“That you’d try to leave town without us.”
“Beeranda burger, baby,” Jean said. “Pay up.”
“I will pay as soon as we kick the king of hell’s ass.”
“Don’t aim for his ass,” Xtelle said. “Aim for his head.” She was in pink pony unicorn form, her horn glowing without any moonlight, sparkles wafting around her, creating a billowing cloud.
“Or his neck,” Avnas said. “He also has a bad knee.”
Avnas had decided to remain in his compact black bull form. His horns were extra wide now, curving into a very sharp, very dangerous looking arc. Black electricity snapped from the tip of each horn as he moved.
“So is this all of us?” Hogan asked, moving next to Jean to drop his arm over her shoulder. “You look badass, babe.”
“Same,” she said.
“No,” I said, “this is too much. We can’t all go.”
“Yes,” Bathin said, “we can. And we should. In this, I hate to admit, three demons are better than one. Also, the vampire refused to stay behind, and I don’t see you talking your sisters out of it.”
“I tried.”
“You failed,” he said.
“Hogan could stay behind,” Jean suggested.
“Hogan could not,” Hogan informed her.
Bathin gave me a look. “Waste more time arguing, or get the damn job done?”
“Get the damn job done,” I said.
“Then leave your gun in your Jeep. Those bullets will only injure or kill mortals, which will do you no good in the Underworld. The portal stone is this way.” He started off into the trees.
“Walking?” Xtelle complained. “But I just painted my hooves.”
I gave Myra a look. “Leave the gun?”
“Bathin’s right. It isn’t a weapon down there, it’s a liability.”
“Okay,” I said as everyone followed him into the forest. “I’ll lock it up and tell dragon-pig to go home.”
I jogged to the Jeep and opened the door. Light flooded the interior. “Hey, I’m sorry, but I gotta—”
But there was no dragon-pig. I guess it had seen me with my sisters, with the demons, with the vampire and then, knowing I was safe, it had popped back home.
I locked my gun away in the gun safe, then picked up my backpack from the back seat and slung it over my shoulders, adjusting for the unexpected weight. I didn’t remember the food and water I’d packed being that heavy.
I shut the door and locked it.
“Just,” I said, in case the dragon-pig was still in hearing range, “look after everyone, okay?”
Nothing but the wind in the trees answered me.
Chapter Sixteen
The portal stoneturned out to be a massive moss agate Bathin had stashed in the hills.
“What if someone had found it?” Jean asked.
