“Hell’s a part of the Underworld, sure,” Bathin said.
“And this is a vortex to Hell?”
“This is. It’s also a crossroads of sorts. It’s loud, sparkly, and will drag anyone to their death given the chance. Just like a unicorn.”
“Hey!” Xtelle shouted. “I heard you!”
We stopped so close to the vortex, I could feel the heat off of the blob that was half way out of it. The blob spotted us. No, it spotted Bathin. And it froze, absolutely stone still.
“Jib,” Bathin said, “Draz. You boys couldn’t find some other town to terrorize?”
“You know these demons?” I asked.
“They’re not demons. They’re demon spawn. Kind of like pets who enjoy devouring their owners.” He bared his teeth, not a smile—definitely not a smile—and the blob in the hole wobbled happily.
“Draz here,” he waved at the one furthest out of the hole, “has a sweet tooth. You like the shiny ring, Draz?”
I held up the ring. The blob focused on my movement.
“Throw it to him,” Bathin said.
It could be a trick. The candy might just pour gas on the flame, bring more blobs into town. I hesitated.
“This would be agoodtime to trust me, Myra,” Bathin said pleasantly, without looking my way. His gaze was locked on Draz, and Draz stared right back like it was trapped and couldn’t look away.
I could feel it, couldn’t I? If I focused on Bathin, if I focused on how he was standing, how his words were spoken, the air around him? There was a power to him that he didn’t usually reveal so casually.
This was dangerous enough to warrant him stepping out of his billionaire-with-an-attitude-slumming-in-a-small-town act, to draw upon his power.
Bathin was showing just a small, a tiny, part of his real self. But that was enough to convince me he was not messing around.
I threw the ring at Draz.
Draz’s eyes rolled upward, and Jib followed suit. Too many tentacles were flailing, stretching. Draz caught the ring out of mid-air like a hot rookie outfielder.
And then Draz tipped backward and collided with Jib, like it had just lost its footing on a very narrow ledge.
Draz tumbled over once, sending Jib down and down. Draz split in two, then oozed back together with an audiblesnap. For half a second, the candy ring glittered blue in the midst of the lava-red and black of the blobs and the white of the vortex.
Then two yellow eyes widened in what looked like absolute joy as the ring was stuffed into a mouth hole.
The vortex spun faster, shone brighter. Draz and Jib were gone.
“And the turnip?” Delaney asked, splitting her attention between the empty vortex and the merry-go-round.
“Should get Klex back in the hole,” Bathin said.
“Klex is…” I asked.
“Scary-go-round over there.”
“Okay.” Delaney pulled her shoulders back. “Do I throw it?”
“No, you make it dance.”
“The turnip?”
Bathin spread one hand in a “yes” motion.
