CHAPTER 77
The squad left under the cover of predawn darkness.
The Abyss wasn’t far away, and their steeds were fast. They could get there, close it, and be back long before the ceremony started at noon, leaving plenty of time for anything extra that came up, like burns.
Bad ones. Bristol had Reuben’s balm with her, just in case.
When they were high enough and far away enough, they finally broke their suffocating silence.
“I threw up last night,” Rose said. “I’m not sure if it was because of the excitement or because I found out I was eating goose for dinner.”
Rose didn’t eat fowl, which was understandable. Even when she was a hawk, Rose wouldn’t eat other birds. Too much of her human sensibility stuck with her.
“I have a potion Esmee gave me for my stomach if you need any,” Bristol said. “Mine’s been a little touchy too.”
“I’ll take some of that,” Hollis said, rubbing her belly. “I think it’s just the tension.”
“I should have asked Esmee for a six-pack,” Bristol replied, and they laughed.
“A six-pack?” Avery said. “I’ll take one, but make it a good pale ale, with pretzels.”
“You’re in luck,” Hollis said. “When I was shopping, I saw a pub in town that can set you up with that—just like back home.”
“I heard the town was empty,” Avery answered. “Everyone is leaving for safer places.”
Julia sighed. “True, but they’ll be back when this is over.”
The words hung in the air. When this is over. It all hinged on so much going right. Every time Bristol thought about facing her mother again, she felt queasy, not about her own lies and deceptions to get Cael but at the thought of her mother standing at Kormick’s side.
Sashka broke the grim silence. “Okay, these aren’t last words or anything. Don’t read too much into it, but I want you all to know, I love you. You know, before everything goes down. That’s all. I love you. All.”
Hollis laughed. Rose teared up and wiped her eyes. Julia grinned. “We know that, Sashka. You’ve shown us every day. But it’s still nice to hear. You know, before everything goes down. We love you too.”
Sashka nodded. “I knew that.”
“Remember that first day we all met?” Hollis mused. “I was terrified when Julia shifted into a cat, never mind a lion. There wasn’t a chance I would shift into a mouse at that point.”
Julia suppressed a laugh. “Luckily, mice have never been on my menu.”
“I was terrified by Ceridwen Hall,” Avery confessed. “It was so big. All those floors of books above us? I thought I had gotten in way over my head.”
Bristol chuckled. “I was certain I had. I was trying to figure out how to gracefully sneak out of the room.”
“Nah,” Rose said, “you were tough from the moment you got there.”
“Tough and reckless are two different things.”
They reminisced about their first days together and how far they had come, what they had learned, and the wonders they had seen. And the sorrows.
Hollis sighed. “So much has happened. It seems like a lifetime already.”
The others murmured their agreement.
They descended over the ridge of mountains and down the gorge, until they came to the steep cliff that held the Abyss portal. They hovered for a moment, making sure there were no Fomorians or demons present outside the hellhole.
“This is it,” Bristol whispered. The others nodded their readiness and drew their swords, ready to be her ears, eyes, and shields so she could concentrate only on the Abyss.
Bristol landed on the ledge, a fair distance from the portal in case any tentacles reached out.
She stared at the towering rock and felt its corrosive darkness reaching out to her already.
Instead of bees humming in her chest, she felt the loud drone of misery, the pounding and screams of centuries.
A suffocating gloom clutched her throat.
She stepped closer, eager to get it over with, then gave a last glance at her palm, smooth and unburned, and wondered if she would ever see it that way again.
She punched her hand into the portal before the wretched drone could consume her.
Her hand sparked with brilliant dark light.
Purple and black tendrils twisted around her arm, traveling up to her shoulders, lashes, and hair.
A powerful whirr buzzed over her skin and blinding sparks flew from her hand.
It was intoxicating in a different way from the other portals, a thrilling fear streaming through her like the light was inviting her in.
Join us. Instead, her grip tightened on the light.
It tugged back, the dark power of the ages, but then she knew she had it.
She controlled it. She saw demons within screeching, writhing, knowing the power she had over them, and they clawed their way toward the portal.
She closed her fist and yanked hard on the buzzing light, saying, Duseen o duras nay tulay—may this portal be no more.
And just like that, the screams, the demons, and the Abyss portal were gone.
She looked down at her palm, and there wasn’t a single blister.
She blew out a cleansing breath. Tyghan was right. It’s all going perfectly.