“A courthouse. I think in New York,” Hunter said. “There was a vampire here, but after we beat it, a lesser demon showed up and . . . sacrificed herself. We think many others must have done the same in Hell, because Ishtar arrived right after.”
New York.The guys had been only miles away from me during my trial. Just miles, and yet our circumstances had been vastly different.
“I suppose we could always drive back to Spellcasters,” Hunter continued. “It would take all night, but I have enough energy left.”
“No,” I said. There was no way that I was risking being out in the open after what had just happened. Spellcasters wasn’t totally safe either, but the wards and gates around it were more secure than the flimsy metal of a car. “I’ll try to open a warphole to Spellcasters.”
Hunter gaped, and Alex placed a careful hand on my shoulder.
“What?” I demanded. “I just made one to Hell. Do you doubt me?”
The boys cringed, but recovered quickly and shook their heads.
“It’s not that we doubt you,” Alex said. “You just look so spent—rightfully so, if you finished your challenge and came to save our asses afterward.”
Well, thatwastrue. I was exhausted, but something told me I could do this.
“Help me up and then stand back,” I commanded, and the guys acquiesced.
I unclasped my necklace. Holding it in both hands, I extended it as far as possible from my body, not wanting to be struck by its erratic magical energy, should it come rushing out. Sure, it had helped me a second ago, but who knew what else my totem was capable of? It seemed to act on emotional whims and needs.
My spine straightened.Needs. Do I need to tell it what I require?
Take us home. Take us home. Take us home.I repeated my desire like a mantra, willing every drop of power to pour from me.
Fuchsia energy flooded out of my hands and formed small wind funnels, whirling and spinning in different directions. I tried to push the funnels out so they’d encompass both guys too, but they stayed close, hovering over my skin. It was like they didn’t want to do my bidding—or couldn’t, with what I’d given.
‘Creating warpholes is just a manipulation of our energy, like any other magic we do. It simply dives deeper into our being.’
Professor Tittelbaum’s words from the first time I’d experienced a warphole rang through my head, and suddenly, I realized that doing this alone was impossible.
“I need help,” I said.
“What can we do?” Hunter asked when they’d joined me.
“You can hold me up.” I gave him a weak smile. “And, Alex, I need you to place your totem in my hands.”
Without hesitation, Alex pulled his ring off his finger and placed it in my palm.
Instantly, the skin of my hands warmed. Judging by the widening of Alex’s eyes, he felt it too. Another stroke of intuition hit, and before he could remove his hand, I grasped it tight.
“We’ll stick together.” My gaze locked on his. “Can you pour energy into me? I think I know how to do the rest.”
He nodded, and not a second later, crimson magic swirled in the air to complement mine. The energies resonated around me, some the same, some dissonant, but all constructive.
You can do this.
I gave it all I had left. A flash of fuchsia and red shot through the air, stopping and hovering like a ball of light a few feet in front of us.
Help,I pleaded the totems.Please take us home.
Both the necklace and the ring began to glow and vibrate. I asked once more for help, and tendrils of smoke emanated from the totems, red and fuchsia, and floated toward the ball of light.
The second the tendrils joined the ball of light, the colors disappeared, and a black hole expanded before us.
I sucked in a breath, but doubt still creeped in. How had it worked? Had it actually worked, or was this something else? There was only one way to know.
With Hunter’s assistance, I took a step forward and listened.
