Tyson, Braxton, and Jacob all wore the same expression, none of them happy that our plan included separating, but they didn’t argue again. No doubt they were hoping that in the end they would be the ones in the most danger.
The three of them stepped back and quickly shucked their clothing off. No one bothered to look away; nudity was not a big deal in the supe world. I was too old to give a shit about seeing a few guys’ junks—the fact I was even saying the word “junk” told me I’d been hanging around my Alaskan shifter friends for far too long—once you'd seen some junk, you'd pretty much seen it all.
Well, sorta. The Compasses were pretty impressive in their nakedness—even if they were years too young for me, and all mostly in true mate bonds—and they were even more impressive when they turned into massive dragons.
Jessa let out a wistful sigh. “Some days I miss Josephina so much it’s actually painful. I miss having her close to talk to, and her power and protection. Especially now that I have children, being able to protect my pack seems more important than ever.”
I couldn’t even imagine a loss like that, something so fundamental to yourself. No wonder Jessa was so strong and resilient. She might be young, but she’d been through a lot.
Mischa and Grace wrapped their arms around her, and the three remained close as they watched the giant beasts rise up into the air. The lights that had been swirling around the circus turned in their direction. Braxton, a black-and-blue-scaled dragon, roared before flames spewed from his jaw. His wings flapped lazily, sending plumes of dust across the arid landscape. The other two flanked him, one a sleek green beast with scales that sparkled with an extra oomph of intensity, while the other was tawny and broad, and the glint of intensity in its large eyes told me that Tyson was just as determined in dragon form.
If not more so.
Three plumes of fire filled the sky, and more roars from the beasts. The lights were now all moving in their direction, which allowed us to creep forward in the shadows. Demons poured from the circus, heading toward them. They seemed to think that in large numbers they might have a shot against the dragon flame.
“How many demons exist here?” Justice whispered, ducking down as we hurried forward. “Like … are there millions?”
“No way to really tell,” I said, sliding under an open doorway of a nearby tent-like structure. “I would guess, maybe … a hundred thousand. The numbers increase as more supes ... and humans … find their way to the dark side. This land will not be able to contain them all one day.”
Cam shivered, her hands tightening on the sapphire stone she had clutched close to her chest. “They scare me,” she admitted in a whisper. “I have nightmares about being taken over by the darkness that we fought back in Faerie. Of falling like Grace did.”
It sounded like she’d been holding that fear inside. She looked astonished that she had admitted it out loud. Gretley reached out and wrapped an arm around her, pulling her close. “I have the same nightmare,” she murmured into the top of Cam's head. “I'm not sure I'll ever be able to close my eyes and not see that shadow again.”
My heart ached for all of them. I’d been young when my life fell apart too, but at least they had each other. These close family ties would help them get through it all.
“It’s only been a few days,” I said softly. “Give yourself time. Trauma does not heal overnight.”
Or even in a few decades. But it did get easier to live with.
We were all inside a huge tent now, and it was hotter in here than it had been anywhere else in this land. I continued to follow the pull of Louis’s power. Sticking to the shadows, I kept my senses alert for any demon presence, but it felt like this area was clear. That was, until we found ourselves on the edge of a red flame, one that reached all the way to the ceiling of this “tent.”
The wall of flames was different to any other fire I’d seen before. It was smooth, no flickering or surging, and it circled around something. The heat it emitted was intense, and whatever was inside the circle with Louis was dark. Like … fifty demons dark. “It feels like Louis is being held in here,” I said. “But there are also a lot of demons inside.”
Running my hands close to the fire, I said, “I’m going to try and blast a small hole through it so that we can enter.”
“Are you sure he’s in there?” Maximus asked.
I nodded. “Yep, definitely.”
To double-check, I walked the full circle of the flames and found no other trace of Louis outside of this spot. The others followed me until we ended up back in the place we started. “He's definitely inside, and the darkness I feel in there is growing.”
“I can feel it too,” Grace choked out. “It’s just like the shadow energy back on Faerie.” She lifted the crystal to chest height. The diamond was starting to glow in a way it hadn't since she picked it up from her land. “The jewels are responding.”
“Could there be a shadow here?” Cam asked, her eyes wide.
No one answered, because we really didn’t know what was inside. Shadows had started as upper-level demons, so while the one inside might not be exactly like the shadow she had fought in Faerie, it didn’t mean its power wasn’t similar. And there might even be more than one in there.
“We have no choice,” Jessa said with force. “We’ve left Louis too long as it is; who knows what he’s been suffering here at the hands of these demons. If he’s on the other side, I will not walk away now. I don't care what we have to fight to get him back.”
“This is why we had to be here,” Gretley said, straightening. I was starting to see that she was quiet and brave. “The jewels are designed to fight darkness. It's literally what our people have been doing for a very long time. We’re the best defense against the upper-level demons.”
“We're not trained though,” Cam reminded her, still looking fragile and scared. “We have no freaking idea what we’re doing.”
Justice shook out her hair, the red and orange of the fire reflecting off the white strands. “We need to stick together and go on instinct. It’s helped us defeat evil in the past, and it will help us again.”
Her reassurance seemed to instill a sliver of confidence in the others, and I didn't think they even realized it, but they all moved a little closer to one another, needing the comfort of their bond. Jessa met my gaze and smiled. “We got this,” she told me.
I was old enough to know that too much confidence could be lethal. You went in cocky, you didn’t plan enough, you got dead. But … we didn't really have another option. Louis needed us. He was right there, and I was channeling Jessa when I said, “Let's do this. The demons are going down, and Louis is coming home with us.”
