We’re maybe two thousand feet up and dropping fast. The ground is rushing up to meet us, spinning closer with every rotation. I can see individual trees now, their green canopies getting larger by the second.
Suddenly, Abaddon’s there in the space visible through the open back ramp.
He grabs one end of the helicopter from behind with both massive hands—claws digging into the metal for purchase. His enormous wings flap furiously, each beat creating gusts of wind I can feel even inside. The muscles in his arms and chest strain visibly, cords standing out in his neck as he fights against our momentum.
Slowly—so slowly—we begin to stabilize.
Then Remus appears at the shattered front windshield, glass crunching under his hands as he grabs the frame. His face is wild, eyes bright, grinning like this is the most fun he’s had in centuries.
Together, the brothers straighten us out.
The terrible noise of the churning blades from only moments before—that awful grinding, uneven rhythm that screamed mechanical failure—suddenly calms down to the normal, steady whup-whup-whup.
We level out, hovering smoothly now about a thousand feet up.
I breathe out hard and then laugh—a sound that’s half-sob, borderline hysterical. A quick sob escapes before I can swallow it down, and I gulp in a shaking breath.
Maybe this is just another day in their lives, but hello? Human here. My life is usually boring—spreadsheets and coffee runs and worrying about rent. I’m definitely not used to multiple near-death experiences within minutes of each other. Dragons and missiles and interdimensional portals were not in my life plan.
My hands are shaking so badly I have to grip the armrests to make them stop. My whole body is trembling with adrenaline crash. There are tears streaming down my face that I didn’t even realize were falling.
Remus flies around to join Abaddon at the back, and they both enter through the open ramp, landing gracefully despite the confined space. Their wings fold neatly against their backs.
Remus’s eyes immediately scan the interior, taking in the damage. The claw marks gouged into the side of the metal chassis. The bent frame. The terror on our faces.
“What’d we miss?” he asks, almost cheerfully.
He sits down beside me after Abaddon strides toward the front, already pouring a coat of shining blue-white runes around the entire helicopter. They spread like liquid light across every surface—the walls, the ceiling, the floor—until we’re cocooned in a protective shell that glows softly.
“There,” Abaddon says gruffly, satisfaction in his voice. “At least the bastards won’t be able to track us while we fly.”
Everyone seems so calm, like we almost didn’t just die in multiple disastrous ways. Multiple times. In multiple dimensions.
My heart is still hammering in my throat, threatening to break out of my ribcage entirely. I swipe at the tears on my cheeks with the back of my hand, but more keep coming.
“Dragons,” I manage to say, my voice barely a high-pitched squeak. “From another realm, I think.”
I’m still white-knuckling my seat hard enough that my knuckles have gone bloodless and pale.
Remus rubs his hands together enthusiastically and looks at Kharon holding his newborn daughter—now quiet and nursing peacefully at Ksenia’s breast like she didn’t just open a portal to hell. “Ahhh. Excellent. That’ll certainly make the vampires happy.”
All the heads in the back of the helicopter turn toward Remus simultaneously, eyes wide with shock.
I think I choke a little, the word catching in my throat.
“Vampires?” Abaddon says slowly, sounding anything but amused. His golden eyes narrow dangerously.
Layden glares back from where he’s flying, his knuckles white on the controls. “Dammit, Remus, I told you that in confidence.”
Abaddon’s expression darkens further as he stalks up the narrow aisle toward the cockpit, his heavy footsteps making the helicopter shudder slightly. “You’re taking us to the vampires?”
Wait.
I sit up straighter in my seat, wiping my face again.
Are they serious?
I want nothing more than to hurl myself into Remus’s chest and cry for hours until the adrenaline coursing through my body finally calms down. To feel his arms around me and know I’m safe. To just break down completely.
