“The fae are in too,” Ayla piped up for her crew.
My gaze trailed over the witches.
“We’re all in,” Diana said firmly. “Every single one of us has been affected by the demons trying to cross over in one way or another. We want to help.”
“Then I’m going to call a warphole,” I said not about to beg them to rethink it. I respected them too much to do that. “It will be unlike any I’ve done before.”
“How so?” Andre stepped up to stand next to me, presumably to help, although in this instance, he wouldn’t be able to.
I pulled my totem out from under the long-sleeved shirt I wore. “I’m going to use this to guide me to Alex. We did it once, when I was trying to teach him to warp.”
Andre’s eyes bugged out at that admission, but I didn’t have time to explain so I kept talking.
“Just let me go through first. I’ll call back if it’s safe. If you don’t hear me . . .” I trailed off, unsure what to say, because I had no clue what would happen if I screwed up.
“We’re with you,” Amethyst said.
I turned my back to them and gripped the totem with one hand. Never having asked Alex exactly how his totem had deposited him next to me during our lessons, I wasn’t sure what had happened, but I could make an educated guess. Our totems seemed to give us what we needed to survive, when we needed it. All we had to do was ask.
And if I could help it along, all the better.
Extending my other hand, I began manipulating the energies around me to create a warphole. Once I felt the shift, the mixture of heat and cold that signified I was making a portal, I requested assistance.
Please, take me to Alex. Wherever he is, I need to go there and save him.
The change was instantaneous. A flash of mixed fuchsia and crimson light blasted through the tower. I closed my eyes, and my friends cried out. The light didn’t let up. I was just about to open my eyes and see what was happening when I felt the energy of my warphole ripple across my skin, hot then cold, and darkness washed over me.
Seconds later, everyone in the Green Tower was deposited into a dirty cobblestone alley.
“I thought you said we’d have to walk through the warphole,” a voice—Anton’s, I think—asked.
“I did. Apparently, I was wrong.” I twisted to look at the group. “Seems like we’re all fine, though.”
Francis chuckled. “Good to know you’re so concerned with our well-being.”
“I am,” I said. “But out of everyone here, you four can definitely take care of yourselves.”
Vampires were practically indestructible and excellent fighters. And even though I wasn’t exactly sure where we stood on the friends-to-enemies scale, having them behind me was quelling my nerves.
“So where are we?” Sana asked as she glanced around and rubbed her arms with her hands to warm them.
I followed her gaze, taking in the buildings that climbed to the sky on either side of us. Two cars drove by at the end of the alley. A faint scent of fried food was in the air, and wherever we were, it was definitely nighttime.
“If the voices I hear a few streets over are any indication, we’re in the UK,” Magdalena offered and tilted her head. “Most likely London, judging by the regional accents.”
The passage Diana had pointed out to me earlier that year ran through my mind.My jaw tightened momentarily.
London. Of freaking course we’re in London.
“If that’s where we are, I have a hunch where we need to go. Anyone here know London like the back of their hand?”
Anton stepped forward. “I lived here for half a century. Only moved about five years ago.”
“Perfect,” I said.
Having the vampires in my corner was proving to be more beneficial than I ever could have imagined. I was happy that I’d followed my intuition and told them the truth.
I pointed to the end of the alley. “Let’s get onto that street. From there, we need to find the Thames.”
