by Brea Essex
I grabbed the tools, unfurled my wings, and launched myself over the fence. One new power I had discovered was highly enhanced night vision. I may not even need the flashlight inside the mine.
I dropped on the other side of the fence, shielding my eyes against the dirt stirred up by the soft beating of my wings, and headed for the mines. Thanks to my research, I knew what to look for. I hunted through the shafts until I found a vein of sienna-and-silver colored ore.
I laid my tools on the floor of the cave, holding onto the pickaxe. I swung it at the rock again and again, until my arms felt as though they were going to fall off. I gathered the pieces I had managed to knock loose, praying they would be enough.
I wandered through the mine, hoping I would find some sort of iron still to separate the sulfur from the mercury. We had read about them in chemistry class, and I hoped I remembered how the book said to use it. I found one in a chamber on the opposite side of the mine area. When I reached it, I realized I hadn’t brought matches. I couldn’t believe I had been such an idiot. Rae needed me, and I had forgotten something as simple as matches! I clenched my fists, wanting to punch something.
I had forgotten about the rocks I held in my hand. As I watched in awe, the golden light formed once again. It grew bigger and brighter, until a yellow powder started to float away from the rocks while the silvery, liquid mercury dripped slowly from my hand. I gawked at it for a minute, then hurried to put the glass vial I had brought along under my hand so the mercury would drip into it. When it had finished separating, I opened my hand and stared at it. The light faded and disappeared.
I had been in such a hurry that I hadn’t thought to bring any sort of mask or gloves. My hand didn’t look any worse for the wear, and I sent up a prayer that I wouldn’t end up with mercury poisoning from inhaling the dust from the rocks. I mentally kicked myself again for forgetting something so simple, yet so vital. I couldn’t protect Rae if I died.
I grasped the vial of quicksilver in my hand and flew silently over the gate. I thought I would have enough time to create the portal before dawn, but only if I hurried. I jumped back into my car and raced back over the hill toward Capitola.
Chapter Forty-Five
The closer I got to Capitola, the faster I drove. Luckily, I didn’t encounter any police officers. I would have a hard time explaining my speed, but I would have even more trouble explaining the silver wings tucked against my back. They made it difficult for me to drive, and I sat hunched over the steering wheel. I’d had no time to retract them, and I had a feeling I might need them as soon as I stepped through the portal.
I raced faster and faster, taking turns at breakneck speed. My reflexes had improved as well as my strength, so I didn’t have to worry about the possibility of crashing into the cliff faces as I maneuvered the car deftly past the hairpin turns and blind curves.
I knew just where to place the portal. In every one of Rae’s dreams, where she’d been chased on the beach, she always headed toward the pier. I didn’t know if she had been herded there by Andrei or if she had gone there of her own volition. Every time she neared the pier, I had swooped in and carried her away. There had to be something special about the small section of rock and sand beneath the pier. I could feel it. The portal had to go there.
I parked my car haphazardly at the beginning of the pier, praying it wouldn’t be towed. I had no time to try to park it somewhere else. I bolted down the sandy dune and rocks to the underside of the pier.
Despite the late hour, a fog hung heavy over the water and shrouded the beach. I approached the place where the sand met the rocks that supported the pier. I pulled the glass vial from my pocket and poured the quicksilver on the sand in between two posts in a thin, straight line. The posts looked as though they formed a doorway. That seemed promising. I then stepped back to wait and sent up a prayer that it would work.
The mercury expanded, and a dark sheet of energy shot upward from it. There in front of me stood a pulsating, silvery void. I watched for a minute as it rippled and twisted. It seemed almost as though it were alive. I took a deep breath, closed my eyes, and stepped forward, hoping I would come out on the other side alive.
I felt a weird surge and opened my eyes. Darkness and fog still surrounded me, but it seemed more palpable somehow. I knew I had reached the Shadow Imperium. I paused a moment to get my bearings, then set off across the wasteland.
