by Leia Stone
Being down in Hell, alone, scared, and fighting for my life each day had changed me. I was a different person now. I felt more aware of myself and who I was, and I appreciated everything so much more. Especially the people in my life.
After making Chloe and Luke run to Raphael’s office and drink the special protection potion, we packed ourselves into the car and I knew without a shadow of a doubt that we were bringing Lincoln home alive. I would accept nothing less.
Chapter Twenty-One
The drive to San Jose was long, and we spent it in relative silence. I tried not to think about how serious the trip was. Lincoln’s life was at stake, and so were ours.
But as I looked around the car, Chloe’s head resting on Luke’s shoulder beside me, Shea holding hands with Noah up front, I realized I was so lucky to have found these people. It wasn’t too long ago that I was a young eighteen-year-old from Demon City, with black wings, and a chip on my shoulder.
Finally, after what felt like an eternity, we pulled up to the memorial park and funeral home Emberly had told us about, and parked in the driveway.
Noah turned off the car and rolled his neck. “Is Emberly sure this is the place?” he asked, peering at the building. All the lights were off, except one over the doorway. It was just after dinner, so we weren’t sure if maybe we should sleep in the car and come back in the morning, or try the door now.
I nodded. “She said the entrance to the tunnel is in the basement.”
Noah gave a curt nod, cracking his knuckles before he reached in his bag, pulling out a huge wad of cash. He handed it to Chloe. “Since the cover is that you’re working for your father, you should be the one paying our way through.”
Chloe nodded nervously and took the bundle, slipping it into her satchel.
I took in a deep breath and looked at Noah. “No matter what, we can’t let our wings out.”
He agreed, bobbing his head up and down. “No healing, or Celestial magic in public either.”
Okay. We can do this.
Nerves clawed at my gut as we slipped out of the car, pulling our backpacks on. In mine, I had about four days’ worth of fresh clothes and some snacks, but nothing else that would lead to my true identity or Fallen Academy.
As we walked up to the darkened doorway entrance, my nerves ramped up to an even higher level. Chloe stepped forward and banged on the door loudly, while Shea and Luke stood just behind her. Noah and I shrank back into the shadows, hoping not to be looked at too closely. Noah had this “glowy angelness” about him, hard to mistake. How Emberly made it across here, I’d never know. Maybe if you had enough money it didn’t matter, or maybe she really could control minds. A terrifying thought.
The door was yanked open, and standing before us was a drunken Mugwort demon. His warty, repulsive face and yellowing horns gave me the creeps.
“Closed!” he shouted, and moved to slam the door.
Chloe shoved her booted foot into the doorway, stopping him before he could close the door, and then thrust a wad of cash through the open slot.
“I say you’re open,” she declared.
The door opened once more, and the Mugwort’s eyes fell to the wad of cash in her hand. He peered behind her, staring at us, and then jerked his chin, gesturing that we come inside.
Once we were in the entryway to the funeral parlor, he walked over to a small sign-in table, grabbing a half-empty bottle of whisky.
“What do you want?” he grumbled, taking a long swig.
The parlor stank of death, demons, and Necromancer magic. I imagined they were reanimating the dead, which was illegal unless you lived inside Demon City. Right now we were sort of in a gray area, on the outskirts of Angel City, but with no real enforcing rules.
Chloe held her chin high. “We need to get into San Francisco, and we heard you have an entrance to the tunnels here.”
He took another long swig, peering at Chloe over his liquor bottle before his gaze jumped to each of us in turn. “Y’all demon gifted?” he growled.
Chloe nodded. “Obviously.”
He chuckled. “Then why not drive on through the guard gate?”
Shit. Dumb drunk was smart.
Chloe didn’t skip a beat. “Because my dad owns a Nightblood club in LA and wants to branch out into San Francisco, but he doesn’t want the competition knowing his plans.”
The Mugwort took another swig, belching afterward. “Keno runs all the clubs in San Francisco. No way he’d let your dad start his own thing.”
