Okay, on my own, then.
The portal was now left unguarded, and I was grateful it was Lumen protocol to incapacitate Shades, only killing them as a last resort. I was quite confident no one would hurt Indigo as she lay helpless on the ground.
Spinning to face the portal, I lifted my hands again and pulled for my power. Since my adrenaline was pumping and because I’d been practicing with Aurelia earlier in the day, my magic came to me easily. It was as if it was just sitting underneath my skin, waiting to be called upon.
I tried to peer through the sulfuric smoke and swirling red magic to see Shadow City beyond, but I couldn’t make anything out.
Mom.
My chest tightened, but I had to trust that Aurelia had contacted her and that my mom would hold on until we could amass an army to rescue her.
My power flared to life in my palms, and I pulled my purple magic into a ball between my hands. Reaching out, I spread my palms and covered the portal with my magic as if I were throwing a blanket over it. Remembering what Aurelia had taught me earlier in the day, I grasped the edges of the portal, feeling for the place that this realm became another, then started to fold the corners of the portal inward, making it smaller and smaller as if folding a towel.
Aurelia’s technique was working beautifully.Fold. Fold. Fold,I chanted to myself until the portal was smaller than a dinner plate. When it was that size, I saturated it with my magic, feeling the burn throughout my limbs as I fed the now tiny, manageable sized portal my power.
A sizzling sound filled the air, and then with a pop the portal sucked shut and disappeared. I sighed in relief and turned around to search for the next portal just as Aurelia shouted, “Hellhound! Don’t let it bite you!”
I froze in terror as my gaze fell upon the creature. A furry beast that looked like a cross between a werewolf and a dog stood before me with his lips bared in a snarl. Shadows and smoke moved across its skin; fire licked over its spine. My stomach dropped. Its teeth were razor-sharp points, eyes glowing red, and paws full of two inch talons.
Mommy.This thing was definitely going to creep into my nightmares.
“Shadowling,” it snarled, its voice raking over me like a barbed whip. I pressed my hands against my ears. When it spoke, my brain throbbed.
I backed up slowly until I was flush against the window that led to the alley below. The hellhound crouched, curling its lips back to display every pointed tooth, and then before I knew what was happening, it pounced.
I didn’t even have time to scream before it smashed into me, claws digging into my shoulders as the impact of his body shattered the glass pane behind me.
No.And then I was falling.
“Tatum!” Aurelia’s scream died off as I fell backward. I snapped my wings out, trying to flap them, but it was too late. My back hit the ground first, then my head cracked into the concrete, and everything went black.
* * *
I came to with blurry vision, and a fanged and furry beast hovering over me.
My head felt like it had been carved like a pumpkin, and my brain was mush. I couldn’t think straight, couldn’t see straight; nothing made sense. Nausea roiled in my belly as I fought to remember where I was and what happened and why this hideous creature was drooling over me, looking at me like I was his next meal.
“Master Apollyon has a message for you,” the creature said, and I screamed as the pain in my head reached epic proportions. It was complete agony to listen to.
I waited for him to reveal the message and get off of me when he bared his teeth and lunged. I yelped, preparing for the bite and realizingthatwas the message, when a streak of darkness crashed into the creature and ripped him off me.
I struggled to my feet and dizziness washed over me. Blinking rapidly, I tried to focus on the fight as bits and pieces of the last few minutes returned to me. The hellhound… falling from a window… but the rest was still missing. And now the hellhound was locked in a battle with—
“Gage?” I questioned my sanity then, reaching up to probe the painful spot on my head only to come away with fingers full of sticky warm blood.
Everything blurred, and I was trying to track the two figures before me when I heard the crunch of bone.
The dizziness became too much, and I collapsed to the ground, sure I’d heard Gage scream out in pain before the darkness took me again.
CHAPTERNINE
Iwas still mentally foggy when I blinked awake sometime later. I squinted against the ray of light hitting me in the face, basically blinding me, but when I went to lift my right hand to shelter my eyes, I couldn’t. Shifting out of the sunlight and into a more upright position, I looked down to see Gran sitting in a chair next to my bed. She clutched my hand tightly, even in sleep. A quick glance around the room confirmed I was in the healing center.
“Gran…” I said quietly, leaning forward to softly nudge her awake. Despite my gentle efforts, she jerked awake, eyes wide, until she caught sight of me.
“Oh, honey,” Gran said as she rose and planted a kiss on my forehead. “I’m so glad you’re awake.” She squeezed my hand but didn’t let go as she stared at me. A frown pulled the corners of her mouth down. “If what I went through over the last twelve hours was anything like what you had to endure when I was unconscious from that horrible curse, I’m so sorry.”
The bags under Gran’s eyes told the story of how worried she’d been, so I didn’t bother mentioning that what I went through was probably worse because I thought she was going to die.
