There was a chilly bite to the morning air as we headed back into Little Grassmarket Close, the alley where we were scheduled to meet Cass, Nix, and Del.
Ten figures waited for us near the glowing orange portal. Four guards from the Protectorate, who were in charge of not letting anyone through to Kart-hadasht, along with Cass, Nix, Del, and three tall, muscular men.
I hadn’t seen them in years, but I immediately recognized them as the significant others of my friends. Aidan, Cass’s guy, was the Origin, the descendent of the first shifter. Roarke, Del’s guy, was the Warden of the Underworld, a dark-haired demon hybrid who was in charge of keeping order in the Underworld. Ares, Nix’s guy, was a half vampire, half mage who was one of the rulers of the Vampire realm.
I was glad they’d come to help. They’d make good backup.
Nix stepped forward and waved. “I’m Nix Knight.”
Everyone made introductions, then Cade stepped forward. “The plans are simple. We’ll go to Kart-hadasht, where we’ll then cross through the portal to the stronghold, which is a mirror of the ancient city on earth, but completely intact. Caro, Ali, and Haris will go to the accountant’s office to get whatever records they can about the Rebel Gods’ operations on Earth. Jude, you’ll lead Aidan, Roarke, and Ares toward the second location deeper in the city where we hope we’ll find more records. Once you’ve all completed your tasks, contact us on your comms charms, and then get out of there.” He handed around the comms charms he’d gotten last night. “The rest of us—myself, Bree, Ana, Nix, Cass, and Del—will head for the eternal flame in the Temple of Melqart to steal the power that fuels the stronghold in the ether. Once that’s done, we’ll run for it and get out before the stronghold is destroyed.”
“You’ll have to exit the way we came in,” Jude said. “The harbor at the stronghold should be the last place to be destroyed, as it is linked to the real world. If you’re fast, you should make it.”
We all nodded, and tied the comms charms around our necks.
“Be ready when we go through the portal,” I said. “There could be guards there. We caused a…um, bit of a fuss when we performed recon.”
Everyone drew their weapons, an assortment of swords, daggers, and bows. I chose my daggers, since I’d be fighting from the air.
A tornado of gray light formed around Roarke, the Warden of the Underworld, and he shifted into his demon form. His skin turned a dark gray while wings of the same color sprouted from his back. His eyes turned black and his features sharper. Next to him, Ares adopted his vampire form, a bigger, harsher-featured version of himself. Del, the half-Phantom, shimmered and turned a transparent blue. Nothing could hurt her in that form.
I let my wings unfurl. “Everyone ready?”
They all nodded.
I led the way through the orange portal, Mayhem at my side. The ether sucked me in, spitting me out in the harbor at Kart-hadasht. I shot straight into the air to clear the way at the portal, then wheeled around and looked down, searching for any threats.
There were a dozen demons below, all waiting for us, I had to assume. Each was a hulking demon with pale white skin and huge red horns. I debated shielding us with invisibility, but we could beat them without it. I had to save my power for the big fights.
I hurled my dagger at the closest one. The blade sank into his eye. Blood spurted. The demon next to him shot a blast of blue light at me. I dodged, narrowly avoiding the electric shock.
Cade leapt from the portal next, going straight for a demon on the right. Then Jude, Ana, and the rest. One by one, they broke off and went on the attack.
I aimed for the last demon, but Mayhem got there first, landing a massive blow of fire to his chest. He whirled around, alight, and I threw my dagger at him. It plunged into his neck, and he collapsed backward.
The demons were all down, their bodies disappearing back to their underworlds.
I landed amongst the group. “I don’t think any of them had comms charms. Hopefully they didn’t set off any alert.”
“Fingers crossed,” Del said, her face glowing a pale blue. “I prefer stealth.”
“We’ll likely face more demon guards,” I said. “But if we’re lucky, the Rebel Gods won’t show.”
“How are we getting to the stronghold in the ether?” Nix asked.
“We’ve got a ride.” I turned to Cade. “Will you go up and trigger the hippokampoi?”
As Cade ran up the stairs to the temple, Cass looked at me. “A real hippokampoi?”
“If we’re lucky.”
At that moment, Cade stepped out of the appropriate door from the temple, re-triggering the magic that called our ride. It glowed gold, then the light shot through the stones on the floor and down into the water.
I watched the harbor, my shoulders tense.
Little waves appeared, then a shimmering green horse’s head broke the surface. Wings unfurled, and the creature neighed.
“Whoa,” Caro said.
The hippokampoi eyed us all, clearly doing some mental math. Cade approached and pulled a ham out of the big bag on his shoulder. The hippokampoi neighed again, then whistled.
Four more hippokampoi appeared, swimming for the dock.
“Oh, thank fates,” I murmured. “That’ll make things easier.”
Cade and Mayhem set up an assembly line, with Mayhem using her fire breath to heat the hams and Cade tossing them to the horse-fishes.
Once they’d all swallowed them whole, they sidled up to the quay.
“All right, everyone,” I said. “Get on. They’ll take us through the portal. I’m going to use my gift over illusion to conceal us as we arrive in the other realm. I can’t keep it up for long, but hopefully it’ll give us enough time to take out any guards stationed at the entrance harbor. Once we’ve taken them out, it’s go time.”
There was a chorus of nods and agreements, then everyone climbed onto the hippokampoi in groups of three.
“This is pretty badass,” Del said, her black hair gleaming in the light of the moon.
I had to agree. Riding mythical beasts was high on my list of faves.
Once we were all seated, the animals took off through the water, heading in a line toward the portal.
They swam through, and magic prickled against my skin. The air went bright and golden briefly, and I called upon my gift of illusion, imagining all of us as invisible.
As soon as we arrived in the harbor filled with ancient boats, I leapt off the hippokampoi, my wings unfurling and carrying me high into the air.
I spotted a guard lounging on one of the boats, and drew my dagger from the ether. I hurled it, hitting him in the throat. He gurgled, blood spurting, then keeled over. All around, other guards fell, weapons protruding from their bodies.
The attack was silent, and since I couldn’t see any of my friends, it was also very strange. Like a weird plague of mysterious flying weapons.
Soon, all the demon guards were on the ground, their bodies disappearing back to their underworlds. It wouldn’t be so easy if we ran into any Rebel Gods, but I was going to take what I could get.