“Stay close and keep quiet. When we come out on the other side I’ll wrap the shadows around both of us in case anyone is there waiting.”
Grayson nodded and I opened a portal. The narrow cave behind the waterfall was deserted, but it was obvious someone had been there recently. Smoke still lingered in the air and the ground was littered with rubble. Someone had blown a gaping hole in the barrier between this world and the fire demon realm.
Coming out of the shadows I told Grayson, “I’m going in. If you’re coming with me, know that I don’t intend to leave anyone who helped kidnap Renee alive.”
“I understand, and I would do the same in your shoes.”
“Wait!”
Grayson and I both spun around to see Jasper coming out of the shadows.
Grayson narrowed his eyes on the other man. “What are you doing here Jasper?”
“I followed Rachel here when she left with that fire demon,” he replied in a rush, holding his hands in front of him like he thought one of us might hurt him.
Grayson jerked as if he’d been struck. Then he opened his mouth to speak.
“Which fire demon?” I asked, cutting off whatever else Grayson was about to ask.
“The one you fought in your last sword fight.”
I took a deep breath, needing to calm down. “Was Renee here too?”
Jasper nodded. “She came later with someone who looked like Katerina, but I don’t think it was really her. The disguise was good, even the smell was almost right, but there was something wrong with the way she carried herself. I’d almost say she walked like a man.”
I took a step towards the opening but Grayson’s arm flew out to block my way. I glared up at him. Undeterred, he asked Jasper, “Who else was here? Have you been through this opening? Where did they take the women?”
“At first it was only the fire demon and the Katerina look-a-like, but then Sergio showed up and did something to knock Renee out. Then he blew that hole in the wall. I followed them to the other side but I didn’t want to get lost in the maze so I came back to get some help.”
I took another deep breath and rubbed my hands over my face. “There’s a maze on the other side of this hole?”
Jasper nodded his blonde head.
“Okay, I’ll lead the way since I have the best chance of spotting traps.” I started towards the hole again but Grayson still wouldn’t lower his arm. “What is it now?” I asked, my patience running thin.
Grayson met my gaze, his black eyes reminding me so much of Rook when he was in full Guardian mode. “We have no way of knowing how big that maze is, or if there is even a way out of it. Sergio could have just put it there to keep anyone busy who tried to follow him.”
“Renee is my mate. I can sense her through our bond. On top of that, Rachel should be wearing the ring I made her that doubles as a homing beacon and I placed a locator spell on Renee the night I arrived at Supernova.”
Satisfied with my answers, he lowered his arm and the three of us climbed through the hole and into the fire demon realm.
Chapter Twenty-Four
~ Solomon ~
The fire demon realm looked exactly the way most people imagined it would. Black lava rock covered most of its jagged surfaces and no matter where you were there always seemed to be volcanic peaks off in the distance. The sky was a fiery mix of red and orange like the rivers of molten lava that never stopped flowing. It was dry and hot, and one of the most miserable worlds I’d ever been to.
Upon entering the maze, I did a quick scan for spells. As I’d feared, magic coated the tops of the walls, making it impossible to simply hop up and find a clear path out of the maze. Next, I tried to create a portal, thinking we’d just skip over the maze, but that idea was a bust as well. With no other choice, we started out into the maze. Slowly and cautiously, we followed the only passageway available. We ran into a few spells along the way, but we managed to avoid or disarm them without losing too much time in the process. Eventually, we came to a chamber with multiple exits to choose from. I went with my gut, choosing the one in the middle and we continued on. Each time we were presented with multiple passageways, I thought about Renee and followed my instincts.
As the minutes ticked by, my patience grew thinner, but I remained calm and focused. I had no idea what Sergio and Dimitri had planned for the women, but I knew that losing my head would only ensure their success. Grayson held it together well, though I knew he was sick with worry, but Jasper was so close to losing it that I considered sending him back the way we came.
When Jasper finally reached the end of his rope, he stopped and wiped his brow on his sleeve. “I feel like we’re going in circles!”
