Below us, the clouds were a soft, puffy white under the moon’s glow.
Silas snorted then dipped his head and dropped lower. Clouds brushed over my face with a cold tingle as we flew straight through them. For a few seconds, everything was cloudy—pun intended. But once Silas dropped beneath the clouds, everything was crystal clear…and much closer than I’d realized. Down below, orange and golden lights flickered and twinkled. Sets of red and white lights moved in perfect unison, in steady lines. Cars. Those must be cars. The lights grew thicker and denser as they clumped closer together.
“We’re here!” Kessler shouted. “This is Salem.”
Finally.
Silas roared. He tucked his wings and dove for the ground. I gasped and tightened my hold on his spike. Easton’s arms tightened around me. Cold wind slammed into my face. My stomach dropped and my heart raced out of control.
“What the hell is happening?” Braison screamed over the wind.
“Something must be wrong. Hang on!” Kessler yelled. “Silas, GO!”
Our dragon friend didn’t hesitate. He pulled his wings closer and dropped straight down in the most terrifying swan dive. The ground raced toward us, every second growing closer and closer. We couldn’t have been more than a few hundred feet up. Red and blue lights flashed from all around. A siren wailed and echoed, but I couldn’t figure out where it was coming from.
I opened my mouth to ask what Kessler saw, but the force of the wind was too strong.
“Demons!” Kessler yelled just as a dark object flew in front of us.
Silas spit a stream of blazing fire right into the demon. His entire body rumbled under me. Lights grew brighter and closer. Rooftops of buildings rushed toward us. A police car blaring its siren sped by in front of us. Silas threw his wings out and leveled. He roared and windows exploded. Glass rained down on the streets, glistening in the full moon.
The scent of maple syrup washed over me. I opened my mouth to warn Silas just as he ducked lower and spit flames up at the monster. It shrieked and turned to ash in the blink of an eye. We soared around a corner, and my stomach dropped. Coven Headquarters was under attack. Demons soared around the house, flapping their bat-like wings and dive-bombing people on the street. Some crawled on the roof, smashing windows with their spidery legs.
My heart pounded in my chest and thundered through my veins. I gasped and tried to breathe normal.
“SILAS!” a girl screamed from nearby.
No, not a girl. CHUTNEY! She was sprinting down the street toward the house with a dagger in her hand. It dripped black demon blood like oil sludge. She looked up over her shoulder as she ran then waved her hand in the air. Silas dropped low and scooped her up with his wing. She flew past me. I looked over my shoulder in time to watch Kessler reach out and grab ahold of her. His massive hand dwarfed her tiny wrist, but he had her and he wasn’t going to let her go. Kessler’s Strength Mark poked out from under his rolled-up sleeve as he pulled her in close over the rush of wind.
“Silas! Around back!” Chutney screamed.
Silas snorted.
“No, it’s around back with Bentley!” Chutney answered between gasps.
Silas flapped his wings, and we soared up over the house. He spit fire in rapid succession, scorching three demons terrorizing Sapiens on the sidewalk. My skin tingled like ice all over. I looked down and gasped. My entire body was covered in shiny metal armor that glistened in the full moonlight and reflected the raging fires.
Easton.
I peeked behind me, but my boyfriend’s smile was gone. His beautiful face was set hard in concentration. His sky-blue eyes were locked on the ground and his sword was gripped firmly in his armored hand. Behind him, Braison, Kessler, and Chutney were also covered.
“Lily, get the Stone to Bentley. We’ll get the demons!” Kessler yelled.
I nodded. “Where is Bentley?”
Chutney pointed straight down. “Back stoop by basement doors!”
Silas flew over the roof, and my breath left me in a rush. Magic swirled and shot across the backyard. Lightning flashed in every direction. But I couldn’t see anyone. The lights were out. The back of the house was drenched in darkness and the smell of maple syrup.
“Bring us down so you can fight!” Chutney yelled from behind me. “Silas says there’s dozens of demons waiting in the dark!”
