“You got it.” Indigo grinned, and Marlow gave me a thumbs-up.
Jacob met my gaze and nodded.
“Thank you,” I said to them all. It meant so much to know that they were willing to support me.
I looked to Dash and he shooed me away. “Go, take them. I’ll stay with her.”
Marlow and I shared a look but said nothing. Dash had become my sister’s protector and I didn’t need to know why, I was just grateful.
With everyone but Dash and Harley in tow, I walked up to the opening in the concealment spell and quickly created a portal onto campus. When I saw a bunch of tents and hundreds of Lumens with duffle bags slung over their shoulders milling around on the courtyard lawn, excitement laced with only a hint of trepidation thrummed through me.
This was it. We were going to defeat Apollyon, free the souls, and collapse the evil Netherworld that never should have been there in the first place.
Once Indigo, Marlow, and Jacob stepped through the portal, I collapsed it and anxiously tapped my foot as I waited for Aurelia and Drea to return with Dash and Harley’s supplies.
I wanted to be with Gage. I wanted to know what powers, if any, Cael would give him. I wanted to make sure he’d forgiven himself and was going to be okay.
A portal suddenly opened before me and Drea stepped through carrying two huge backpacks with provisions. The portal closed behind her once she was fully in Tartarus.
“You’re the best,” I told her and took one of the packs.
When I spun around, Dash was walking up the hill with a sleeping Harley in his arms. Her coloring was good and she looked to be resting peacefully. I think she was just depleted of power, which was understandable. In the past twenty-four hours she’d used the Diadem of Avalon to bring Gage back from the Netherworld, getting a brain hemorrhage for her troubles. Then she’d helped create a block on the portal to keep Apollyon from following us,twice, and cut an opening in the concealment spell to get us into Tartarus. Not to mention the fact that she helped me tease Gage’s hellhound away from his body so that I could kill it. She needed all the rest she could get.
I slung the pack over my shoulder and then stepped up to the opening in the spell. “Drea, you want me to—”
“I’m helping you get Dash and Harley to safety,” she said, cutting me off.
Okay. That was that.
I opened a portal to the Netherworld in front of the cave where Gage and I had slept. The stench of sulfur hit my nose as we walked through into the desolate wasteland that was my father’s home. Harley stirred in Dash’s arms as we strode into the realm.
“What’s happening?” she asked, voice thick with sleep.
“Apollyon is searching for your energy signature. We’re going to hide you out in the Netherworld for a day until you recover and can fight,” I said.
With her head resting in the crook of Dash’s neck, she nodded, and then closed her eyes and fell back asleep. Walking them over to the cave, Drea and I set down the packs and turned to leave.
“I’ll check on you every six hours,” I told them, and Dash nodded, looking down at Harley’s head on his lap. I’d given him light weapons and hellhound tranqs, but I was still nervous to leave them alone.
“Go. Make a plan for the big battle and let’s be done with this,” Dash said as he looked around the Netherworld.
He was right. This was bigger than my sister or Gage or anyone else.
By the time I made a portal back to campus for Drea and me, I was mentally and emotionally exhausted. When we stepped through onto the courtyard, all eyes fell on me. There were faces I didn’t recognize all around.
Two Lumens with bright golden wings stood next to each other talking animatedly. Another female with swords strapped to each hip slanted her head in my direction. They’d all dropped everything to come and help me, and I was so honored that my throat tightened with emotion.
I spotted Indigo and Marlow talking to some big Lumen dude with black feathered wings that were streaked through heavily with gold, and I rushed over to them.
“Hey, have you guys seen Ga—”
The big dude turned, and a sob ripped from my throat.
The Watcher with black and gold wingswasGage.
I was frozen for a moment as I took him in. His giant wings were folded behind him, but they arched at least eight feet into the air and the ends dragged on the ground. The veins of gold running throughout the black feathers gleamed in the mid-day sun. It looked like Cael had taken his black shadow wings and given them substance, and then pieced the broken pieces of them back together with threads of gold.
They were perfect.