“I have to agree with him Solomon. It all looks the same, so it’s hard to tell, but it doesn’t feel like we’re making any progress. What if the corridors are moving like they did in his other maze?”
I glanced around. “That’s entirely possible. What do you propose we do about it?”
“Is there a way to keep them from moving?” Jasper asked.
“Or better yet,” Grayson cut in before I could respond. “Let’s not use his corridors at all. Let’s make our own.”
I felt a grin curl my lips. “Now that’s an idea. Making his corridors behave would take time and we’d both be drained by the time we caught up to Sergio and Dimitri. But if we simply cut through his maze with a path of our own, we should be out of this mess in no time.”
“How are you going to cut through all this lava rock?” Jasper asked doubtfully.
“Watch and learn,” I told him.
I concentrated on the locator spell and determined Renee was most likely a few miles away on our left. Turning in that direction, I pulled my runic stones out of my pocket and started chanting. When I found the right stone, I removed it from the ring and held it up so that Grayson could examine its runes. He smiled when he realized what I was up to and started chanting with me. Magic built all around us until it couldn’t be contained any longer. We pushed it forward and it tore through the walls of the maze like an invisible bulldozer. Nothing was left in its path, not even the tiniest bit of debris.
Jasper gasped, “How the hell did you do that?”
“It’s a very old spell that can be used to clear just about any obstruction from lava rock to enemy forces, to large bodies of water.”
“Do you think that’s how Moses parted the Red Sea?”
Grayson chuckled and started jogging down our new passageway.
“It’s possible,” I tossed over my shoulder, following Grayson. When Jasper caught up to me I continued, “Humans often explain magical events with religion. They’d rather believe in miracles and divine intervention, than the existence of true magic.”
Jasper snorted. “That’s why your shows are always sold out six months in advance.”
I gave him a wry smile. “Even my biggest fans think it’s all smoke and mirrors. They can’t figure out how I do it, but they’re sure it’s not real magic.”
“I guess that’s the same for all of us. They see our fangs and claws, but they never think they’re real.” The bitter edge in his voice was unmistakable.
“That’s what keeps us safe Jasper,” I reminded him. “The humans come to Myths and Legends for the show. If they knew it was all real, many of them would come for our heads instead.”
“I know, but sometimes my wolf wants to run free and it’s hard to make him understand why we can’t do that.”
Jasper was young enough when we were cursed that his wolf was still a docile pup. Hundreds of years later when the curse ended, the animal inside of him was anything by docile. His wolf came out of his magically induced coma angry and unpredictable. Now, he struggled constantly to keep his wolf under control.
“You could run anytime you wanted to in the forests around Supernova. Or you could go to any of our other isolated properties.”
“My wolf wants to run near his home, in his own territory,” he replied stubbornly.
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br /> Running near Myths and Legends wasn’t really a problem because we could blend in with the shadows, but once our animals came out in their physical forms, they were even harder to control. Jasper was having enough trouble controlling his animal in human form. He’d even attacked one of our guests shortly after the curse ended. As a result of that attack and his continued struggle for control, he was banned from running near the resort.
“Then perhaps you need a transfer to another location,” I suggested.
Jasper glanced at Grayson ahead of us and agreed, “Yeah, that might be a good idea.”
Grayson stopped suddenly and held his hand up telling us to stop and listen.
“I don’t know where it came from,” a male voice said from just outside the maze. “I was patrolling along the wall, and then suddenly this section of the wall was gone.”
We rushed over and flattened ourselves against the wall while Jasper and I both used the shadows to hide our presence. A second later, a pair of vampires poked their heads around the corner.
“I don’t see anyone,” the same voice whispered.
“That doesn’t mean there’s nobody here,” the second vampire pointed out in a deeper voice. “I’m going to call this in.”