WHAT? Where? I squinted but I saw nothing. We couldn’t fight what we couldn’t see. Not without Tennessee and Tegan. “Easton, my hands!”
Cold air rushed over my fingers in an instant. I summoned my magic to my palms then pushed it out. Bright, midday summer sunshine poured out of my hands and lit up the entire backyard. Hunter and Evaline fought off a group of demons far too close to where Chutney said Bentley was with the Stones.
Silas roared like something from Jurassic Park. Flames shot out of his mouth.
“Yes, here!” Chutney screamed. “Drop us!”
Drop us?
That was all the warning we got. Silas tucked his wings and rolled. Wind rushed up from my back. My stomach flipped and my heart stopped. My back slammed into the ground, and the metal body armor rattled. Pain shot down my arms and legs.
“LILY LIGHT!” Devon screamed from somewhere close by.
I threw my hands up and let my magic pour out of me in every direction. My head throbbed so loud it drowned out all of the other noise around me. I tried to move, to roll over, but sharp pain stabbed into my back.
Something grabbed my shoulder and yanked me up. I screamed and swatted at it, but it was only Kessler. His mouth moved. I knew he was speaking to me, but all I heard was a low roar and high-pitched screeching. I must’ve made a face because he grabbed my shoulders and turned me around to face the back of the house. His hand came into view as he pointed to the basement doors.
I gasped. Bentley! The Fire Stone. My job. I nodded and sprinted toward the house.
Easton was up in front of me fighting off demons. When my sunlight hit his face, he ducked and let my magic blind the monsters. He sliced them both in half in one swoop then ran to catch up with me. A spider demon landed right in front of us. I gasped and skidded to a stop.
Easton jumped in front of me and attacked the demon. “GO! I got this guy!”
Normally, I wouldn’t have left him to fight alone, but this was the Fire Stone. I sent a silent prayer up to the Goddess to watch over my boyfriend as I hightailed it around him. There was a small little nook between the stone staircase leading from the back door and the side doors for the basement. That was where Chutney said our Hierophant was. I couldn’t see him—and that told me he had to be there. He must’ve been using magic to block himself from my magic.
I clenched my teeth and pushed my legs harder. My muscles burned and begged me to stop, but I ignored the pain. The Fire Stone burned against my skin, like it didn’t want to be trapped under the metal. Something moved from within the darkness of the stoop. I squinted then gasped. It was Devon. Lots of Devons. I thought I’d grown used to seeing her astral projection while the others were in the Old Lands, but it still took my breath away.
And she was a force to be reckoned with.
That’s where Tegan gets it.
Devon had a sword in one hand and a jagged dagger in the other. She jumped, spun, and sliced her way through demon after demon without pausing or stopping to check her kill. She knew what she was doing, and I envied her abilities. Each of her projection clones fought singularly, and it blew my mind. One of them—and I wasn’t sure if it was the real Devon or not—spotted me and yelled out in our ancient language. She charged toward the wolf-like demon standing between me and Bentley and tackled it to the stone ground.
I ducked my head and raced into the pocket of darkness.
“LILY!” Bentley grinned like the Cheshire cat and wrapped his arms around me. When he pulled back, his golden eyes sparkled. “You made it!”
Kenneth reached out and squeezed my shoulder. “Are you okay?”
“Y
es, yeah, I’m okay. You guys?”
I looked around. Now that I was in there with them, I found they had candles lit. It was the perfect little hiding spot with coverage on every side except the one. The house itself stuck out over the ground and blocked them from having a demon drop down on top of them.
“We’re fine, but they need your light,” Kenneth said and pointed behind me.
I cursed and spun back around. My magic shot out of me without me calling for it. I held my palms up and lit up the backyard. My jaw dropped. The scene in front of me was unreal. An army of Devons blocked Bentley from the rest of the fight. Beyond her, I saw two guys in metal body armor, but I knew the one on the right was Easton. I recognized his fighting style—it always reminded me of ballroom dancing. On the other side of them, I saw Evaline and Hunter, with who had to be Kessler. No one was as tall as him. They moved together as a unit, cornering demons and striking them down.