Everything seemed the same. I looked for the rock formation that held the cave where I had found Raena in her dream, but I didn’t see any rocks. I trudged along in what felt like circles, but I couldn’t risk passing it by. I had a difficult time seeing in the fog and dark, even with my enhanced vision.
It felt as though I walked forever before I spotted some rocks in the distance. I approached it carefully, knowing it must be where Raena was being held. Andrei knew I planned to attempt to get into the Shadow Imperium, and he had surely posted some sort of sentries. I tried to will myself invisible to any onlookers, while I prayed no one would spot me.
I passed through the cave opening without incident, shocked to find how big it was inside. It definitely didn’t look it from the outside. It must be some sort of glamour. Though I couldn’t imagine why they would need glamours here.
I heard someone coming and ducked behind a pillar. Unfortunately, it wasn’t Andrei. Two people in dark, hooded cloaks walked past me. I resisted the urge to laugh. How cliché could they get?
After the cloaked figures disappeared around the corner, I poked my head around the pillar. The hallway looked clear. I continued in the direction I had been heading, keeping as close to the wall as possible. My wings kept getting in the way, but it couldn’t be helped. Maybe I hadn’t needed them right away, but that didn’t mean I wouldn’t.
The corridors were a maze. Every door looked the same, and each was locked. I knew she lay hidden away somewhere, I just didn’t know how to find her. I seemed as if I could almost feel her presence…
That’s it! The priest had told me to concentrate on Rae’s presence. I ducked behind another pillar and closed my eyes. She lay alone in a dark room. I could see her, tattered and disheveled, chained to a bed. I mentally searched the room and the halls surrounding it, and could feel no one else. I concentrated harder and felt an invisible force pulling me. I knew how to find her at last.
Chapter Forty-Six
Raena
I woke when I heard a fumbling at the door. I froze. Andrei wouldn’t have made that much noise if he were coming in. I cowered back on the bed, afraid to see who—or what—would come through the door this time. The bolt thudded open. The door swung in.
Logan stood in the hall. His silvery-grey wings were tucked tight against his body, and he glowed with the soft golden light I had come to associate with him. “Raena!” he whispered as he shut the door behind him and ran to the bed where I lay chained. “I can’t believe I found you!”
Tears began to fill my eyes. “Logan! I’m so glad you’re here!”
He sat on the bed and grabbed my hands. “I promised I would come for you. Now I just have to get you out of here.”
He couldn’t find anything in the room that we could use to pick the locks on my chains, and he hadn’t brought any tools. “Let me try something,” he said. “You trust me, right?”
“Yes, of course.”
He placed his hands on the shackles and closed his eyes. The golden light surrounding him flowed down and enveloped the chains. I felt heat on the metal, but I didn’t get burned. As it warmed, it became more flexible, until it melted off my wrist. I stared at my bare arm in astonishment as Logan opened his eyes.
“How did you do that?” I asked, amazed.
“I’ve been discovering more and more about my powers. Honestly, though, I wasn’t sure it would work. I hoped. Now, let me finish and get you out of here.”
I sat quietly as he repeated the process on my other wrist and both my legs. The melted metal had pooled on the bed, but it wasn’t my concern. I m
assaged my wrists and ankles vigorously, trying to get the blood to circulate once again.
“Any chance Andrei left you any shoes?”
“No. Some girl came and took all my clothes, including the shoes,” I told him.
“I’ll just carry you, then,” he said.
“No, you need your arms free in case we run into someone. I can walk, or run if it comes to that. I’ll be fine.” I gave him a strained smile.
He reached for my hand. “Then let’s go.”
I took his proffered hand and stood up. My knees buckled and I stumbled. Logan caught me before I fell. “Are you sure you’re okay?”
Truth be told, I did feel weak, but we had to focus on getting out of here. I couldn’t collapse now. “It’s just been a while since I stood,” I lied.
