by Eva Chase
I supposed we could at least be relieved that the fiend wasn’t tearing apart the city anymore. But—why would it suddenly have retreated? And the people it had taken— “Do you think they’re still alive?” I had to ask.
Remington grimaced at the other side of the table. “We haven’t been able to determine that. What you heard from the report is as much as we know.”
“Its course over the last ten minutes or so has been a direct line toward the Frankfords’ property,” Brimsey put in, his gaze on me evaluating. I wondered if he was aware that I’d already been trying to put the plan he’d pitched to Gabriel into motion. “We haven’t seen activity anywhere near that purposeful from it before.”
“We haven’t,” Lady Northcott agreed. “It does seem quite set on returning to that place as quickly as possible.”
I couldn’t for one second believe the demon had just wanted to take a little romp around our world and now it was going to head home quietly. “Has anything happened at the Cliff to bring it back?”
“Our people out there haven’t observed any changes.”
“Then—” My voice caught in my throat as an icy jolt of understanding hit me. It melted into a cold pool of horror in my stomach. “Oh, no.”
“You have a take on what’s happening?” Mr. Northcott asked. Everyone was studying me now. As if the demon taint to my spark gave me some kind of special understanding of what those monsters might want.
But I didn’t need any special connection to them to put the pieces I had together.
“We figured the reason that one was able to break through the portal at all was the woman who died by the Cliff, don’t we?” I said. “The blood spilled in violence—it helped the demon break through the barrier somehow. If it’s bringing more people out there, avoiding destroying their bodies… I have to think it’s planning on spilling all the blood it can so the rest of the fiends can come join it here.”
Not just one but a whole horde of demons, all of them eager to treat our world like a carnival of brutality.
The officials around the table were silent for a moment. “That is our main fear as well,” Lady Northcott said quietly. “To be honest, I was hoping you might have a different perspective that could also explain its actions.”
I shook my head, my heart starting to race. “No. That has to be it. That’s the only thing that makes sense. We have to get out to the Cliff first—stop it—we wanted it back near the portal. If we can prevent the blood-spilling and push the demon through, then we could seal the gateway up. All our problems solved.”
Unfortunately, those felt like some tremendous “if”s right now.
“We can call on every witch in this part of the country,” Remington said. “Bring all the power we possibly can to bear.”
Brimsey looked to me again. “Have you had a chance to see if there are others who might be able to support our attempt after all?”
The recovering witches. I didn’t know if we could still arrange any sort of a trap—we didn’t need a trap if the thing was already out there by the portal—but their magic might still give us an advantage.
“I have,” I said. “I spoke with Lady Ainsworth and the other witches from the faction a few minutes ago. They’ll do whatever they can, including facing the demon, if it helps us push it out of this world.”
“And what about you, Lady Hallowell?” Mr. Northcott said. “Are you well enough to go out there?”
I hadn’t gotten to expend much magic against the demon this afternoon. I was tired just from the long day and the stresses that had come with it, but my spark flared when I focused on it. “I am, and of course I will.”
Lady Northcott’s mouth twisted. “From what we’ve seen, the way it responds to your magic compared to the rest of our people’s… We may be counting on you by far the most.” She turned to one of the lesser officials at the far end of the table. “See that a vehicle with plenty of space is arranged for Lady Hallowell and her consorts. We want her to rest and regain as much of her strength as possible on the journey to the coast.”
The other woman bobbed her head and ducked out of the room. My gaze followed her. I hadn’t expected special treatment. But then… maybe this would all come down to me. To me and the power I had, the power that flowed between my consorts and me.
“This won’t be about sly plans or clever thinking,” Lady Northcott went on. “It’ll be brute force we need once we engage with the demon—to stop it long enough to free its captives, and then to force it back into its world. Can you coordinate that effort, Lady Hallowell? Can I instruct our enforcers and the other witches to act as your support?”
My jaw went slack. I just stared at her and her husband for a moment. “I don’t—I’ve got no combat training or anything like that. I think I know what to do, but—are you sure?”
The corner of her mouth twitched. “You’ve proven both resilient and resourceful more times than I can count in the last few months. If you’re going to bring all your power to bear, you’ll need as much support as you can get, I think.”
Slowly, the others around the table inclined their heads, even Brimsey. My hands clenched at my sides. It all came down to me. Oh, by all that was lit and warm, by the five soul-bonds I carried, let me not fail.
“Find your consorts,” Mr. Northcott said. “The car should be waiting for you in the garage by the time you get there. We’ll be right at your heels.”
Now I was staring at him. “You’re coming too?”
“We’re all coming,” Remington said. “We’re all that might stand between survival and the end of the world. I’m not sitting in my office when I could be bringing my magic to that fight.”
A handful more witches in the mix—it might not make much difference. But it was something. More than I’d expected of them.
“I’ll see you by the Cliff,” I said. “I’ve got my phone. If anything important changes…”
“We’ll let you know,” Lady Northcott said.
