Ryder was human, and even though he had been claimed by a god, it was clear the draw of the vortex was hard for him to resist.
Delaney was both a Reed and currently soulless, so that explained why the vortex didn’t tempt her. Maybe that explained why she didn’t smell the apple pie too.
Bathin was a demon so he didn’t count.
But if any of our citizens, supernaturals or normals, came out here to enjoy the autumn day, they’d be jumping down that hole so fast, no one would be able to stop them.
Was the unicorn decoration? A lure to catch the eye and draw people close enough for the vortex to do its thing?
“Is it alive?” Delaney asked. I didn’t know if she meant the unicorn or the vortex.
“Hello, Xtelle,” Bathin said from behind me. Several yards behind me.
The unicorn blinked one of its huge, adorable eyes, and the wind ruffling its mane stopped. It tipped its head down stiffly as if it had been standing that way for an eternity. Its nostrils flared.
The hoof dropped, the waving mane and tail went flat, and the unicorn pranced in a little half circle to face us. “You.”
Its voice had a fluting quality to it, like a wet finger running around the edge of a crystal glass. It was beautiful.
“You shit!”
Okay. Not beautiful. Loud. Definitely loud.
“You!” Louder still. I stuck one finger in my ear to stop the ringing.
The unicorn stomped in place and swung its horn, calling down the pale light of autumn to catch diamond fire.
Bathin walked up to my side, a huge hulking mountain of muscle and attitude. He planted his feet wide and crossed his arms over his chest. “There are rules here, were you listening?”
He sounded calm. Bored.
I was surprised. Last I knew he was terrified of this unicorn. But now…now he was smirking, enjoying the unicorn’s angry—and adorable, the thing wasn’t even as big as some dogs I knew—prancing.
“You!” it piped.
“Ah, ah, Xtelle, that’s not very lady-like. Manners. Pay attention to the Reed sisters. This one’s Delaney. You might have heard of her?”
The unicorn narrowed her innocent-kitten eyes and glared at Delaney as if just now seeing her. “You aretheDelaney?”
“Yep. I’m the Delaney.” Still calm. Still holding tight to Ryder’s wrist.
Ryder was sweating, unable to look away from that vortex, but to his credit, he didn’t try to break away.
“Which one are you?” Xtelle asked.
“This one’s Myra.” The way Bathin said it sent chills down my skin. He put an extra hard emphasis on the beginning, making my name sound possessive: MY-rah. As if I belonged to him. As if he belonged to me.
The unicorn did not appear to miss that particular detail either.
“I see.” The unicorn snorted, and glitter puffed out of her nostrils in a little cloud. “Well, it’s about time you Reed women got here. Someone opened a portal to Hell. Good thing I arrived to keep anyone from walking into it.”
Bathin sucked in a soft breath, so slight a reaction, if I hadn’t already been paying attention to him, I might not have noticed it.
Something wasn’t right about what she was saying. It had surprised him.
I wasn’t sure if that was a good thing or a bad thing.
“Someone opened a portal,” Delaney repeated. “Is that what happened here? Because what I see is a vortex to Hell, and the only living thing anywhere near it is you.”
