My magic surged out of me and slapped her across the face.
A dazed expression came over the queen of Hell, but the show of power had not drawn blood.
“Nothing we do will stop her. We have to get out of here now!” Fear dripped in every syllable Hunter spoke.
We whipped around and sprinted toward the door. Seconds before we got there, it slammed shut, and Ishtar roared with laughter.
“The only way you’re leaving here is with me. Now, come to your master.”
I watched as her eyes began to glow red, and suddenly, a compulsion to obey her overcame me.
She only has to make eye contact to possess us.The realization struck like a lightning bolt to my heart, and my eyes snapped shut as I tried to pry the door open.
“Yes, handsome boy, come to me.”
What?!
I whirled around and squinted one eye open. What I saw stole all the breath from my lungs. Alex was walking toward Ishtar. He was submitting to the demoness, possessed by her.
I had to save him.
An intense wave of energy flew from my hands, and I staggered backward. It slammed against Ishtar, bowling her over. Her eye contact with Alex was severed, and he broke from her hold and darted backward, closer to Hunter and me.
The next second, however, Ishtar was back, her mouth set in a determined line, and her eyes narrowed as she took me in. “So, it is you.” Her hand shot toward me again, and our trio scattered.
I dove right, but Ishtar must have been expecting it, because her fingers brushed my ankle. I loosed a scream as the skin there burned with the fire of a thousand suns. I crab-walked back, but was unable to rise.
The queen laughed. “Did my little mark sting, witchling? Perhaps you don’t possess much of Merlin or Morgan after all. Now, come to me.”
Again the sensation of losing myself came over me, and I rose from the ground to go to her, only to have Hunter slam into me.
“No, Odie, don’t submit.”
I wrenched him off me and socked him in the jaw.
Ishtar laughed. “Yes! Show him what you’re made of! Come to me and leave the weakling boys behind.”
“No! Odie—”
I pulled my arm back to punch Hunter again, but he twirled out of the way. A heartbeat later, Alex took his place, his hand stopping mine, cupping it, and weaving his fingers through mine. As soon as our skin touched, our totems began to glow, and I came back to myself.
Ishtar’s eyes widened. “It’s both! The blood of Merlin and Morgan has reunited!”
Alex and I locked eyes. Our grips tightened and, suddenly, beams of light more intense than any I’d seen before burst from our totems. Without our instruction, the light flooded around our trio, forming a protective orb of power.
The demoness roared, and her eyes narrowed. “You can’t keep me out. I’ll take all three back with me!” Her screams shook our shield.
She was right. We might be safe for now, but the orb wouldn’t last forever. Ishtar was too powerful.
“How the hell do we get out of here?” Hunter asked.
“We can’t kill her. We have to send her back to Hell—somehow,” Alex said, his tone tight from the energy it took to keep the orb over us.
I gaped. We hadn’t learned the sacred incantation to send a queen of darkness back to hell—shit, we didn’t even know how to do that with greater demons, which were far less powerful. But Alex’s words had sparked a memory from my first time walking through a warphole.
“Guys! A warphole is just a lot of magical energy, right? Enough to bend space and time?”
Both boys nodded.
