“Now!” I screamed, and sprang into action.
Magic flew, hitting demon after demon as my friends attacked. The queen and king’s eyes dimmed, and they twisted, uncaring that we were injuring their peons, as they watched my magic stream over their heads and into the Thames.
The torrent of demons trying to exit Hell released horrible screeches. I held my breath, hoping that the hole would close and the sounds would stop. But the cries didn’t cease. If anything, as the seconds ticked on they became more intense. But then I heard acrack,and a stream of crimson flew over us to join my power.
I gasped, and although it was idiotic to turn my back on the king and queen of Hell, I whipped around.
The shield we’d placed around Alex was split in half, and he was sitting up. One hand clutched his chest, the one sporting his totem was spouting magic that mingled with Alex’s own.
“Odie,” he croaked. “Push harder. Now.”
I spun, and bolstered by hope that we could do this together, magic burst from my hands like it never had before and soared toward the river. It slammed into the water, sending ten-foot-tall waves to each side.
Lucifer and Ishtar finally saw fit to retaliate. Flourishing their arms, they sent tendrils of black, glimmering magic straight for Alex and me. But our friends doubled down on their attacks, hurling power at the queen and king in addition to the peons at their back.
Knowing that we had to hurry; I pushed harder. The others could only hold the royals off for so long. Especially, if they changed their mind and sent their minions after us.
Close the Hellgate. Please close the Hellgate,I begged my totem—Morgan’s magic—to aid us. She’d done it once, and she could do it again. I knew she could.
The seconds ticked on as I poured energy into the open Hellgate. Despite the winter cold, sweat ran down my face, and every muscle in my body trembled with exertion.
Then, things went from bad to worse. Ishtar, who had been fighting Hunter, flung a stream of power to the sky. It reached its apex and burst like a firework, producing shining tendrils of black power that fell in a massive dome, encompassing the Hellgate and ending just behind us.
We were trapped.
Ishtar began to cackle. “Give up!” the queen of Hell screamed. “You’re never going home or anywhere in this world ever again unless I command it! I am yourmaster!” She flung her hands to the sky, and a chorus of screeches and guttural bellows sounded.
I shook my head. My friends were still fighting—even Alex, and he could barely sit up. There was no way I would let them down.I pulled from deep within me and begged my totem for help. If closing the gate took every ounce of magic I had, or every bit of power Morgan could give, I’d give it.
Stars began to swim in my vision, and suddenly, I saw threads of all different colors spinning around me. The colors grew more vibrant, the yellow, purple, and green sticking out the most.
I gasped. “Diana! Hunter! Eva! I need your magic in the Hellgate!”
My friends switched tack right away, and part of the power that had been killing demons and battling royals diverted to stream over the horde. As soon as their magic hit the water, I felt the shift, the change in the air. My magic surged, and a sizzle of electricity zapped all my nerves. Then awhooshhit my ear, followed by a massiveboomthat shook the ground, knocking me over.
Ishtar released a blood-curdling scream, and my heart squeezed. I glanced up to find that demons no longer streamed from Hell.
“Holy shit,” Hunter’s exhausted voice breathed. “We did it.”
A smile broke on my face, only to vanish a moment later when Ishtar spun around, her eyes blazing red and staring straight at me. Her wings snapped out.
My heart stopped.I had seconds to act.
I leapt up and summoned the energies around me, preparing to make a warphole. They came readily, naturally. I manipulated them and flung them out in front of me as my mouth opened to instruct my friends to rush through the portal.
But nothing happened.
No warphole appeared and the magical energy I’d just worked with fizzled on the spot. A pit formed in my stomach.
Ishtar’s laughter boomed. “I told you witch! This world is cut off to you! There will be no warping to safety this time. You’remine!” She gestured up to the shield, and I realized that it was somehow nullifying my ability to make a warphole.
She knew I’d try this and came prepared to stop it.My jaw clenched, but not about to give up, I tried again. Sweat rolled off my face as I pushed myself and my magic to do as I wanted. Fuchsia poured into the air, and yet, it never coalesced into a perfectly circular warphole.
This cannot be happening! Help me Morgan!
The plea ignited my totem once again and light and color that was not mine poured from it, illuminating the pink and purple hues of my magic. And then, something I saw made me stop. The threads of color I’d noticed earlier popped in the fuchsia, but as I stared more joined them and spun around us. Every color or the rainbow was present in varying lengths, and I swore that I heard voices—children laughing, women talking, a couple conversing.
I’d seen this before. Time was presenting itself to me. I sucked in a breath and following a hunch that I knew was coming from Morgan, called on the strands of time.