The vehicle that the four guys and I found waiting for us in the underground parking lot looked like the same limo that had brought us to the Assembly in the first place. I almost laughed out loud.
“Not what you were expecting?” Damon said with an arch of his eyebrows.
“No,” I said. “But it makes sense. They want me to try to rest on the way there.” And possibly to bolster my store of magic in other ways, or they wouldn’t have sent my consorts along with me. With the tension that was thrumming through my veins, I wasn’t sure I’d be able to relax enough to sleep, let alone get up to anything more fun.
There was room for me to stretch out, at least, with only five of us instead of six. I felt Seth’s absence as we climbed into the back like a missing limb. He’d been well enough to give me an impressive kiss when I’d slipped in to say good-bye, but the healer said he wasn’t healed enough to go running around anywhere yet.
I was going to try not to think about the fact that the kiss we’d shared might be our last. That all of this might end in total catastrophe.
To at least make an attempt at that resting thing, I lay down on my seat with my head on Kyler’s thigh. He brushed his fingers over my hair as I snuggled closer. Just that contact sent flickers of warmth through my chest to bolster my spark.
I was more powerful than I’d ever been before. I had the love of five amazing men supporting me. I had to be strong enough to defeat this demon. There just wasn’t another option.
The engine rumbled as the driver on the other side of the privacy screen pulled out of the lot. Streetlamps and the light from restaurant windows flickered by in the deepening night. By the time we got out to the Cliff, it was going to be as pitch black outside as the demon’s eyes. Could we hope that darkness would disorient the fiend a little bit too?
“What will you need from us once we’re out there?” Jin asked.
“I don’t know,” I said. “I think it’s going to come down mostly to me overpowering the demon, just for long enough to sh
ove it back through that portal. We’re going to have to be careful out there—if it kills anyone right on the Cliff, that could be enough to let the other demons through. So I guess… Stay back, have your batons ready if it comes near you—but mostly try not to let it get near you at all.” Ruiz had brought us enforcer batons for each of the guys, but they hadn’t been much use against the demon so far.
My consorts could take shelter among the enforcers and the other witches who’d be there—all of those who’d be lending me power, acting as a distraction while I figured out the best angle to hit the demon from… But we had to get its prisoners away from it first, alive or dead.
Spark help me, this wasn’t going to be easy, I knew that much for sure.
“When you say it all comes down to you,” Gabriel said slowly.
“My magic, with the demonic influence in it, is the only energy that’s had much effect on the thing,” I said. “So that’s the plan. Focus everything on me. If I can get it close enough to the Cliff… I’m sure I’ve got enough power in me to force it into the cave from there. I’ll just need the right moment, maybe for the other witches to distract it so it’s not bracing itself against me…”
“They’re asking a lot,” Damon muttered.
“No,” I said. “They’re asking exactly as much as they should. They’re all going out to face it too, you know—the Northcotts and the other officials. They can’t help that what my father did to me gives me an edge no one else can replicate. Every witch in the city right now will be joining the fight however they can, even Thalia and her group.”
Dad had talked about the power he’d ensured for me as if it’d been a gift he’d given. Maybe in some ways it was, even if it wasn’t one I’d ever have wanted, even if he hadn’t really meant it for that purpose when he’d poured that magic into my mother’s womb.
I closed my eyes, trying to let the hum of the limo’s engine lull me. We’d reach the Cliff in just a couple hours, ahead of the demon unless it managed to start outpacing cars. And then I’d find out just how much power I had in me—and whether it was enough to save us all.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Damon
The damp salty wind felt even thicker than the last time we’d been out at the Cliff, or maybe it just seemed that way in the dark. The globes of enchanted light the witches had set up across the grassy yard of the Frankfords’ seaside property only penetrated the night thinly. They made everyone look like specters, sallow and blurred along the edges.
Of course, the demon was going to provide its own light when it got close enough. We could already make out the faint reddish glow in the distance, far enough away that I couldn’t see it moving when I stared at it. But every few minutes when I glanced over, it loomed a little larger.
Most of us weren’t set up in the yard anyway. We’d gathered on the fallow fields on the other side of the country road about a hundred feet from the laneway, where the witches were hoping we’d intercept the monster before it made it to the Cliff and carried out its murderous intentions. I didn’t think any of them had a clue how close blood needed to be spilled before it might help the other demons escape. We were all hedging our bets here.
At least mine were riding on Rose. If she couldn’t get us through this, it’d all be a lost cause anyway.
“Is there any new information from the enforcers tracking the demon?” Rose asked one of the enforcers, who seemed to be some sort of commanding officer. The other woman shook her head, and Rose bit her lip.
“They probably can’t see much more than we can,” I said. “It’s not as if they’ll want to cozy right up to it.”
“Do you think there’s any chance it’ll have left the people it grabbed alive?” Kyler asked, his forehead creased with worry.
“There’s no way to know,” Rose said. “The demons might need an actual killing right at the Cliff for the effect to work. We might still be able to save them.”
A prickle of uneasiness ran over my skin. I could almost make out the demon’s form now: the curve of its knobby head, the hunch of its shoulders. My mouth went dry. I forced myself to swallow.