He reached for his phone, but Grayson was on him before he could make the call. I took out the other vampire while Jasper went around the corner to see if there were any more guards. Finding no one else in the area, we hid the bodies in the maze, then I cast an illusion spell to make the wall appear whole again.
“Where to now?” Jasper asked, obviously anxious to find Rachel.
“Over there.” I nodded my head towards a volcanic mountain in the distance. I couldn’t see any buildings or activity, but I was certain Renee was somewhere in that direction.
“Now that we’re out of the maze, there’s nothing blocking our magic,” Grayson observed. “We’d get there a lot faster through a portal.”
I shook my head, every instinct I had told me that was a bad idea. “That’s exactly what Sergio would expect us to do and he might have traps in place to snare us when we come out on the other side. I think it’s best if we do this the old fashioned way and sneak up on foot.”
They agreed and we crossed the rough terrain quickly, with Grayson hiding in the shadows between me and Jasper. About a mile out from the mountain, we ran into the first patrol. The guards were vampires, so they too were wrapped in shadows, but their evil stench lingered in the air whenever they crossed our path. These vampires reeked of the virus, having obviously made a habit of forgoing fresh blood.
We arrived at the base of the mountain and located a cave. The locator spell was still going strong, telling me that Renee was inside the mountain. We filed into the cave and spread out, searching for danger. The small cavern was empty so we headed into the tunnel on its far side. Following the twists and turns we wound our way towards the center of the mountain, passing lakes of molten lava and the occasional guard. By the time, we reached our goal we were dripping with sweat, and parched beyond measure.
“Most of the guards we passed had canteens dangling from their belts. Maybe we should go back and see if they’d be willing to share,” Jasper suggested, leaning forward with his hands on his thighs. Of the three of us, he was the worst off both physical and mentally.
“If we interrupt their patrol patterns, we’ll tip our hand to Sergio,” I reminded him. “Then he’ll move Renee and Rachel - or worse.”
He tipped his head up to glare at me with the blue eyes of his wolf. “And if we don’t get something to drink, it won’t matter if we find the women or not. We’ll never make it out of here alive.”
He had a point. The heat was exhausting, and without water, none of us would be much of a challenge for Sergio or Dimitri. Deciding it was worth the risk, I wrapped a portal around one of the fountains on the Myths and Legends grounds. It was in an isolated area, so there was little chance there were any humans around to see it go missing. When the fountain appeared before us, we drank from the water pouring into the basin. Then we splashed water on our heads and necks to help us cool off. Once we were all refreshed, I sent the fountain back through the portal to the human realm.
We were steps away from the room where I believed we would find Renee when Grayson said, “Rachel is not in that room.”
I tilted my head to the side as I studied the demon before me. “You’re sure?”
He nodded once. “I can feel something... I can’t explain it, but if you’re right about her being a conduit, then I believe she is down that corridor.” He pointed to our left.
“I feel her as well,” Jasper said, surprising us both. “She is definitely down that passageway.” He jerked his head towards the same tunnel Grayson indicated.
I tried to get a lock on the ring I made her but kept coming back to Jasper. After a few tries I finally asked him, “Was Rachel wearing the ring I gave her?”
Jasper reached in his pocket and pulled something out. Then he held his hand out in front of him with his palm up. There in his palm was the ring I made for Rachel. “Bloody hell Jasper! How is that ring supposed to help keep her safe if it’s in your pocket?”
Jasper sighed. “She was too angry with you after the watchtower. She put it on to go through the portals but otherwise she wanted me to hold it. She didn’t want you to be able to find her.”
I scrubbed my hands other my face. “Let’s hope the two of you are right about where she is, because without that ring we don’t have a quick way to track her.”
“She is there Solomon,” Grayson said, pointing towards the tunnel on the left again.
I met both their eyes and saw that they were determined and ready for battle.
“I’ll wait five minutes before I open that door,” I promised them. “When you have Rachel, open a portal and get the hell out of here. If anything goes wrong, find your way out of here and go back the way we came.”
