“If you want to go after your friend, you’ll go in the morning. But I won’t risk my people by opening that gate.”
Narcissa protested, “There’s a salt barrier. They can’t get in here.”
“I’m not taking that chance.”
I pulled on my hair. “She … she risked her life to create that portal for you, and to bring you that salt, and this is how you repay her?”
Benedict drew up to his full height. “She risked her life to save all of these people because she understands that thousands of lives are more important than one.”
I glowered. “I should have known this place was full of cowards.” I said to Narcissa, “Familiar, bring me my broom.”
Narcissa slunk into the crowd, obedient for once. I turned to Auggie, who’d been drawn by the commotion. “You stay here. This town will at least keephumanssafe.”
“Not on your life,” Auggie said, crossing his arms. “I’m coming with you.”
“You’re …” I stared at him in disbelief. “Auggie. There are demon-hounds out there.”
“And so is my friend.”
“Your …” I shook my head, incredulous. “How could you possibly help? You’ll only get in the way.”
To my surprise, he pulled something slender and made of metal from a sack. “With this.”
I blinked as he loaded two feathered projectiles into a tube and cocked the contraption. “What will that do?”
“A small explosion will propel these darts coated with a neurotoxin that should kill anything they hit. Including these hell-beasts of yours.”
I remained skeptical, but Auggie’s face was set. I didn’t have time to argue. “Just … do as I say, without question. You never leave the broom. At the first sign of trouble, you can use your weapon, but then I expect you to fly like the wind. Narcissa can ensure my broom takes you straight back here.”
“I can help more than—”
“The first sign of trouble,” I reiterated, pointing my finger in his face.
He looked unsure but nodded.
CHAPTER TWELVE
We flew farabove the trees on my broom. Auggie clung to me much harder than I would have liked. It might have been cute under less dire circumstances.
We were far too high for the demon-hounds to reach us, even if they could climb trees. Thankfully, they didn’t have much of a head start, and they left a rather clear path, bulky things that they were, so we knew we were on the right track as we zipped through the sky.
The knot in my stomach twisted as I noted the shadows to the east parting. A red glow bled from the horizon. It wasn’t the sun—it was lava. It was pretty in a way, but the closer we drew, the lighter it became, until the forest had fallen away in favor of the black husks of trees, long dead. Rocks turned molten. The temperature spiked in the air around us, causing sweat to bead on my forehead. I glanced back uneasily at Auggie. I was putting him in unnecessary danger by bringing him along, but I had the feeling that he would have followed after us on his own if I’d left without him. This option was safer than that, at least. And I didn’t exactly trust the people of Kingsbury. No, it was better to have him where I could keep an eye on him. “I think it’s safe to say we’re close to the Ember King’s home,” I said.
In the distance, a spire cut into the sky like an obsidian dagger. It glistened in an ominous, warm light that glowed from below.
“There!” Narcissa said, and beneath us a group of seven demon-hounds bounded across the rocks. I could just make out Freya on the back of the one in the middle.
I dove and the hound in front howled a warning. The hounds clustered closer to Freya, protectively. I descended to a few feet overhead.
The demon-hounds had ink-black coats and eyes that blazed a startling yellow. Their jaws were full of three-inch teeth, sharp, meant for rending flesh from bone. Their paws ended in equally-long nails, serrated. As I hovered above the pack, contemplating a course of action, the pointed ears atop the one closest to me flattened, and it swiveled its head in my direction. It crouched low and the reverberating growl in its throat grew, as its comrades stopped and turned to assess me.
One detached from the group to charge me, jaws snapping.
I quickly lifted higher into the sky to avoid its teeth, but it surprised me by leaping well into the air, forcing me to quickly course-correct out of its reach. When the beast returned to the ground, I noticed drool escape its mouth, glowing a molten orange. When a drop hit the ground, it suddenly flared into a fire, which fizzled out amid the black grass a moment later.
“I was hoping they wouldn’t actually resemble hounds,” Narcissa said, landing on the broom in front of me and sitting on her haunches. She gazed down at the demon-hound glaring up at us. “That’s a lot of teeth for such an empty-headed creature.”
I nodded slowly. “For once, we’re in agreement.”
