Jacob and Dash nodded. “We’ll fight any flying demons they have.”
Marlow puffed up her chest. “I’ll watch your back.”
Drea placed a hand on my shoulder. “And I’ll be right at your side.”
I breathed out a shaky breath. “Thanks, guys. Who knows, this may go really smoothly. Apollyon shouldn’t be expecting us and might only have a few demons guarding her.”
At least that was the hope keeping me sane right now.
CHAPTERSEVENTEEN
Getting out of Shadow City was way easier than getting in since Gage had killed both of the guards. We slipped out of the gates unseen, but in order to get to Devil’s Meadow we had to cross some pretty treacherous landscape. The really lava-ish parts were impossible to cross on foot, so we had to fly over them. With the help of my strength angel marks I could fly over those parts with Marlow hanging onto my front like a monkey. Jacob carried Drea, and Dash struggled with Gage, barely getting a few feet off the ground.
Marlow and I snickered at the sight of Dash cradling Gage like a baby as his wings furiously beat against the air.
Gage shot us a glare. “We will never speak of this again.”
“Bro, could you eat less? You weigh as much as a small elephant,” Dash growled as he set Gage down on the ground. Dash’s strength marks were swirling and lighting up his biceps.
“It’s called muscle,” Gage griped, looking highly offended.
“Shh. Is that it?” Drea pointed ahead of us.
We were behind an outcrop of huge black lava boulders, and I had to move to where she was to peek through two of them. When my eyes landed on a giant black stone tower in the distance, I felt in my gut that we’d found what we were looking for.
“That’s it,” Gage confirmed.
I peered at the desolate wasteland around it and a thrill went through me. “There’s no one here. Let’s go.”
Gage’s hand shot out and grabbed me. “Hold on, something doesn’t feel right.” His nostrils flared, and the normally sharp green of his eyes turned yellow. “I smell them,” he growled, his voice barely human.
My stomach dropped. I still wasn’t used to him like this, and by the way everyone else took one giant step backward, neither were my friends.
“Who?” I asked.
“Hellhounds. Hundreds of them,” Gage said, fur rolling down his neck, his fingers sharpening to points.
I peered around the rocks again. Spread out in front of us was cracked dry earth, lava rocks, and nothing more.
“Where?” I asked, not seeing a living—or dead—soul anywhere.
Gage cracked his neck, yellow eyes glued to the horizon. “I don’t know, but I can feel them.”
“Okay, well, I don’t see anything, and my mom is in that tower.” It was almost as if I could sense her energy, as if she was reaching out to me, letting me know she was there.
“I’m going first,” Gage said. “Tate, you take to the skies and get your mom. We need to make this a very fast rescue.”
Trepidation skated down my spine. I took another look at the empty land between us and the jutting monolith in the distance. Were hundreds of hellhounds on their way here? Would they crest the horizon at any moment? I hoped not.
Maybe Gage’s senses were just going a little haywire, or he was picking up on hellhounds from all over the Netherworld, but in the event he was right, I agreed with him, we needed to make this a fast rescue.
“I know I haven’t linked with my mom yet, but I’m going to open a portal behind these rocks and do my best to try to keep it open. I need to know there’s a way for you all to get to safety if things go south. If that happens, run back here and return to New York. Promise?”
I looked each of them in the eye, and one by one they all nodded. All except for Gage.
“Gage,” I growled.
He sighed. “I’m not going through until you are.”
