Chapter 12
Tension knottedMae’s stomach as Violet and Miles drew a circle on the ground.
They were inside the basement of the condemned New York coven headquarters, on Madison Avenue. Though the building remained unstable, the magic built into its foundations still made it the most secure place in the city from which to attempt to teleport to Hell.
Light stabbed through the scaffolding enclosing the high-rise above them, the beams painting pale lines on the runes surrounding Mae, Nikolai, Vlad, and Cortes.
It was early Sunday morning and the city was just waking up. The unnamed victims whose remains were yet to be identified occupied the headlines of all the news channels. Rumors of mass abductions and ritual killings abounded on the internet and social media. Bryony and Abraham had spent most of yesterday fielding calls from concerned covens around the country and abroad.
Magic hummed through the air as the powerful witches and sorcerers who’d gathered in the gloom-filled space prepared to pour their powers into the divine barrier Violet and Miles planned to erect.
“Any last words of wisdom before we do this?” Mae asked Violet.
Violet hesitated. “Artemus did give me a piece of advice to pass on to you. I wasn’t sure if he was being serious though.”
Mae brightened. “He did? What’d he say?”
Violet made a face. “He said to treat Hell like an amusement park.”
Mae gave her a leaden look.
“I told you he might be pulling your leg,” Violet muttered.
Vlad scowled. “Does that guy have a screw loose?”
“There’s a reason we call him an idiot.” Violet sighed at their expressions. “I suspect he meant it. He said the best way to survive Hell is not to get bogged down by the tiny details and to focus on why you’re going there in the first place.”
Mae swallowed. Artemus Steele had forced his way into the Underworld to save his brother. Now that the time had come to put her own crazy plan in motion, she was feeling nervous. The disquiet churning her stomach had as much to do with the fact that she was going to be visiting a place only a handful of living humans had ever been to, as it had with the doubts she still harbored about the success of her mission.
It was a stab in the dark to hope that Armaros might be able to fix Hellreaver or that she would be able to locate Azazel’s whereabouts.
Do not fret, my witch,Brimstone said. Armaros was the best blacksmith in all of Heaven before he fell to Hell. And I am certain my master will feel your presence when you enter that realm. The fox wagged his tail. The Underworld can be quite an entertaining place once you get past the lava pits and the rivers of fire where the souls of the damned writhe in eternal suffering.
Mae grimaced. “You’re not helping, Brim.”
“What did he say?” Nikolai asked guardedly.
“You don’t wanna know.”
“By the way, be careful if you meet a purple helldragon called Vozgan,” Violet warned. “That guy has a tendency to want to eat any human he meets first and ask questions later.”
“Is that the helldragon who fought the undead chicken?” Cortes said flatly.
Violet blinked. “How’d you know?”
“Wait,” Roman whispered to Nadia. “There are helldragons?!”
Miles straightened where he’d been putting the finishing touches to the spell. “Alright, I think we’re done.”
“You really sure about this?” Karin said in a brittle voice as Miles and Violet took up position at opposing cardinal points. “There’s still time to change your mind. After all, this might be a one-way ticket to the Underworld for all of you.”
Mae met her anxious gaze steadily. “My father is down there, as is my mother. Besides, I’m sure you’ll be glad to have me out of your hair for a while.”
“Oh.” Karin squinted. “You mean, we’re supposed to enjoy performing the bulk of your duties while you go traipsing about on a ridiculous adventure?”
Mae sighed. “I’m not sure traipsing is the correct term for what we’re about to do.”
Derrick muttered something under his breath. Gerard rolled his eyes.
Anya walked over to Cortes, clasped his face, and tugged his head down for a heated kiss.
“Those two should get a room,” Raven muttered after a full minute had passed. Her vine snake hissed where he’d coiled around her shoulders.
“Yeah,” Roman mumbled, his ears reddening.
Anya finally peeled her lips from Cortes’s, her face flushed.
“Come back to me,” she breathed shakily.
He took her hand and kissed her palm, his expression fierce. “I will. I promise.”
“Good luck,” Marlena said quietly.
Nadia grinned and gave them a thumbs up. “Break a leg.”
Ephra cut her eyes to the Sun Magic High Priestess.
“I really wish you’d let me come with you,” Roman said dejectedly.
Mae made a face. “Ludmila will burn the city down if I do that. And Budimir will probably light the torch for her.” She looked at Bryony and Abraham. “Hold the fort while I’m gone, will you?”
Bryony frowned. “We will. Say hello to Astarte for me.”
“Don’t do anything too crazy,” Abraham murmured.
Magic exploded around Violet and Miles as they incanted Shield. The maelstrom of purple and gold flowed along the outer edge of the circle before rising to fuse into a dome that surrounded Mae and the three men.
The witch and the sorcerer stabbed their weapons into the edge of the barrier and brought forth the divine energy they had inherited by virtue of their alliance with their friends in Chicago.
A shimmering, translucent layer covered the shield. Bryony and everyone else poured their powers into it.
“Whenever you’re ready!” Violet shouted above the violent hum of magic filling the underground space.
Brightness bloomed in Nikolai and Alastair’s eyes. A scarlet haze enveloped Vlad and Tarang. Gold flared on Cortes’s skin and in his and Popo’s pupils.
Mae took a deep breath and called forth the power that was hers and hers alone to wield. The basement trembled as a tempest of crimson laced with black and white flashed into life around her and Brimstone.
She placed a hand on Cortes’s stomach. He met her resolute gaze, clenched his jaw, and dipped his head.
Mae’s heart thumped as she drew on her bond with Brimstone. She focused his mind into her connection with Cortes’s core, Na Ri bolstering the link with her own memories.
A moment passed.
The sorcerer drew a sharp breath.
“I—I can see it!” he mumbled dazedly, his eyes growing unfocused. “I can see their memories of Hell!”
“Now!” Mae ground out.
She invoked Levitate and Contain just as Vlad and Nikolai pressed their hands to her back.
Arcane Magic pulsed from Cortes and Popo.
“DISTORT!” the sorcerer barked.
The world twisted dizzyingly around them. The basement vanished. There was a blistering sensation of speed.
They emerged on the edge of a battlefield filled with the war cries of a thousand demons and hellbeasts.