Metal clanks and the door swings toward her. She gives me a look as she wiggles the handle up and down. My mouth drops open and Dimitri cackles from behind me. I spin around, intent on sending his ass to a random pocket dimension for a time-out. Bastard could have opened the damn thing this entire time. Not that I was much better, but it's easier to blame him.
“Well shit,” Dimitri wheezes, and the cat jumps from his arms, giving him an affronted look. Shock flashes on his face and he disappears, leaving an undercurrent of electricity humming through the air.
“Does he do that often? Or is it me?”
“He doesn't, or rather, he didn't, but I don't think it has anything to do with you.” I step out of the cage, and she stumbles back. “You want to tell me how you got down here?”
She wrings her hands together. “Well, you disappeared. I got pissed, then I got freaked out. I may have thought I could use the summoning circle, but I thought better of it. Except Handsome popped in and I thought he was going to eat the hemlock. I ended up in the circle and?—”
“You used the book, didn't you?” I growl, crossing my arms, and she nods. “Well, fuck.”
She presses her hands to her stomach and her face tightens. Almost as if she's in pain. “Can you send me back?”
“Can I send you back alone? No. If you…” I tilt my head as she grimaces, then jump forward as she crumples. I catch her before she hits the ground and gather her to my chest.
“Sorry,” she whispers. Her body shivers uncontrollably in my grasp, and I clutch her tighter.
“Oh, little witch. What have you done?”
“Cold,” I whine, my teeth chattering.
Darkness swirls around us and my ears pop. Nothingness presses into me and I blink, desperately searching for a pinprick of light in this void. When I close my eyes, images flash against my lids, too quickly for me to decipher. Numbness spreads through my limbs until I can't feel Omen's arms around me anymore.I open my mouth to call for him, but no sound comes out.
For some reason, my brain doesn't freak out. Other than the chill seeping into my muscles, I feel nothing. It's like my body has disappeared, leaving only the essence of feeling behind.
Slowly, a light comes into view, growing larger the closer I get. Or maybe it's moving and I'm staying still. I'm sure I'll wonder about it later if I remember this. I stare into the brightness as it widens, almost like a movie theater screen.
Omen's wings come into view and he glances over his shoulder. Orange glows around his frame, and I squint to makeout what's behind him. A grin takes over his face, and my heart clenches. He takes off, the muscles in his back rippling. The scene fills out and flames come into focus.
Omen runs over a rickety bridge, dodging fireballs. Panic plucks at my psyche as he jumps from one wooden pillar with a disk on top. His wings vanish, reappearing in the form of a thin tail with a tuft of shadows at the end. He lands on a small platform and sparks fly from his bare feet.
The scene dissolves and materializes into another one. Omen stands at the edge of a cliff, magma flowing at the bottom of the chasm. Every so often, a lick of fire erupts from the surface. He gazes at the oozing liquid, then at the opposite ridge. The view hurtles into the air, making my stomach roll, until it finally settles with me peering at him from above. His muscles bunch, and I realize what he's going to do a second before it becomes reality. I open my mouth to scream, yet nothing comes out.
He launches himself into the emptiness, his arms pinwheeling. I wish I could look away. I don't want to watch him die. With no perceivable eyes, I'm forced to witness his demise. And then I'll be stuck in this in-between space. Alone and mourning the demon I shouldn't have wanted in the first place. Maybe I'll be forced to relive this moment again and again in some sick punishment for not knowing my place in the world.
To my utter amazement, he lands on the other side safely. He tips his head back, grinning into the darkness, and something within me blooms to life. The numbness seeps from me bit by bit.
Omen makes it all of one step before a thin rope made of pure flame lashes from the crevice and wraps around his ankle. A scream erupts from me as it yanks him off his feet and drags him toward the edge. His fingers scramble for purchase, claws digging into the rocky ground. Wings sprout from his back once more and thrash through the air.
Tears spring to my eyes and slide down my cheeks, though I have no hands to wipe them away. As my vision blurs, he slips over the edge and his roar splits the night.
Darkness envelops me and I slip into a stupor. Emotions mean nothing, my body has disappeared again, and I no longer remember why there's a deep despair resting in my soul. It doesn't matter here in the void, anyway.
Gradually, I recognize my fingers clutching something soft, arms cradling me close, and the smell of sulfur and cinnamon. Wherever I was and whatever I was doing doesn't matter as much as the chill snaking down my spine and the spasms making my muscles twitch. It's too dark to see anything, but at least I'm no longer floating in a sea of blackness.
When the shadows dissipate, we're in a large bedroom. If I wasn't getting smothered from the inside out, I'd admire the dark walls and the ginormous bed. At least I get to enjoy the fluffiness of the covers when he sets me on it. I wish I could savor how comfortable it is. I roll on my side and curl into a ball. It's not like the cramps I had before. It's an ache attacking my bones and stretching my tendons to the breaking point.
A choked sob leaves me as I press harder into Omen. I scoot closer as he kneels on the bed, trying to soak up his warmth. He brings his other hand to my face, and my eyes flutter closed.It won't do much for long. Even now, there's less heat coming from him.
He's probably not equipped to deal with something like this. Taking care of a human while they're sick probably isn't something he's done before. When I had cramps, he clearly didn't know what he was doing. If this sickness is witchy work at play, a demon would stay far away. Except he brought me here.
I whimper and I realize I've sucked all the warmth from his palms. When he pulls them away, I inhale sharply and my eyes flash open.
“I'm sorry. You can take me back.” I groan and bury my face in his pillow.
“Clara,” he says sharply, but I don't move. “Tell me what you did.”
“Nothing,” I wheeze as a bolt of pain lances through my lungs, making every breath hurt. “I didn'tdoanything. I'm fine. I didn't summon you. I just used it to get to Hell.”