All of that I registered in the flash of a second.
The only thing I could focus on was the massive stone-gray dragon with a little witch riding on his back and screaming orders. I’d never seen Chutney like that. Her ringlets bounced in the wind with each of Silas’s movements. The two of them worked together. Chutney shouted out where to torch, and Silas lit it up with flames.
It only took a matter of minutes, maybe less, before Silas and Chutney had nothing left to fight. Silas spun around in a circle, swinging his tail through the air, then he shot straight up in the sky. They flew over the yard then disappeared over the roof. My other Coven-mates sprinted to where we hid.
Devon slid to a stop and dropped to her knees in front of her young son. She ran her hands over him, checking for wounds. “Are you okay? Did you get hurt?”
Bentley smiled and covered her hands with his little ones. “I’m okay, Mom.”
“Everyone okay?” Hunter and Kessler said at the exact same time, both towering behind Devon.
I glanced down at myself to check if I’d been injured, but all I found was metal armor. “I think I’m okay.”
“I think we’re clear,” Evaline said between heavy breaths as she skidded to a stop.
Braison ran up behind her and shook his head. “Man, how long was that going on?”
“Too long,” Kenneth said with a sigh. “They’re drawn to the Stones.”
Easton cursed and jogged over to where we were. “That Shadow Monster has to be looking for a way back at us, am I right? Did you see him?”
Hunter shook his head. “No, but that doesn’t mean he wasn’t here.”
“We locked the building down so nothing could get inside.” Evaline frowned and looked up at the house. “Just in case, I better go check on them.”
“Wait for Chutney,” Kenneth said, stopping her. “And whoever that dragon is.”
“Silas. He’s cool.” Easton adjusted his grip on his sword and eyed the sky.
“How did Silas get back with you guys?” Hunter frowned and ran his hand through his blond hair. “I thought he took y’all to Avolire. Did he wait there all day?”
Easton spun in a circle, like he didn’t trust the silence. “Nah, he took off a hot second after dropping us.”
Hunter scowled. “So how’d he get back? They don’t have cell phones, do they?”
I chuckled and shrugged. “Tegan.”
Devon grinned. “She’s something.”
Braison shook his head. “I’m just glad she’s back on our side.”
“She never wasn’t on our side.” Bentley turned to me and cocked his head to the side. “So, do one of you have the Fire Stone?”
My hand flew up to my chest and slammed into the metal armor. “Oh, Easton?”
“My bad.”
The metal armor covering my body shimmered then melted away, leaving me exactly the way I was before. I reached up to the small front pocket and unzipped it. Bright red light poured out around us. The Stone was warm against my bare fingers, but not enough to burn me. I pulled it out then placed it in Bentley’s outstretched hand. The second it was off my person, I sighed with relief.
Bentley nodded and wrapped his little hand around it. He smiled and it looked exactly like his sister Emersyn’s. “Perfect. Good job, guys. Now we’ve got three. Only two more to go.”
“Any word from the others?” Kessler asked with sharp eyes.
Devon shook her head. “I was going to ask you the same.”
A large shadow passed over us, and we all tensed. Silas landed with a heavy thud that rumbled through the stones. His bright yellow eyes looked at each of us, then he snorted.
“Coast is clear for now…” Chutney leaned forward and looked down at us. “But we’re about to have round two in a few minutes.”
CHAPTER TWENTY
TEGAN
I slammed into something hard face-first. All of the air in my lungs was knocked out of me. Pain shot through my body. My bones rattled. I tried to push myself up, but my arms were pinned under me at a weird angle. I coughed and tasted dirt. Had I swallowed it? Or maybe I was lying in it? I had no idea. The screaming in my head hadn’t calmed down yet.
It took me several tries, but I finally managed to roll onto my back. A whole new set of bones screamed in protest and pain. I hissed and waited for it to subside. Am I dead? Is this death? Something warm brushed over my face. My heart fluttered. I opened my eyes and found the most beautiful face staring down at me.
He smiled. “Hi.”