Chloe nodded as if she knew who the hell Keno was. “Exactly. So, you want this money or not?” She flashed the wad of cash again.
He sighed. “All right, but you gotta prove you ain’t got any Celestials with you. Those dang angel half-breeds been sneaking in the city, and making it bad for business.”
My heart hammered in my chest, and I saw Noah’s chest hitch.
Is he talking about Lincoln? Has he been discovered?
Chloe zipped across to the Mugwort like a flash of lightning and then zipped back to where we were standing, holding his liquor bottle.
He smirked and walked over, yanking it from her hands. “Okay, Nightblood. What about you?” He looked to Luke.
Taking in a deep breath, Luke released a terrifying bear roar that shook the painting on the wall closest to him. The Mugwort demon actually seemed cowed for a moment.
“And you?” The demon looked at Shea.
She reached out and grasped Noah’s hand. “We’re all Dark Mages,” she stated, a ball of glowing blackish green fire dancing on the palm of her free hand. Noah repressed a gasp, holding up his right hand, which also contained a green glowing ball of fire.
The Mugwort nodded once, but when he looked to me, I froze. Because Shea was holding Noah’s hand, she was able to force him to take on some of her magic, but I was three feet from them, standing in my own corner of the room.
As if sensing the danger, my wings tingled across my back, threatening to break free.
I peeled my sleeve back, and revealed my death mark. “Dark Mage,” I declared.
He was looking at my red hair very closely. “You gotta prove it. If I let angel blessed in, my head gets cut off as well as yours.”
My heart flickered wildly in my chest. My eyes met Shea’s, and I could see the panic there. Noah looked like he was ready to lunge at the Mugwort demon and knock him out, but in that moment, Raphael’s words came back to me. I was one of a kind, exhibiting both light and dark magic, unlike any other.
Maybe it wasn’t about being all light—maybe it was about balance.
I held my hand up, like Shea had, and called forth that sickly dark magic that was still inside of me, always just below the surface. It was less now that I didn’t feed it with rage and resentment, but let’s be honest. It was there.
The black inky energy burst from my palm, and I intended to have it dance upward like fire, like Shea had. Instead it leapt out, and wrapped around the Mugwort demon’s wrist, burning it.
“Ow!” he yelped, clawing at the black bracelet.
Shit!
I snapped my fingers and it fell away, dropping to the floor and disintegrating.
“What’d you do that for!” he yelled, eyes red.
I blanched. “I’m still learning to control my power. That’s why I was just trying to show you my tattoo.”
He huffed, rubbing at his red wrist. “Stupid kids.” Then he looked at Chloe, holding out his hand. “It’s a grand. Each.”
Damn.
Chloe nodded, counting out the money, and we were led to a back room.
Each one of my friends met my gaze, and all I kept thinking was damn, that was close.
We passed a reception room full of caskets, then ventured into a living room where the TV was on, and another Mugwort demon was watching a show—his own bottle of liquor between his legs.
“Pause it! I’m taking them to the tunnels, and I don’t wanna miss this part,” our guide snapped at his friend, who fiddled with the remote and stop
ped the show, grumbling cuss words under his breath.
Luke’s hand slipped in mine and squeezed. My heart lifted a little, knowing we were in this together.
When we reached a set of stairs that led to a dark basement, I suddenly wondered if this was a good idea. What if there were no tunnels? What if he was leading us to our deaths to rob us of the rest of our money?
The Mugwort held his hands out for Noah to start walking down the steps, but the Celestial must’ve been thinking the same as me because he shook his head. “You first.”
The demon rolled his eyes, stumbling down the steps two at a time, and cursing us “pansy-ass kids” under his breath.
When I stepped into the dark staircase, a dank and musty smell hit my nose.
“Come on, come on, I’m missing my show.” he called out to us.
We scurried to meet him at the back of the basement, near some embalming tables, and a dark wooden door. With a yank, he pried it open. From my place at the back of the group, I could see that it led to another set of stairs, much more crudely carved than the last set.
