When the smoke cleared, Andre stood over me, a hell blade in one hand while the other one was extended to me. “You okay?”
“Yeah, thanks,” I said, accepting his help to stand. As soon as I was up, my gaze searched for Alex.
Chena was squatting over him, pulling the Realm Slicer, now dripping blood, from Alex’s arm.
Oh crap. I need to get to him, and fast.
I called all the surrounding magical energies to me, and was two seconds away from making a warphole, when Chena slammed the blade into the ground. I watched, wide-eyed as the area beneath Alex began to shimmer, and he sank through the riverwalk.
“Nooooooo!” I screamed and thrust my hands toward Chena.A veritable blaze of power soared across the space between us.
The traitor spymaster barely had time to look up before my magic hit him, and he crumpled to the floor.
“Odie! Where’d Alex go?” Eva asked, running up to me.
Her presence snapped me out of my trance, and I cast a wild, defensive, glance around. We were kicking our opponents’ asses. The demon blades and the vampires had made a bigger difference than I ever could have imagined. Only three shifters remained fighting in animal aspect, and the fae and our shifters were tag-teaming them.
Eva gripped my arm. “I saw Alex, and now he’s gone!”
“I saw him too,” Magdalena came up behind me. “But I can no longer see or smell him. It’s like he vanished into thin air.”
I shook my head, and a lump rose in my throat, alongside the words I never thought I’d say.
“No. Not thin air. Alex is in Hell, and I’m going after him.”
“What?!” Hunter yelped, and I jumped because I hadn’t realized that he was behind me. “How?”
I pointed to Chena, lying motionless on the ground, the Realm Slicer at his side. “If he can use the Realm Slicer, I can too. If it doesn’t work for me, I’ll figure out how to warp there. I have to.”
“Well you’re not going alone,” Eva said.
“No, Eva, . . . I am. No one is going with me.” I twisted to face Hunter. “Here, take my demon blade. When I come back with him, I bet there will be more demons.”
Hunter shook his head. “No way, Odie. I’m going too.”
I fought their ludicrous wishes, but in the end, no one would let me get close to the Realm Slicer unless I allowed them to join me. All the witches except for Sam and Andre would join me in Hell. As would Simone and Francis. Magdalena and Anton wanted to come too, but the other vampires pulled rank. They insisted that we would need them here when we reemerged, which was probably true. I had a feeling that when we returned, we’d probably have a demonic tail following us.
“Why do you guys even want to go?” I asked Simone and Francis as I bent to pick up the Realm Slicer.
“Demons are disgusting, and we don’t want them in this world either, but their blood is good. I want first dibs,” Simone admitted with a shrug. “Plus, we’re lethal and practically indestructible. Who better to fight them?”
Touché.
I faced those who would stay behind. “The rest of you, be ready to fight. In fact,” my eyes found Andre. “We’ll need backup. Can you warp to Spellcasters and wake the professors? Tittelbaum first, so he can send people as you alert them.”
Andre looked unsure, but nodded.
“Go then,” I said. “But first, give the others your demon blade, in case you don’t make it back in time.”
Diana and I were leaving ours with the fae. They would do us no good in Hell. On the contrary, if they glowed red like they did in Chena’s presence, they’d give us away. There was atinychance that we could pass as cambions—half-human, half demonic offspring—in the underworld, but not if we traveled with blades meant to kill demons. When the moment came to fight we would have to rely on vampire strength and the incantations we’d learned to protect ourselves.
“Have the professors notify the other heads of schools too,” Dasha said. “Everyone needs to know.”
Ayla stepped forward. For the first time, I noticed that she was absolutely covered in blood. “We can help too,” the fae said and gestured for her sister to join her.
I shook my head. “I already told you, I can’t risk anyone else coming. The group is already larger than I’d like.”
“We understand. We’ll remain here and fight, but Sana and I can still help you in Hell.” She lifted her hand, and it began to glow.
