Nervous chuckles all around, and then: “Wait!” Grace startled, her hands flinging to the sides. “We need the power of the jewels. I don’t have any diamonds on me. Should we gather stones from our lands first?”
Gritting my teeth, because I was currently a conduit between two powerful energies—my own and Faerie’s, I nodded my head. “Yes, sure, but please hurry. This is not the most pleasant of sensations.”
I heard Tyson clear his throat, and I turned to see him nearby. “Are you holding a ley line right now?” he asked, blinking at me. “Like ... just holding the energy and not directing it anywhere?”
I nodded, amusement spiking through my mind. There was so much fascination in his focused gaze. No wonder he’d managed to break Louis’s record as the youngest sorcerer. He was determined and strong, and power definitely intrigued him. Not to mention the magical bond with his brothers that was akin to that of the jeweled princesses’. Unique.
“You’ll learn how to hold the energy of a world,” I told him slowly, keeping my breaths even. “Eventually. Don’t try it until you’re ready. I can see your magic is a little ragged at the moment. You’ve pushed yourself too far and too fast.”
He nodded, the masculine lines of his face defining further. “I had no choice, it was level up or the worlds would end, but I’m ready to slow my sorcerer ascension a little now. I have a lot to learn.”
I swallowed hard, and my voice sounded huskier than usual. “You have no better teacher than Louis. He taught me everything I know, guiding me in the early days when I was strong and ambitious and a little too greedy for power. Once you have him back, then you’ll have your best asset at learning power control.”
Tysonalmostlooked like he wanted to argue with me before he let out a small huff of air. “As much as I hate to admit it, that arrogant sorcerer is pretty fucking powerful. Still, I’m almost certain I could best him if I set my mind to it.”
I internally laughed, and my amusement was no doubt clearly on my face.
“Ignore him,” Grace said, slightly breathless after sprinting back from the diamond lands. “He’s confident to the point of arrogance.”
“All of the Compasses are,” Mischa piped up. “It’s one of their more ... and less … endearing traits.”
My chuckle was strangled as more of Faerie’s power shocked me. “I’m used to men like that,” I rasped out. “Their attitude changes when I slap them down with a little power.”
Jessa laughed out loud, a tinkle across the Faerie air. “That’s my favorite thing to do. Only I use my fists.”
“It really is her favorite pastime,” Braxton said drily.
I was relieved to see that the other princesses had returned also, and each held a fist-sized stone. “How did you get the stones?” I gritted out, mentally preparing to open the doorway.
“We seem to be able to ask our lands for things, and they deliver like the best kind of Jeeves,” Justice told me from nearby. I had no idea what a Jeeves was, but I guessed it was some sort of human reference.
“I’m opening the doorway now,” I said, letting the power unfurl from me. I had thought I was doing a pretty good job controlling the level of energy, but a lot more than expected burst from me, creating a massive step-through.
I was rusty. I needed to use my abilities more—I’d practically been living like a human over the last few decades.
“Go,” I shouted, already hurrying forward. My long hair streamed out behind me as I picked up the pace.
Curses ripped from me as I closed in on the portal. I’d always planned the step-through to be large enough for everyone to run through at the same time, but this one was at least double the size needed. That level of power would draw demon attention. We had to hurry.
Even though I’d managed to take off first, they’d all caught me quickly. Short legs were a curse at times. As I’d planned, we hit the portal at the same moment; the journey across was fast and bumpy. As my feet landed on the hard, unforgiving terrain of the land between, I immediately sucked my power back inside, hiding it away.
The other side was dark and cold, so I sent up a few dim balls of magic, doing a quick head count. Four Compasses. Four jeweled princesses. Two Lebron sisters. I shut the doorway down in the same instant, relieved that I didn’t feel the presence of any dark demon energy.
Not yet anyway.
“Time to find Louis,” Jessa said, her voice low and determined. “The demons are going to wish they never touched my brother.”
“Thankfully, we have dragon fire,” Braxton said confidently. “Because I know of nothing else that could deter them.”
All eyes turned on me, and then everyone moved in closer to form a tight circle under my lights. I realized that they were waiting for me to confirm that there was no other weapon we could use against the demons. Part of me was surprised and grateful that they already respected my power and knowledge, even before I’d really done anything to prove myself to them.
It spoke of a confidence they had in themselves, because otherwise they’d be trying to do this all without any help. Just to prove they could.
Keeping my voice to a whisper and my senses on high alert, I quickly said, “There is a spell I can use on lower-level demons. They’ll be repelled across this world, unable to return for a long time.” I swallowed hard. “But for the upper-level demons, like the one Louis banished … I’ve never known anyone to actually best them in a battle unless they were bonded to a supe. Defeat the supe and you have a chance to banish them back to this world. There’s a split second of vulnerability.”
“That’s what Louis did,” Mischa said, her voice sounding hoarse. “But for some reason his soul went along with it.”
“Which demon was it?” I asked, realizing there was a chance I’d know the name.