“Keep walking until you reach the end. Should take you about two full days, although some have done it in one with no sleep,” he grunted. “I’d sleep in shifts since you’ve got these pretty ladies with you,” he told Noah.
Luke’s hand in mine squeezed as Chloe nodded and started into the tunnels as if what the demon said didn’t deter her at all. When it was Shea’s turn, the demon’s hand snaked out and took her left one, bringing it up to his face. He gawked at her huge engagement ring, shaking his head. “Put it away, or magically conceal it. Everything of value gets stolen down there.”
Shea yanked her hand back and nodded, while I pulled my own engagement ring from my finger, slipping it into my bra.
Shea and Noah dipped into the stairwell, and then it was Luke’s and my turn. When we passed the demon, he met my gaze. “No rules in the tunnels, so if you aren’t back in two weeks, I’ll assume you’re dead, and will sell your car.”
I swallowed hard and just nodded.
With that cheery send-off, Luke and I entered the dark staircase and went down the steps. When we got to the bottom of the staircase, it opened into a large hallway about ten feet wide, almost like a small subway tunnel. It was much wider and taller than I thought.
Noah spun, huddling us together. “We stay sharp, and we stay together. I’ll kill someone down here if I have to, but I’d rather not.”
Yeah… same.
Up high on the walls were magical lamps that glowed a sickly green, casting macabre hues along the angles of our faces, and making my friends look ghoulish. We set off then, walking for a good hour at a brisk pace, before we heard the grumbling of voices ahead.
Noah had brought his gun, and I’d brought a little dagger I found in the weapons room at school. None of us brought big swords or infinity weapons for fear of them being recognized as fancy Fallen Academy weapons. When we neared the voices, Noah’s hand went to the back of his waist belt where he kept his gun.
As the shadows up ahead emerged, I could see it was two humans. Demon gifted, I was sure. They watched us approach and one of them whistled.
“New friends!” he called out to us.
He had an open suitcase propped up, with a bunch of items inside like flashlights, and candy bars. But when I looked back up at him, I noticed the semiautomatic rifle slung casually around his shoulder. His other friend was blocking us from passing.
“Hello, new friends. Welcome to my tunnel shop. Each item is one hundred dollars, and you must each buy an item to pass by.” He grinned, resting a hand by the trigger of his gun.
Noah growled, but Shea grabbed his arm and pulled him backward.
“A hundred-dollar candy bar?” Chloe glared.
The man smiled, and I could see one tooth was missing. “It goes up to two hundred the longer you wait.”
Chloe cursed under her breath, and threw five hundred dollars at him. “Grab something!” she barked at us. After we each came forward and grabbed a candy bar or flashlight, the friend finally moved out of the way, unblocking the hall.
“How many more of these are there?” Noah pointed to the man’s briefcase.
The man shrugged casually. “Four or five.”
“Con artist,” Chloe snapped.
The man glared, his eyes thinning to slits, and he reached for his gun.
“Mind your tongue, woman!” Noah screamed, and gave Chloe a light shove in the back, urging her forward. Shea and I both looked at Noah wide-eyed, waiting for Chloe to knee him in the balls, but the man’s grip on his gun relaxed and he grinned at Noah.
“That’s right. Keep your women in line down here. We rule the tunnels, and sass gets you dead.”
With that, we scurried away. Once we’d gone deeper into the tunnel, and no one could hear us, Noah turned to Chloe. “Forgive me. I was trying to keep you from getting killed.”
Chloe raised an eyebrow. “I know, that is the only reason I didn’t lay you out right then and there.”
Shea chuckled. “If you ever spoke to me like that, even faking it, God help you.”
Noah, smart man that he was, didn’t say a word.
Chloe quickly counted the rest of the cash we had, as we continued our walk down the endless tunnel.
“How much left?” I asked her.
She grimaced. “Fifteen hundred.”
Noah nodded. “Raph gave me five grand and I added two of my own. That’s not enough to get us through the tunnels if there are four or five more stops like that.”