I’d faced it before and come out no worse for wear. I wasn’t letting some monster cow me. Not while Rose needed us here.
She was gazing toward that glowing shape too, her expression torn. Before she could leave us there with the witches we barely knew, which she’d have to before much longer, I grabbed her hand and pulled her to me. There was nothing easier or more natural than burying my fingers in her hair and claiming her mouth with mine.
For luck. For whatever power might flow from me to her. For everything I had to give.
She was gripping my shirt when I eased back. I leaned my forehead against hers.
“I love you,” I said. My voice came out hoarser than I really liked.
Her lips formed a bittersweet smile. “I love you too.” She turned to the others, leaning in to kiss Gabriel, and then Jin, and then Ky. “I love all of you. And I’m looking forward to spending the rest of our long lives together.”
She couldn’t sound completely confident, but the words gave me a rush of satisfaction anyway. She wasn’t sure we’d make it through the night. The rest, I knew, she couldn’t have meant more.
Our consort stepped away from us to head down the lane, to wait at the front of the ambush. The enforcers around me and the other guys nudged us back, farther into the field where the other less trained witches who’d joined the fight were clustered.
I submitted to the prodding only because I knew Rose would falter if she looked down the road and saw us still there within easy reach of the demon. My hand tightened around the magical baton the enforcers had lent me. It might not be good for much against a supernatural creature from another dimension, but if I could make it hurt, I would.
Another surge of that discomforting sensation washed over me. Somewhere behind us, one of the witches—probably one of the ones who’d fed that thing before—let out a soft whine, and someone else started to murmur to her in soothing tones. I glanced at the other guys and saw their expressions tense in the dim light too. The amount of power that thing had…
No, I wasn’t going to think about that. I wasn’t going to think about anything except Rose’s strength. It might be a demon, but tonight it was going up against an angel in her full glory.
The earth trembled beneath our feet. The thing was lumbering on at quite a clip according to the reports we’d gotten. Enough to make it feel like the approach of an earthquake.
“You know,” Ky murmured, “this is probably a totally corny thing to say, but I’m going to say it anyway, because, well, killer demon heading our way, you know.”
“Just spit it out, Brainiac,” I said.
His lips twitched into a smile. “I’m glad we came together again. I’m glad we had at least a few months like this, even if a lot of that time we couldn’t focus on a whole lot other than not getting caught or killed. It’s been… It’s been good.”
“Yeah,” Gabriel said softly. “It has been. I’m sorry I wasn’t around for all of it.”
“To making it through to the next great adventure,” Jin said wryly, raising his hand as if making a toast.
I’d spent a lot of the last few months feeling as if I was still only on the fringes of the group, only included in it because of history and Rose’s affection. But right then, in the hazy magical light streaking through the depths of the night, I had to say it really had been good. Maybe we didn’t fit together quite as easily as we had back when we were kids, but we did fit, even me.
There wasn’t anywhere else I’d rather have been right now, and not just for Rose.
“To the next great adventure,” I said, echoing Jin’s tone. We knocked knuckles the way we would have clinked glasses.
The ground shook again, harder this time. The eerie sensation in the air just hung there now, wafting stronger and then ebbing but never completely fading. The hairs all up my arms rose. I braced myself, my gaze fixed
on the glowing form rambling toward us. It was almost here.
The magical lights caught the creature’s twisted face—and the bodies dangling where it was clutching them under its left arm. They rocked with its movements, limbs limp, but I thought I saw one pale hand jerk as if trying to pull free.
Damn. They really might have survived that horrific trip.
Rose must have given some gesture, because the witches at that end of the field sprang into action. The air warbled with a different sort of energy, one that jolted me in a way I didn’t mind.
The demon halted, its head swinging as it sought out its attackers. Its eyes were so dark they seemed to blend into the night around it, as if it had two holes leading right through its smoldering face out the back of its skull.
Sparks of magic burst across its side. My hand found the sapling next to me and gripped it hard. I couldn’t tear my gaze away.
The magical assault didn’t seem to have hurt the demon any, but I guessed that wasn’t the point. As more flashes and flares flickered around it, Rose appeared on the road where it must have meant to cross, her body whirling, her hair streaking out around her like a spray of shadow.
The demon gave a deep snarl. Rose thrust out her hands, and the creature’s left arm spasmed, shooting out to the side as if she’d shoved it.
The bodies of its victims tumbled to the ground. With a hiss of magic like a rising wind, a ripple of movement spread through the enforcers along the road. The demon lunged after its prey, but Rose spun again, and the other witches drew in their magic. The demon stumbled backward a couple paces. A magical wind wrapped around the slumped forms and yanked them away from the fiend into the midst of the gathered witches farther afield.
“Medic!” someone called. The figures rushed through the darkness, reassembling for the next part of the plan. Retreating as far as they dared now that they had the captured people safely away. Gabriel motioned to us, and we all edged back several more feet from where Rose stood, like she’d instructed.