. I’d be happy to show you the ropes.” Her voice doesn’t sound happy in the slightest.
I shake my head and pull one of my throwing knives from my belt. “I’m not interested, lady. I like places that aren’t, you know… Hell.”
With a flick of my wrist like Gavin taught me, I release the knife and it imbeds itself into the demon’s chest. My stomach turns at the sight but I push the feeling down and run back to Gavin and Neo.
Gavin and Neo are back to back, facing their own demons. Somehow Gavin gets a hold of a knife and slashes at the large man in front of him with ease.
Neo is struggling more as a younger man circles him and laughs. “Come on. Are we going to fight or what?” Neo stumbles, still messed up from the rock that hit his head and the demon rams into him, tipping him over onto the rock floor.
I run and jump onto the young demon, releasing some fire inside of me as I hang from his broad back. In seconds, his entire body lights up in flames and he rolls away from Neo and into the crowd of brawling creatures.
Gavin comes to me and Neo, demon-free and lifts Neo from the ground again. He turns to me. “I don’t know how to get out of here so you’ll have to lead the way.”
I nod and the three of us run into the long tunnel. Gavin has an arm under Neo as we run slower than before. I get behind the two men, hoping to guard their backs while Gavin struggles pushing Neo forward. “Keep going straight. It’s not long until the end.”
I look over my shoulder to be sure we aren’t being followed, but just as I begin to feel relief, strong hands grab onto my legs and pull me to the floor.
I land face down, and a familiar voice speaks from behind me. Barron. “So close, but still so far.”
I turn and look up at where Barron leans over me. This is the first time I’m seeing him in person, and it terrifies me. His straight hair falls over his forehead as he leans forward and his boot digs into my chest, holding me in place. His face is just as stern as always. I don’t know why he doesn’t take joy in this like all of the other demons.
“Gavin!” I scream into the tunnel where Gavin disappeared in the dark, but no sound comes back.
I turn back to Barron. “Jus
t leave me, Barron. Let me go!” I know the words are futile given he’d spent his life trying to end my family line.
“I know you think you are special, Ganis. Maybe you are, but you are still just another one of them.” He points to where the other Seers ran. “They might have been strong once, but I am stronger.”
The words of the gods speaking to my ancestors come back to me. They said I would be special. They said I would be different and stronger. I have to live up to that so-called destiny.
“I almost liked you, Barron. I know it’s stupid.” I pull the heat from inside of me. “You seemed different than the other blood-thirsty demons.” The anger for what he did to my parents builds. “I was wrong, I can admit that… but you were wrong too.”
My entire body erupts in flames and Barron jumps back from the heat. His eyes go wide and I take the opportunity to punch him with my flaming fist. The hit lands on his cheek and he growls from the burning pain.
The fire in me dies down and I show him more of myself with a gust of wind that knocks him to the ground. “I am special!” I yell to him on the ground.
Alexa, Gavin and Jed run to my side and Alexa joins in on my yelling. “Yeah! You stupid demon!”
Oh, thank the lord.
I turn to Alexa. “Is Neo okay? Where’s Jack?” My worry for the other members of my tiny army overtakes the feeling of danger right in front of me.
“Jack’s got Neo. They’re safe.” Alexa says, not realizing that Barron has just found his next target.
Barron roars and jumps from the floor, charging at Alexa. Gavin jumps in front of her and takes Barron’s hit with more strength than I’ve ever seen from him. They are evenly matched as they trade hits back and forth, until Gavin wraps his arm around Barron’s neck.
Barron struggles slightly, but is still able to slam Gavin’s back into the side of the tunnel.
A scream pierces my ears from farther down the tunnel toward the large atrium, and I turn to see the woman who I stabbed with my throwing knife running toward us. I guess a knife in the chest doesn’t do the trick.
Barron catches my attention with his yelling. “Kill her!” He calls to the female demon with his finger pointed at me as Gavin continues to hold Barron’s neck.
I spin back to the incoming demon as she advances closer to me with her eyebrows bent inward and narrowed eyes full of fury. I crouch, ready to fight the woman again, but Gavin’s cry of pain brings my eyes back to him as he is slammed against the hard wall again.
“No!” A yell echoes around me, and the sight of my bloody knife speeding toward my face is blocked by Jed’s strong back.
I gasp as the knife meant for me hits him directly in the center of his chest, and as if in slow motion, he falls to the floor at my feet with a thud. “Jed!” I scream and fall beside him.
Alexa runs at the demon woman and with one swing of her short sword, she takes the demon’s head off of her body.
I pull Jed onto my lap, and with just a look at where he was hit, I already know he isn’t going to survive. He releases a choking sound as he looks up into my eyes with the noises of Gavin fighting Barron beside us.
“No worries, El,” he says quietly. “This was… a lot of fun.” He tries to laugh but the sound isn’t right.
“I’m so sorry. I’m so sorry.” I cry and repeat the words over and over again as Jed fades in my arms.
“Aella!” Gavin yells as he and Barron brawl on the dirty tunnel floor. “Close it! Close the tunnel!”
Alexa runs to my side and nods to me. “You have to. Like you did with the cave before, but backwards. Can you do it?”
I nod and I wipe the tears from my eyes as I lay Jed down softly beside Alexa. “Gavin, you have to come this way first!” I yell to him with a crack in my voice while I build the power up inside of my hands. “Now!”
Barron kneels on Gavin’s chest and looks at me. “You will have to come and take him, Ganis.”