“And we’ll need a hotel and food when we get up top,” Chloe added.
Shea was looking at the money while rubbing her chin. “I’ve got an idea. Let me see one of those.” She reached for a hundred-dollar bill, then reached in her backpack and pulled out a small piece of notebook paper.
“I can make this paper look and feel like the money, but the illusion spell will wear off in a few hours,” Shea offered.
Noah winced. “That would only give us a few hours’ head start, the men would be chasing us down for conning them once it was revealed.”
Damn. That meant we wouldn’t be able to sleep once we gave away that fake money.
“How about we go as far as we can tonight, paying real money to the next con we see, and then sleep for the night. Tomorrow we give everyone fake money all day, and push hard to get out.”
Noah nodded. “That’ll work if we can stay a few hours ahead of the cons.”
“Agreed.” Luke nodded.
Okay, we have a plan.
With that settled, we set off to walk for about four more hours, passing a few sleeping lumps on the ground, and one other couple who looked injured and were walking slowly. We’d even passed a Porta-Potty, which was a welcome relief considering we’d already peed on the floor, and I was afraid we’d have to keep doing that. Now that I knew they were down here, I’d hold it.
After walking a total of about six hours since we’d reached the tunnels, we came upon another con man.
“Hello, friends!” he said cheerily, pointing to his suitcase of goods that consisted of half-torn magazines and a few cracker packets.
Chloe groaned, handing him five hundred dollars, but skipped from taking any merchandise.
“Have a wonderful night,” he cooed, nodding to his henchmen to let us pass.
We were about a thirty-minute walk away from him, when we found a little room cut out into the side of the hall. We’d noticed them about every hour or so. Little stop points where you could roll out a sleeping bag, and lie fully flat without taking up the walking room.
As we started to lay out the sleeping bags we’d shoved in our backpacks, Noah checked his watch. “By my calculations, tomorrow will have to be a fourteen-hour walk without stopping, because we’ve only gotten so far using the real money.”
Chloe nodded. “We can do it. We’ll sleep when we get to the city.”
Noah gave her a curt nod in return. “Luke, you
sleep first. I’ll wake you in two hours to take next watch. I’m only letting everyone get four hours’ sleep total. The less time we’re down here, the better.”
Luke nodded and started to zip into his sleeping bag.
“Good night,” Shea whispered, and we all whispered it back.
Within minutes, I could see the even breathing of my three friends. Noah was sitting cross-legged at the entrance to the cave, gun in hand, looking out at the opening.
“Noah?” I called out in a soft voice.
“Hmm?” He turned back to look at me.
“You think Lincoln will be excited to see us?” I smiled. I kept envisioning him seeing me for the first time. Shock, of course, and then a big wide grin.
Something dark crossed Noah’s face. “I honestly don’t know, Bri. He’s not the same man you left before. I want to prepare you for that.”
My stomach dropped at his words. “What do you mean?”
Noah sighed, looking conflicted. “After his parents died, he went to a really dark place. He was like a robot with no feelings, no care for his own life, reckless. But after a month or so, he pulled out of it. With you gone… he’s still in that dark place, and I couldn’t pull him out. None of us could.”
Oh, Lincoln. The trauma from losing so many people in such a short time had left a permanent mark on my man, and it broke my heart.
“I’ll pull him out,” I promised.
Noah was silent after that, and I lay there a long time, just listening to the sound of the others breathing, while thinking of Lincoln and every happy moment we’d ever had together.
Finally, sleep took me.
Chapter Twenty-Two
I was awoken to someone shaking me.
“Wake up, Bri.” Shea shoved an elbow in my rib cage.
I groaned, peeling my eyes open. “What time is it?”
Shea shrugged. “I have no idea, since my cell phone doesn’t work down here, but according to Noah, we’ve slept four hours.”
Four hours! That was nothing. Now I had to walk another fourteen nonstop. Without coffee.
“We almost got jumped twice in the night. I had to pull my gun. I want to get the hell out of here,” Noah told us. He looked haggard.