He didn’t look convinced, but I waved him forward. He put his hand under my elbow for support. I walked slowly, praying I wouldn’t fall over. We didn’t have time, and Logan didn’t need to be distracted by my weakened state.
We headed for the door. He peeked out and looked up and down the hall. He motioned for me to follow him. We crept through the winding corridors. The light from the torches lining the halls reflected strangely, casting long shadows. I couldn’t help but wonder what might be hiding in those shadows.
I heard a faint shuffling behind us. “Logan, someone’s coming!” I whispered.
He still had hold of my elbow and used it to drag me into the shadows behind one of the many pillars lining the passageway. He clapped his free hand over my mouth, which I reached up and pulled away. I knew better than to say anything or make any noise.
I held my breath as several cloaked people walked by, and breathed a sigh of relief after they passed.
Logan pulled me back into the hallway. “We have to be more careful, I guess,” he whispered.
I nodded and leaned against him as a wave of dizziness passed over me. My knees started to buckle again.
He grabbed me and pulled me back up once more. “You’re not fine. I’m going to carry you,” he proclaimed.
“I’ll be fine,” I reiterated. “It’s just that I was chained up for several days and couldn’t move much. Also, Andrei didn’t allow me much food.”
His eyes narrowed. “I’m going to make him pay for the way he’s treated you.”
“Don’t stoop to his level. Just get me out of here. That will be enough,” I told him.
Logan put his arm across my back and, bending down, swooped his other arm behind my knees, knocking me off my feet and into his arms. I gasped and flung my arms around his neck as he pulled me close to his bare chest. “Don’t worry, Raena. I’m going to get you out of here now.”
I clung tightly to him as he snuck through the passageways. I hoped we were nearing the exit. We turned a corner—and came face-to-face with three cloaked shapes.
The smallest of the three detached itself from the others and stood in our path. “Going somewhere, Rae?” It was the nameless girl who had been bringing my meals. I didn’t fear her, but couldn’t be sure about the other two.
Logan set me carefully on my feet and made sure I stood steady before he pushed me behind him. His wings flared out and a sword appeared in his outstretched hand. “Stay back,” he warned in a low, threatening voice. “We don’t want trouble. We just want to go home.”
The girl laughed, sounding seriously creepy. She didn’t seem as innocent as I had originally thought. “You think we’re going to let you go so easily? I don’t think so. Lord Andrei would be disappointed if you were allowed to leave without a proper goodbye.”
What a far cry from her usual silence, I thought. I got the feeling the girl wasn’t used to being crossed. Either that, or Andrei had a lot more power over the other devils than Logan and I had realized.
“Now,” the girl said, as the two larger figures came forward to flank her, “are you going to go back to your cell quietly, or are you going to do something foolish?”
Logan laughed. It was far from his normal, carefree chuckle. It sounded darker, almost intimidating. I realized there might be a more nefarious side to Logan. I was glad to be on his good side. “We’re not going back,” he told the girl. “Here’s what’s going to happen. You’re not going to give us any trouble. You’re going to step aside and let Raena and I go. You are not going to summon Andrei. Raena and I are going to return to the earth.”
The girl stood quietly for a moment, as if she were contemplating what Logan had said. “I don’t think so,” she told them. She snapped her fingers, and the two shadows on either side of her—I saw now that they were both men—shed their dark cloaks and drew swords from their belts. They didn’t seem to share Logan and Andrei’s ability to make weapons appear out of thin air. The men headed toward Logan.
I leaned against the wall, trying to keep as far out of the way as possible. I stared in horror as the two devils advanced on Logan. Both of them were missing their wings. They had both obviously tried to return to Heaven, and had been captured by the avenging angels. I kept a wary eye on the girl, hoping she would stay out of the fight. I wished I could do something to help Logan.
His golden light had expanded to encompass his sword. The two devils came at him at the same time. He reached out his other hand and pulled another sword out of thin air.