They agreed and disappeared down the dark tunnel. I waited the five minutes, and hoped they were in place before I opened the door. I wanted them to have a chance to escape before I went through that door just in case all hell broke loose on the other side.
When I finally opened the door and crept inside, I was met with total darkness. I sensed Renee and moved quietly in her direction. She was sleeping on a pile of furs in the far corner. I knelt down beside her and brushed her hair away from her face. As far as I could tell, she hadn’t been harmed - not physically at least. There were no visible bumps or bruises, but there was a spell making her sleep.
I tried to wake her, but none of my spells worked. Then I remembered the spell Sergio placed on Renee’s back. It was tied to her will. What if this spell was also tied to her will and for some reason she didn’t want to wake up?
I slipped into her mind and found her sitting on a sofa with me. We were cuddling close under a blanket while we watched Pulp Fiction. She looked so happy and content, leaning against me while I combed my fingers through her hair. The thought of disturbing her was so repugnant that I almost lost track of why I was there.
Shaking my head, I rushed over and blocked her view of the TV. “This isn’t real Renee.”
Her head came up and she blinked her eyes a few times. “Of course it’s not,” she replied sleepily. “But as long as I stay here I can be with you.”
“That is not me,” I told her, thrusting my arm out towards the Solomon on the couch. “That is a figment of your imagination. If you want to be with me, then you’ll have to wake up.”
“I watched you die Solomon.” Tears slid down her cheeks and her eyes glazed over while she relived the memory.
I fell to my knees in front of her, grabbed her arms, and shook her until her eyes cleared. “That wasn’t real Renee. Whatever they showed you it was a lie. I’m still alive and I want you to wake up and be with me.” She started to shake her head, but I gave her another hard shake and shouted, “Feel me! Feel the truth Renee! I will never leave you, not even for death!”
Her brows came together for a moment and then she threw her arms around me, burying her head in the crook of my neck. “Oh Solomon, I’m so happy you’re not dead.” She was crying full throttle now but we didn’t have time for a happy reunion.
I kissed the side of her head and gave her a quick hug. Then I pulled her with me as I stood. She pulled back enough to look me in the eyes.
“I need you to wake up now Renee. Dimitri and Sergio have you in the fire demon realm. They don’t know I found you yet, but it won’t be long before I’m discovered.”
She nodded her head and wiped her tears away.
“Good.” I gave her a quick kiss and then she vanished. I followed her to the real world where I was still kneeling beside Renee.
“Let’s get out of here,” I told her urgently.
“That’s not part of the plan,” Dimitri informed me.
I spun around to face him just as several torches flared to life, lighting up the entire chamber. Whatever injuries he suffered during our last encounter were healed as far as I could tell. His hair, however, would take a bit longer to grow back in. For now, it wasn’t much more than a dark shadow covering the top of his head. He held a sword in his right hand, the flickering light glinting off its sharp blade.
I tried to reach through a portal to grab my sword off the mantle in my apartment, but I ran into a brick wall. Sergio had apparently blocked all portals again. I stood slowly and glanced around for anything I could use as a weapon or a shield.
Dimitri laughed. “Not so cocky without your sword or your magic are you?”
I snorted. “Sergio might be able to block my portals, but he can’t stop me from using all of my magic.”
He came at me fast, swinging his sword, but I rolled to the side and grabbed a straight-backed chair from its place at a table. Using the chair, I kept him at bay much like a lion tamer would a lion, but I knew my makeshift shield wouldn’t last long. Within seconds, he’d already hacked off two of its legs.
I kept moving, throwing things at Dimitri as I found them - a few apples, a candelabra and finally a heavy glass bowl. While Dimitri wiped lettuce from his eyes, I grabbed the nearest torch and snapped its pole in half. Then I ran forward and thrust the flaming end of the torch into Dimitri’s chest. The wind was momentarily knocked out of him and I took full advantage. Using the chair, I knocked the sword from his hand. He dove for it, but I kicked it across the room before he could reach it.
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