“Fine.” I blow a whirlwind of air at Barron, throwing him off of Gavin’s chest. Pulling back the air, I pull Gavin with it, until he is beside me.
Barron finds his footing again and glares down the tunnel at me, only twenty feet away. “You will not leave this place!” He screams the words, officially angry instead of his usual calm.
“No,” I say to the demon. “ You won’t leave here.”
With as much strength as I have left in me, I pull the cave walls together in front of me. Just before the tunnel completely closes together like two sliding doors, the last thing I see is Barron’s smile.
Chapter 10
I fall onto the earth, breaking free from the dark hell tunnel. Alexa kneels beside me, along with Gavin who carries Jed’s lifeless body in his arms. Rain pours on our heads like an icy cold shower, but still not as cold as the place we just left. The fresh scent of the redwood trees in the rain assails my nose, but even it can’t fill my heart with joy.
I stare down at the wet ground, not ready to face Jed’s family after his sacrifice for me. I can feel their eyes on us as we all sit before them in silence. It’s the sound of Hagan’s voice breaking through the quiet night that does me in.
“Jedrek…” His son's name leaves him as a whisper before he falls to his knees in front of the three of us.
I look up from the dirt at Hagan as he pulls Jed onto his lap and a single tear falls from his strong jaw.
Gavin touches Hagan’s shoulder. “I’m sorry, Uncle. I told him to leave ahead of us. I’m so sorry.” Gavin hangs his head and I can feel the sadness inside of him reach out to me.
How can I comfort my Intended when I don’t feel comfort within myself? Instead of reaching out to Gavin, I cry. I cry like I never have before. “It’s my fault. I brought this to your family. He saved my life because I couldn’t save myself!” Tears blend with rain on my cheeks and I want to run from the sad eyes surrounding me.
“Aella, you didn’t bring this…” Gavin begins to comfort me but Hagan cuts him off.
“She’s right, Gavin.” Hagan lays Jed on the wet ground and kneels in front of me with stern eyes boring into mine. I sincerely want him to hit me. I want him to avenge this crime, but he doesn’t. “You did bring this particular attack to our family. Without you, it’s very likely that my son would not have entered hell in his lifetime.”
He reaches out to me and I brace myself for the pain, but he only grabs my hand in a tender hold. “But, what about the next demon attack, or the one after that? Jedrek was more excited about this mission than anything in his entire life. He was a born Seer warrior and he died fighting to the very end, even saving a precious life as he went. I couldn’t be prouder of my boy than I am at this very moment.” His voice cracks with his final words and I dive into his fatherly arms.
He pulls me close like a parent holds their child, and we cry together. “Thank you, Hagan. Your son will forever be my hero.” I pull back and he smiles at me in a sad, but loving way. His graying hair is wet and dripping onto his short, manicured beard.
I turn to Gavin, ready to finally hold him after all of the craziness. He stands, pulling me to my feet, and into his arms. Calm and new sadness engulfs me as his comforting touch overwhelms my senses.
“I love you, Aella,” he whispers to me and I squeeze him tighter.
“Honey, we need to talk.” Aunt Mags interrupts my reunion with Gavin as she taps on my shoulder.
I turn to her and she immediately hugs me with wet eyes. “I’m so glad you’re alright, sweetheart. We can’t waste any time, though.”
“What are you talking about?” I ask her, lost.
She sighs and grabs my hands in hers. “You need to close the opening. I found a way for hell to be closed with a spell, but only you can do it.” Her green eyes watch me without an ounce of doubt in them and I feel more lost than before.
“Um...what?” I stutter, at a loss for words. “But I’m not a Wicca. I don’t do spells.”
Luna surprises me by joining the conversation. “No offense to my ki
nd, El, but you are way better than a Wicca.” She nods her head at me with her dark, bouncy curls bobbing back and forth. “Oh hi, by the way.”
“Hi, Luna. I wasn’t expecting you to be here.” I look past her to Aunt Morgan. “Or you either.”
Aunt Morgan shrugs. “We were needed for this part. It will be a spectacle and we can’t have my sweet niece burning down the forest.”
I shake my head with closed eyes. “Okay, some details would be nice if anyone is offering.”
Aunt Mags speaks again. “I can do that, baby girl. I have been looking into your powers and digging into the history of Seer women. I believe that since you have all four of the elemental powers inside of you, and considering what the gods said about your destiny, that you have the power to stop demons from ever coming to earth again.”
“How? I can’t control the elements completely.” Closing hell for good? It can’t even be a possibility after thousands of years of demons fighting Seers. Can it?
“You can control them better than you think, love.” Gavin rubs his hand along my arm and his touch warms my cool skin. “Look what you just did in there. You’re ready for something like this, and I’ll be here grounding you if you need me.” He keeps his eyes on mine and I can feel his confidence.
I nod. “Okay. I’ll try.” I turn to the Wicca women. “What do I do?”
Aunt Mags turns me to the arcing tree root that leads to hell. “Gavin can stand beside you, but everyone else will have to go back a ways. I need you to just aim whatever you have inside of you directly at the opening. It will take concentration and a lot of every element you have, like an elemental explosion.”
I take a deep breath and look around at my retreating friends and family. “But what about the trees and forest? It will cause a lot of damage.”
“That’s what we’re here for, cuz.” Luna moves a few yards off to my right as her mom does the same on my left. “Mom, Aunt Maggie, and I will place a shield around you and Gavin. Your powers won't be able to get through it.”
Intended Series Collection: Books 1-6 Page 41
