“Yeah.”
Roarke returned a moment later, grabbing Nix’s hand and pulling her through. I adopted my Phantom form and followed, stepping through the portal without a problem.
On the other side, my friends stood in Roarke’s garden. I’d forgotten how pretty it was, and how different from the rest of the Underworld. The air smelled of flowers and was slightly damp, as if it’d just rained. Tumbling roses grew on the path on either side, and every shade of green surrounded us.
“This isn’t so bad,” Cass said as a swan floated by on the lake.
“Wait until you see the rest,” I said.
We set off through the garden, encountering only swans and flowers. By the time we reached the house at the other end, I was vibrating with tension, just waiting to stumble into a demon. No matter what Roarke said about being able to control the demons here, I did not want to run into one.
Even being here at all made me feel like I might have to stay.
Roarke led the way into the main foyer. I’d been out of my mind with fear and pain last time I’d been here, running for my life, so I hadn’t been able to fully appreciate the grandeur of the massive space. In all fairness, I probably wasn’t appreciating it now, with my eyes darting all over the place looking for demons.
“Whew.” Nix whistled as she looked up at the high ceiling. “This place is fancy.”
“It’s really more for show,” Roarke said. “Demons respect strength and wealth.”
“Who doesn’t?” I asked.
As soon as the words were out of my mouth, four hulking demons walked into the hall. They were dark gray with massive horns. Dozens of weapons were clipped to their leather utility vests like horrible ornaments.
The deadly Christmas trees. I remembered these jerks. They’d chased me down last time I was here.
Unable to help myself, I stiffened.
Their gazes were drawn immediately to me, making my heart race, but they didn’t linger. Instead, they lowered their eyes and knelt before Roarke.
“Warden,” they rumbled in unison.
“Rise,” Roarke said.
They rose, their gazes on him. They were scary bastards, but not as scary as Roarke. His demeanor had changed, and though he technically looked no different, something in his eyes and posture made it clear that he was the boss.
“We need a guard,” he said. “You will escort us. There is a chance that we may depart for another Underworld. In that case, you will attack any other demon that approaches us.”
They nodded in unison, then took up position behind us.
“Lead on,” Roarke said to me.
I focused on my dragon sense, picking up the thread of direction and following it out the front door and into the courtyard. It was grayer and darker here, nothing like the beautiful garden out back. But by the time we reached the gate and walked over the drawbridge that spanned the smelly moat, it was clear we were in hell.
“I see what you mean,” Cass muttered.
“Right?” The horrible vista stretched out before me, a barren hellscape punctuated by patches of flame and an endless expanse of jagged black rocks. A strange gray haze shimmered on the air.
“I can see why you choose to live in Magic’s Bend,” Nix said to Roarke.
“Commuting is better,” he agreed.
Our demon guard tromped along behind us as we made our way over the jagged rocks, dodging the crevasses that plunged deep into the ground. Sweat rolled down my skin as we walked. Though we encountered demons, they took one look at Roarke and hurried about their business.
We’d been walking for over an hour by the time we reached a portal. It was a shimmering black hole in the air, unlike the one on Earth. Here in the Underworld, they weren’t concerned with hiding portals from humans.
My dragon sense pulled inexorably toward it. I’d been expecting it—no way this was going to be so easy that I found the sword blade in Roarke’s Underworld—but it made my heart race all the same.
“We have to go through,” I said.
“I’m not sure where this one leads.” Roarke turned toward the demons and pointed to the two nearest to him. “Morphus and Kartis, come with me. We’ll check it out first.”
The two demons nodded and stepped forward. Roarke didn’t have to take their hands as they stepped through. All three disappeared.
The Underworld suddenly felt different without Roarke. Way more threatening. I glanced back at the other two demons, whose gazes were riveted to me. Confusion and something like anger or annoyance glittered in their black eyes.
Great. Just the kind of enemy I wanted.
A moment later, two figures hurtled out of the portal, straight at us. I stumbled back as Roarke tossed onto the ground the frozen blue body of one of the demons who’d accompanied him. He ducked back into the portal and returned with one more frozen demon, throwing him onto the ground next to the first. They looked like cartoons of mountaineers who’d been trapped on a snowy mountain.
“We have a problem,” he said.
At my feet, the demons began to lose their blue tinge as they thawed.
“Are they dead?” I asked. “What’s over there? Mount Everest?”
“Basically,” Roarke said. “It’s an ice hell. Morphus and Kartis aren’t dead, but they’re close. Their species can’t survive the cold, not like human bodies can.”
They must be native to this sweltering hellscape.
“That means we’re losing our guards,” Aidan said.
“Yes.”
Roarke turned to the two demons who were still standing. “See that your colleagues are revived. Thank you for accompanying us. You may resume your normal duties.”
The two demons bowed low, then each hauled up the body of one of the others. After tossing them over their shoulders, they turned and headed back across the fiery wasteland of Roarke’s Underworld.
“On our own.” Nix rubbed her hands together. “We’ve got this.”
I sure hoped so.
We went through the portal the same way we’d passed through the other—in groups.
As soon as I stepped out on the other side, I sucked in a harsh breath, then coughed. The air was so cold it felt like my lungs were frozen.
Ahead of me stretched the most awe-inspiring vista I’d ever seen. It was like we were on top of Everest, but we were surrounded by a hundred more Everests. Jagged mountains coated with snow stretched as far as the eye could see. The wind whipped at fifty miles an hour—or something crazy strong like that; I wasn’t a meteorologist—blowing my hair back off my face and making my eyes water.
“This sucks!” I yelled over the wind.
“Can I transport us to the end goal?” Cass asked.
Roarke shook his head. “Safer to walk. That way we know what we’re heading into. We could appear in the middle of a mass of demons, otherwise.”
He had a point. I shivered hard as I called upon my dragon sense. The tug came quickly. “We’re not far!”