The silence stretches, and for one terrible heartbeat, I think they can't hear me. That the corruption has severed those ancient bonds forever.
Then warmth floods my chest, spreading outward like sunlight breaking through storm clouds.
Not my magic.Theirs. Ours.The Hallowind witches who came before me, their power a pooled resource for our bloodline to use in our workings.
Thank you. Help me heal the stones and end this.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
“You did it!”
I hear Mica’s praise, but haven’t got it in me to respond.
Instead, I sag to brace my arms against one of the monoliths as the ancestral power settles. The crimson light is fully replaced by the pale blue of my energy signature.
And after the breach sealed with one clean, resonantcrackthat rolled across the clearing and faded into the treeline, the stones went quiet.
The demons that hadn't been torn apart or burned to black puddles simply stopped. They collapsed where they stood, their forms dissolving like smoke in rain until there was nothing left of them but the stench of sulfur and a scattering of dark stains in the grass.
Now, silence breaks over the hill, and I drop my head between my arms, dizzy and more than a little weak in the knees.
“Well done, Poppy.” Declan rests a hand on my shoulder. “Are you all right?”
I consider that. My arms are numb to the elbows. My legs are shaking hard enough that I’m about to faceplant, but aside from magical exertion, there’s nothing wrong with me.
Unlike my friends.
"Yeah, I’m fine.”
Straightening, I get my first glimpse of the aftermath. Declan is closest and is covered head to toe in black ichor and shades of green and purple goo.
Orion is just past him, bracing himself as Eliza snaps his broken arm back into line with where it should be. The crack of bone followed by his colorful commentary has me wincing.
The dark ebony of his hair makes the starkness of him going pale even more dramatic underneath the blood.
“Orion, you need the hospital, dude.”
He shakes his head, his lips pursed into a fine line. “I’ll be fine in a couple of hours. Let’s worry about everyone else. Where’s Asher?”
That’s a good question.
I straighten and take a couple of wonky steps before Sebastian catches me under the elbow. “Easy. Cleansing the stones and closing the door to Tharuzel’s hellscape was a major energy drain. Sit down before you fall down.”
“I can’t. People need help.”
The carnage spilled around us brings that point home.
Orion’s arm is broken. Declan’s got a tear across his thigh that’s soaking through his jeans. Sebastian’s still nursing the gash in his belly. I’m not sure what took Clara down, but Izzy’s still working on healing her.
My vision is swimming, but I can’t relax until I know everyone is okay. “We need a roll call. Where are Mica, Wylder, and Asher?”
Sebastian forces me to the side, sitting me on one of the standing stones that was knocked to the ground. “Mica and Wylder are dealing with the dead. They’re cleansing their remains so Wylder can open up the earth and get rid of what’s left of their bodies.”
“What about Asher? Orion, can you smell him?”
Orion wrinkles his nose. “This place is rank with demon stank. You don’t even want to know what that smells like.”
No, I don’t. It’s bad enough without heightened senses.
