Oh no.
The demons who protected the two women charged us. Two collided with Bree and Rowan, and three of them leapt on Lachlan. One lunged for me, but I ducked, avoiding his blow.
The two women sprinted by me, headed for the portal. I lunged, trying to grab the glowing satchel, but she was too far away.
They raced toward an escape, taking the spell with them.
Oh, hell no.
I sprinted after them.
They were fast, nearly to the portal. The cloaked figure waited for them, his impatience obvious from the way he shifted. I pushed myself, running as fast as I ever had. My lungs burned and my breath heaved.
All around, the battle raged, but our side was losing.
Desperately.
The women leapt into the portal.
Then all three disappeared.
No!
I was only feet away. So close.
The portal still glowed.
I leapt into it.
This was the most dangerous thing I could do. Stupid, really. It was common knowledge that jumping into unknown portals was basically a death sentence.
But we had no way to track the spell from here.
Right before the ether sucked me in, I heard Rowan scream. “Ana! No!”
Then the ether sucked me up and spun me around, carrying me on a wild ride through space. It was worse than normal, way more chaotic, and my stomach heaved.
When it spit me out into a dark forest, my head whirled. I fought the nausea as I frantically scrambled toward a pile of boulders, seeking a hiding space.
They didn’t know that I’d followed them.
If they found out, I was dead.
I huddled in a small space between two rocks, holding my breath as I took in my surroundings. Twisted old trees surrounded a ruined Roman temple in front of me. The portal had arrived right in the middle of the fallen column. Maybe they used the magic of the temple to make the mega portal? Probably.
I squeezed my eyes shut and focused on my hearing, but I couldn’t hear the three who had gone before me—just the rustle of the leaves and the hooting of an owl. The night was dark, illuminated by just a sliver of the moon that revealed twisted old trees and a few boulders scattered here and there.
The portal glowed with a faint gray light, and I waited.
No one else came through, and it faded.
I swallowed hard.
Holy crap, I was alone.
Adrenaline made my muscles tremble as I rose slowly, peeking over the tops of the boulders to find my targets.
I peered through the woods, finally catching sight of three figures walking toward the moon.
“Ana! Where the hell are you?” Rowan’s voice sounded loud and clear.
I slapped a hand over the comms charm and crouched down. “Shhhh!”
“Damn it, Ana! It’s too dangerous.” Lachlan’s voice hissed out of the comms, but it was quiet, at least.
“You can’t—” Bree’s voice was cut off by a scream, then a curse.
Panic flared inside me—for Bree and myself. I touched the charm, killing the connection briefly. I popped up, peeking over the top of the boulder to see if the three figures had heard me.
They kept walking, farther away. Thank fates.
I ducked back down again and touched the charm. “Bree! Rowan!” I whispered.” Are you okay?”
There was nothing.
They always answered. Even if it was just to tell me to buzz off if they were busy.
The fight must still be raging, and we’d been losing when I left.
Fear like I’d never known froze my muscles. Not my sisters.
I couldn’t lose my sisters.
I sucked in a ragged breath. Get ahold of yourself.
As quietly and quickly as I could, I left the shelter of the boulders and followed the three figures. I couldn’t lose this spell. Especially if the Protectorate lost this battle. Maybe I could even use it to save my sisters, somehow.
I shook the thought away.
They’d be okay. I wouldn’t need to save them.
They were great fighters. Lachlan was a great fighter. And so were all my friends at the Protectorate. They would make it out. Then they could come find me. Bree and Rowan had the tracking charms that linked the three of us. We’d had them for years, a safety precaution due to our lifestyle.
I ignored the fact that they didn’t always work and set off after my targets.
As I hurried silently through the forest, I tried to take stock of my magic. It was inside me, faint as usual, but I had at least a little bit. I gave my targets a good lead, hanging back far enough that I hoped they couldn’t hear me. The trees and boulders provided some cover, but when we reached an open field, I faltered.
Crap.
There was no way to sneak across that.
The three had already started walking through the field, which was a dormant vineyard. In the distance, a large manor house sat on a hill.
They were headed there. Maybe I needed to give them some time to make it all the way across, then I could sneak in?
But what if—
Pain exploded in the back of my skull, and I staggered forward, going to my knees.
“The boss won’t be happy about this,” a voice grumbled.
Stars floated in front of my eyes, and my head felt like it’d been split in two. Groggy, I rolled over and looked upward. There were four figures surrounding me, all of them demons. They were blurry though.
One poked me with his toe. And by poke, I meant kicked.
I grunted and squeezed my eyes shut. When I finally opened them, the four figures coalesced into two. Okay, so I had double vision.
That wasn’t good.
In fact, everything about this scenario wasn’t good.
“We’ll just have to bring her to him,” one of the demons said.
They were both a dark gray color, with large horns and fangs that extended past their chins. Ragged leather vests covered their wide chests, but no weapons hung from them.
Smoke demons, I had to bet.
I tried to scramble to my feet, but one of them kicked me again, right in the stomach.
Pain flared and I curled in on myself. Before I could straighten and try again, one of the demons picked me up and slammed me over his shoulder. Agony flared again, and I nearly puked on him.
I almost wished I had.
They carted me off through the vineyards, running at a slow jog that was misery on my stomach. I tried to take in the details around me, but it was just leafless vines and piles of dirt.
Would my friends be able to track me? Or was I screwed?
13
By the time we made it to the manor house, I was pretty sure I’d take death over another ten minutes over this demon’s shoulder.
Where were the Cats of Catastrophe when I needed them?
From far away, I hadn’t seen that the manor house was surrounded by a wall. It was at least twenty feet tall and seven feet thick—more suited to a castle than a winery. The demons carried me through the massive iron gate into a beautiful courtyard. It was all upside down from my perspective, but it was pretty.
Fountains burbled in the moonlight, and a carefully planned garden bloomed with flowers. That had to take some serious magic, since it was the middle of the winter.
For fates’ sake, that really wasn’t important right now.
I already knew these folks were mega-powerful. But all the blood rushing to my head seemed to make me stupid.
The demons carried me around the back of the manor, which had to contain twenty rooms, at least. Maybe more. I wasn’t good at judging size on large houses. We went through a heavy door and down some stairs. I caught sight of some enormous wine barrels, right before they chucked me into a cell and slammed the door.
“I hope we get a reward for her,” one of the demons said as he ambled away.
I scrambled up and grabbed the bars of my cell, peering out.
The cellar was dark and silent. Rows of enormous barrels watched me, silent sentries. There were no guards, at least that I could see, but my cell was locked tight.
I tugged on the bars anyway, because hope springs eternal, right?
Of course it didn’t work.
I sat back on my butt. “Shit.”
There had to be a way out of here. But first, I needed to know how my sisters were doing. I touched my comms charm. “Bree? Rowan?”
Silence.