I had no idea where Logan had gotten his skill with swords. Maybe it was a result of his training in self-defense. His two swords moved as if they were two halves of the same weapon, and that weapon an extension of him.
The fight moved so quickly I could barely follow it. One of the devils’ swords clanged against one of Logan’s. The flats of the blades slid across each other and Logan’s wrist twisted. His sword clattered to the floor.
Logan recovered quickly. The light swelled around his free hand, and he threw bolts of pure energy at his two attackers as he lunged and parried their blows.
The two male devils—I suppose calling them men would be inaccurate—were thrown back against the walls of the corridor by Logan’s energy. They slumped to the ground, both appearing unconscious.
The girl stared at us, mouth agape. She seemed as though she couldn’t decide whether to attack or run away. Choosing the latter, she fled into the darkness.
“That was almost too easy,” Logan muttered as he stood over the still forms of the two devils on the floor. “I don’t like it, but let’s get out of here.”
We dashed out of the opening to the cave. We stood just outside the rocky outcropping with our backs flattened against it, trying to figure out which way to go to reach the portal.
“What do we do if the portal isn’t there anymore, or isn’t open?” I asked.
“Don’t worry,” he said with a ghost of his familiar smirk. “I have more mercury. I can open the portal again.”
I gave a sigh of relief. He took my hand. “Come on. It’s this way.”
We ran across the wasteland. Logan had become much faster, and I felt bad that I slowed him down so much. I stumbled often, still weak from my imprisonment. I tripped midway there and fell to the ground. I cried out in pain, clutching my ankle.
Logan skidded to a stop and ran over to me. “What happened?” he demanded.
“I think I sprained my ankle,” I told him. “It’s the same one I fell on when Andrei took me. I guess it didn’t heal.”
He said nothing more. He just scooped me up into his strong arms and began to run again. He practically flew across the barren plain, using his wings to catch the air while his feet barely touched the ground.
At last, we made it to the portal. My fear abated when I noticed it still stood open. Right as we reached it, it shimmered and someone stepped through. Andrei.
Chapter Forty-Seven
I wanted to cry. We were so close to freedom! Now Logan would have to fight with Andrei again. I hoped he could win this one.
Andrei smiled wickedly when he saw us. “Ah, Logan! I see you made it here. Now I don’t have to go looking for you.” He turned to me, cl
ucking his tongue and shaking his head as if disappointed. “As for you, Rae, you’ve greatly saddened me. You know I need you, and yet you still try to escape. I thought you were better than that.” He started to advance on us. “But you’re just as selfish as a human! I guess I was wrong about you.”
Logan set me on my feet, making sure not to turn his back to Andrei. I stood up slowly, favoring my left ankle, which still hurt. “I’m not selfish, Andrei. Just because I wouldn’t do what you asked doesn’t make me selfish.” I limped forward to face him. “You’re the selfish one. You just can’t stand it when people won’t jump to your will. You want me to restore creatures to Heaven who may not belong there anymore. You and the others made your choices a long time ago, and now I’m making mine. I will not help you.”
Logan looked confused. I hadn’t taken the time to explain things as he’d been freeing me. I had been so absorbed with my excitement in seeing him again that I hadn’t told him the real reason Andrei had taken me.
Andrei threw back his head and laughed. “You mean you didn’t tell your little boyfriend what’s actually going on? Oh, that is just too rich. Now he will never know why he’s going to die. I am going to kill him, Rae. He can’t beat me. Then you will be returned to your cell where you will be chained until you decide to cooperate.”
He paused for a moment. “You know what else? Once you have helped us, I think I’m still going to keep you. I have grown even fonder of you over the past few weeks. I think I’d like to have to you with me—for eternity. You want to know the best part? With Logan dead, there will be no one to stop me!”
“I’m not dead yet, Andrei,” Logan said. He reached out his hand and his sword manifested once more in his hand.