“If we go around, it means entering demon territory, which is never recommended. But the river has issues, too.”
“You practice your shields this weekend?” Remi asked without opening his eyes. “Or spend the whole time in bed?”
“Why limit ourselves to just one kind of endurance training?” I threw at him. Still annoyed that he’d sucked power out of me with a kiss, even if it had been to keep monsters from spilling through the tear.
Tiana snorted. “Pretty sure his shield wasn’t the only thing getting drilled.”
“Hey!” I growled at her. “Maybe I’m a top.”
“Totally a bottom,” Remi said.
“I’ll have you know I’m verse,” I told them. “You’re all jealous my weekend had better hands-on lessons with the hottest member of our team.”
Angel snorted but made no attempt to defend me.
The road ahead dipped sharply, funneling us toward a bridge spanning a river of boiling red. The surface churned with half-formed faces that rose screaming before dissolving back intothe crimson goo. My gut clenched as my magic swelled, and I blinked back stars. What the hell?
“No, seriously, how recharged are you?” Remi asked. “Heard you encountered something at your apartment and had to pull a quick shield.”
Despite food and rest, I still felt like I was running on empty. How long did it take for magical energy to regenerate?
“I have a shield up,” I offered. Not that I felt all that confident with it yet. From a book on basic shields, it was all I could get to stick.
A sickly-sweet stench of rot and copper blood flooded the van.
“River of the Dead is a bad idea right now,” Remi said with a raised tone meant to call attention.
“The rest of our team is already crossing,” Ezra complained.
Wade hesitated at the entrance to the bridge. A strange white noise flooded my ears, and I felt like the air pressure changed. After a few seconds, everything else muted but the static. I flinched at the sound.
“Is the river usually this loud?” I asked Angel.
He stared at me, said something, but I couldn’t hear it.
The bridge groaned under the weight of the NHV van ahead of us, the cables vibrating. Something massive moved beneath the blood river’s surface, a shadow the size of a subway car that trailed us lazily before sinking into the depths.
A million faces peered from the bloody depths, and while I could only glimpse them, my magic recognized them for what they were. Ghosts, the dead, or at least something dead. The noise grew in volume until I heard nothing but their wails. I covered my ears to block out the sound.
Angel slipped his hands under my shirt, finding my skin to try to ground me, but I blinked at him. The grip on my shieldheld, though it felt like a flimsy barrier against the onslaught, and we were a dozen yards from the bridge.
Remi slid wobbly off the bunk and across to us. I felt, rather than heard, Angel’s growl, but when I looked at him, his gaze was focused on me. Remi slid his fingertips into my hair, gentle but warm, a tentative and questing touch. I sucked in air, unable to look at him, but Angel nodded a second later, expression tight. His arms locked around me, holding me tight as Remi leaned in to whisper in my ear, or maybe he shouted, since I could finally hear him, “Don’t fight it. Let us help.”
His magic snaked around me like silver coils, sharp and shocking, but clear, as it strengthened the barrier around me, and the noise began to recede. I gasped as the rising death energy recoiled, and I could breathe.
“Go now,” Remi said.
“Floor it,” Angel agreed.
Wade slammed the gas pedal to the floor, and the van lurched forward onto the rickety bridge, bouncing and weaving as if the thing weren’t made for vehicles. If I hadn’t been locked between Remi and Angel, I’d have upchucked at all the swaying. Angel gripped my chin in his hands, gentle but firm, forehead on mine as he met my gaze and locked me there, while Remi seemed to pull strength from the three of us to keep me sane.
The van raced across, and I had a few seconds to glimpse something rising from the bloody river, like a typhoon growing, but we jolted across to the main road and freedom. The strength of Remi’s power faded, and a trickle of warmth pulsed on my back. Nox, aware and helping. Remi said nothing, though I knew he had to sense the creature.
“That wasn’t fun,” Bobby remarked.
I could only nod as the bridge’s groans faded behind us.
“Next time,” Wade said, his fists white-knuckling around the steering wheel, “demons.”