My cheeks burned, and I hoped it was from smiling back. I couldn’t be sure. “Hi.”
His hand slid through mine...and then I was upright. Pain shot down my spine. The world spun. I groaned and buried my face in his chest. Tennessee. That fresh-rain scent of his eased some of the tension in my muscles. The warmth of his body seeped through both of our clothes. I sighed and nestled in closer. His arms wrapped around me and squeezed me tight. His fingers brushed through my hair.
I craned my head back and looked up at his sharp jawline and perfectly lush lips. “Ow.”
His lips curved into that sexy grin of his I loved so much but hadn’t seen in weeks. “Yeah. You okay?”
I meant to answer, but my eyes caught the movement of his lips and I lost focus. I licked my own lips and nodded. “Mm-hmm.”
He tucked my hair behind my ear, then cupped my jaw and tipped my face back.
Cooper cleared his throat real loud. “Seriously, guys? Didn’t we just go over this?”
I peeked over Tenn’s shoulder and found my brother glaring at us and looking green in the face. Tenn laughed and dropped his hand.
I groaned at the loss, but then I remembered what had just happened. I scowled. “What the hell was that?”
“The same thing that happened when we were ten,” Tennessee said with a rough voice. He looked over his shoulder with narrowed eyes. “Nice to see you learned.”
Royce sighed and hung his head. “I saw that going differently in my head.”
Deacon helped Willow to her feet. “Let’s hope a school suspension is the worst we’ll get again.”
Emersyn walked up beside him, still picking grass out of her long blonde hair. “In English, please. Where are we?”
“If I’m not mistaken...” Tenn glanced around. “The Seelie tunnels.”
My stomach tightened into knots. Seelie. Tunnels. Greaaaat.
I turned away from my soulmate and took in our surroundings. We were literally in a tunnel. It was maybe fifteen feet in diameter. There were no flowers, no hint of natural light. The tunnel was made up entirely of thick green vines covered in leaves. Everything was tangled together almost like a spider web. I realized far too late that the only source of light came from Tennessee’s glowing body. The air was thick and smelled like wildflowers, but there was no breeze. The tunnel stretched far to my left and right, fading into black nothingness.
A cold chill slithered up my spine and I shivered. I turned toward my group and met their anxious stares. “I don’t know about y’all, but I don’t want to just sit h
ere.”
Tennessee nodded. “Agreed. We need to move.”
Paulina scoffed. She flailed her arms around and shook her head. “And which way would you like to go?”
“I think we should go that way.” Royce stood and pointed to my left. He bit his bottom lip and glanced behind him. “I don’t feel anything from down there.”
Willow crossed her arms over her chest and narrowed her eyes at him. “Are we sure we should be taking his advice anymore?”
Royce blushed. “I’m just saying what I’m feeling…”
Tennessee frowned. “Regardless of his recent transgressions, he’s our best guidance in a setting like this.”
I placed my hand on the tunnel wall. I walked a few steps forward, dragging my fingers over the vines and leaves. Wild, raw energy tickled against my fingertips. With every step, the buzz grew stronger and stronger. I turned and looked to my group. “I think Royce is right.”
“Roll the Court’s twisted dice, for Earth’s Stone comes with a price,” Henley whispered as she walked up beside me. She stared into the nothingness in front of us. “We’re in their world now, so be prepared for anything.”
Emersyn narrowed her golden eyes on the tunnel wall she was leaning against. A line of little flames danced along her arms. “What do you mean their world? Are we not on Earth anymore?”
“Yes, and no.” Timothy walked up next to her and placed his palm to the vines. His hand shimmered bright white, then ice covered his skin. It crawled up his arm, freezing his jacket. He pulled his hand away, and the vines remained green. “The Fae Court is not allowed to enter our realm. However, when the Goddess gave the Seelies the Earth Stone, they were also given an interim realm.”
Emersyn’s eyes widened. “Interim realm? You mean the actual Fae Court can come here?”
The Eternal Witch (The Coven: Elemental Magic Book 5) Page 12