“I don’t know,” Lys said. “But I do know that all those demons were telling the truth. I took advantage of the festival crowds to get myself kicked this morning, and—”
“You gotkicked?” Bex cried. “Withoutme?”
“I didn’t want to upset you,” Lys said quickly. “And I wanted to make sure this wasn’t another trap.”
“By walking into it?!”
Lys crossed their flannel-clad arms over their human disguise’s narrow chest. “Are you going to let me finish?”
Bex sighed and motioned for them to go ahead.
“As I was saying,” Lys continued, “I was worried the missing kick demon rumors might be a trap to lure you into a place Gilgamesh controlled. When I arrived in Limbo, though, I saw the same thing everyone else reported. The whole place is empty. I ran as far as I could before my five minutes ended, but there was nothing to find. It’s just a big gray room.”
Bex bit her lip as she sank back into her chair. “If they’re not in Limbo, where did they go?”
“I don’t know,” Lys said, reaching out to squeeze her shoulder. “But this is why I think we should wait. It’s never a good idea to rush into a situation we don’t understand.”
“We’re never going to understand it if we stay here,” Bex argued. “All the Anchors are still locked tight. You’re the one who infiltrated the local warlock cabal and discovered they don’t know any more than we do.”
“That doesn’t mean there’s nothing to find out,” Lys said. “We haven’t even tried the sorcerers yet. They could know—”
“If my people aren’t in Limbo, that just means Gilgamesh moved them somewhere even worse!” Bex yelled, drawing nervous looks from the scalies downstairs. “He has my horns, Lys! That means he can give orders in my name. He could be doing horrible things to my demons, and I’m justsitting around!”
Lys opened their mouth to keep arguing, but Bex stopped them with a look. “Am I still queen or not?”
“Of course you are.”
“Then we’re going,” Bex snapped. “How long will it take you to get ready?”
Lys glared at her for a moment before their shoulders slumped in defeat.
“Give me four hours.”
“Four hours it is,” Bex said as she got back to her feet. “I’ll tell the others.”
Lys dutifully bowed their small, hidden horns, but Bex had already grabbed Felix’s magic bag full of weapons and stomped down the stairs to start the long, dusty walk back to their camp.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
The demons’ new home was two miles down the road in a big hayfield that separated the towering wall of the Blackwood from the little-used country road that ran along its border. The coven owned all the land around their forest, and they’d graciously allowed the demons to stay on a portion of it. They’d even provided tents, though Bex was pretty sure that was less about the demons’ comfort and more about avoiding trouble with the locals over thousands of strangers sleeping uncovered in a field. The tents also let them pretend the demon camp was part of their fall festivities. They’d even piled pumpkins at the fence gate and put up a big cooking pavilion to add to ruse, which would’ve been awesome if any demons other than Bex actually ate human food.
Since everyone was currently at the festival helping their hosts and sucking emotions out of the tourists—the only source of substantial food they’d gotten since they’d arrived a week ago—the campsite was deserted when Bex walked in. Even the wrath demons had gone into town. Only Zargrexa, ever dutiful, was still there, sitting in a rocking chair with a sword she’d gotten from Ishtar-knew-where, guarding what was left of her queen’s RV.
No matter how many times Bex saw it, the sight still made her wince. Their brave little Winnebago had made it through Heaven’s bombardment and the sudden appearance of the Blackwood, but only just. It’d never taken a direct hit, but being thrown around by all those cannon blasts had snapped both axles and torn off the entire front end.
It was going to take months of repairs before it was drivable again, if it ever happened, but Iggs had absolutely refused to leave the RV behind. Even after the witches’ sudden arrival had left it stranded in one of the towering treetops, he’d set up a pulley system to get it down and carried it through the root tunnel with the help of several other wrath demons. The whole thing had been ridiculous and made the evacuation take twice as long as it should’ve, but Bex hadn’t said a word because she couldn’t bear to leave it behind either.
Even when it looked like a dented pile of scrap, the Winnebago was the closest thing any of them had to a home. They were all still sleeping in it despite the holes and the busted plumbing because Bex didn’t feel safe sleeping anywhere else, and her crew slept where she did. If they’d had a sorcerer, they might’ve been able to get the power back on, but none of the demons or the witches Iggs had talked into looking it over could make heads or tails of the cuneiform carved behind the RV’s plastic panels. They had been able to save Norma, though.
Bex had feared the worst when she’d seen the cab. One of the lion’s blasts had gone straight through the RV’s windshield. If Norma had been an actual old lady, she’d be in Heaven with Gilgamesh right now, but fortunately for Bex and the others, she was a construct. The moment they pulled the bent steering wheel out of the wreckage, she’d popped right back into existence. She was a little glitchy—constantly asking for a destination, aggressively talking about the weather, and throwing handfuls of grandma candy at anyone who came within five feet—but just seeing her sitting in the replacement driver’s seat Iggs had rigged up for her using salvaged parts from an old tractor made Bex feel like everything wasn’t lost.
It was good to be reminded of that. She thought their plan was pretty solid, but there was no changing the fact that they were going into the lion’s den. No amount of clever strategiescould fill the gaping hole where her name used to be, or stop the sad numbness that spread through her hands whenever she tried to call her fire. She’d honestly never felt less ready for a fight in her life, which was the only reason she’d agreed to take her demons with her.
Bex normally preferred to do the really dangerous stuff alone. Even now that she was on her last life, she was still the toughest demon on her team, and not having to worry about anyone but herself made things less scary. She would’ve already left if she’d thought she could survive on her own, but with no horns, no fire, no sword, no hand, and no witch in her corner, Bex’s demons were all she had left. Fortunately, her crew was the best there was. She was more worried that she’d be the one holding them back as she marched across the grass toward what was left of the RV’s side entrance.
Lys had already discussed their plan with Zargrexa this morning, so all Bex had to do was tell the old village chief that it was happening today. That would’ve sparked a whole barrage of questions from anyone else, but despite the loss of her horns, the wrath demons she’d freed from Limbo had never stopped treating Bex as their queen. The moment Bex told her the schedule, Zargrexa bowed her horns and promised to keep Ishtar’s Children safe until the queen’s return.
With that, Bex’s final duty in the Blackwood was absolved. Zargrexa and the other leaders who’d come over from the Anchor would make sure the camp kept ticking over, which meant Bex was free to make the most of the four hours Lys had given her.
