“Dad says thanks and says for us to get out of here because he’s about to rein Hell on…well, Hell. It’s not going to be safe anywhere down here.”
“Sweet, let’s go,” Zeke exclaims, rushing to the portal. Ready to get out of here, I look up at the purple swirls and go cold.
“STOP!” I yell. Thankfully, Zeke freezes and throws his arms out, stopping everyone else from going past him to the portal.
“What?” he yells back, motionless.
I pull away from Lynx and quickly get in front of Zeke, looking at the swirling images of a robed figure and Hell hounds perched next to them. Behind him are monsters and a giant, along with massive cages. I have no idea what those cages are for, but I can only guess. I know what this is though. On the other side of the portal, there’s a group of Rebels waiting for us to walk through, and even with our experiences being down here, we’re exhausted and no match to take them on.
“There’s a group of Rebels on the other side waiting for us,” I calmly explain. “With wonderful matching cages that are big enough to hold giants. I wonder what they plan to do with those.” Sarcasm drips heavily from me.
“What the fuck?” Ryker hisses.
“That bitch was going to set us up!” Moni seethes while turning red, glaring at the dead Ms. Teal. “I ought to…grrr,” she growls and quickly zooms over to the dead body and spits on her. I stifle my laugh, not wanting to upset Moni, but I do give her a thumbs up when she rejoins us.
“I’m really glad you stuck her like the bug she was,” Chester agrees, pulling Moni into him and kissing her forehead.
“Do you think they will be able to use the portal coming back this way?” Knots asks.
“If that were the case, they would be here already,” Levi surmises. “The mere size of the cages suggests they expect more than our party to come through the portals. That has to mean it’s spelled from the other side. So, no matter where the portals are in Hell, when they reactivated they would spill out to that location, wherever it’s at, allowing the Rebels to collect them. I’m sure they were thinking we would turn it on and hop out without thinking. Maybe Ms. Teal was hoping to even chase us out of here and into the portal, not having to deal with us directly.”
“If it’s spelled, do you think we can override it?” I ask, worrying my sore bottom lip as I wait for his answer.
His brows furrow for a moment as his hazel eyes darken to a dark green before he meets my gaze. “To be honest, I can’t override it,” he admits and my body sags slightly. “But…you might. You’re strong enough,” he continues.
I shake my head as my shoulders sag. “Maybe at one point, but my powers are all wonky since the stabbing,” I admit. A needle could be heard dropping in the following silence, and I feel multiple eyes on me before Moni appears in front of me.
“What stabbing?” Moni shrieks, flickering between glitter bomb and red.
I bring up my hands and try to calm her down, but she huffs and puffs before me until Chester gently grabs his mate and pulls her away from my face. I turn to face the rest of my family, noticing their concerned faces.
“I’m okay. I promise, and we’ll find someone to help fix it. Besides, it was back on Lust. All it’s affecting is my magic. That’s it,” I tell them, omitting that I have pain every time I use my magic. “My stab wound is even healed; if it wasn’t, I’m pretty sure you animals would have used it as another hole during ourfuck fest at the temple.” I arch an eyebrow and watch as a few of the guys smirk, and Lynx nods like the dork he is.
Turning back to Levi, I notice he’s been looking at me the whole time and hasn’t interacted with his family. I frown in confusion, but before I can ask, he steps up to me.
“Just try, please. It’s the only way for us to get home.” He pleads, holding my hands. Worrying my busted lip once again for a few seconds I nod and turn towards the portal.
I know what he’s getting at, what he wants me to believe, but I’m not there yet. I have to try because we have no choice so I wrack my brain and think of the safest place we can go. I might be able to redirect the portal to send us to a place we all trust, and I smile when I suddenly see Dean Cauldron on the other side of the portal.
Wait. Did I just direct the portal with only a thought? How am I doing this? Or was it someone else? Do I really have time to question this when it could revert back?Pulling myself out of my inner thoughts, I try to lighten the mood.
“Everyone ready to go back to school?” They all groan but have smiles on their faces when the portal’s swirling colors iron out and stop swirling, bringing into focus the picture of the smiling Dean Cauldron for all of us to see. “Let’s go.”
I pick up Reaper and step through, looking forward to a long, hot bath and maybe a month of sleeping in my comfy bed.
CHAPTER 40
Say What?
Rez
As we step through, it’s a relief that there are no side effects or weird visions of Horsemen as I’ve previously had, just a normal portal. What I’m not expecting is the crowd of people seated in front of Dean Cauldron and the rest of the Leaders of Nova—minus Lilith—who are standing on a platform. The whole fucking school is assembled here, along with random families, sitting outside of the Administration building with surprised faces and now staring at us.
A few students jump in shock as we appear one by one, and a few who are closest to us pinch their noses like we smell. Well, news flash, honey: blood and guts aren’t supposed to smell like fucking roses. I smell like I survived Hell, and I’m wearing the fucking leathers to prove it. A Fae sitting next to us faints at our sight, and I can’t help but roll my eyes before I spot Dean Cauldron smirking in our direction.
Narrowing my eyes, I catch a tail end of smoke on the podium.Did he receive a letter from L.A.M.B. or Lilith tellingthem we opened the portals back up?Is that why he’s smirking, because he knows our secret?
If he did, he didn’t have time to tell the rest of the Leaders because they’re up and on their feet with different displays of emotion. Shock filters across their faces, and then pride as they realize what we just accomplished. Seeing their admiration, I can’t help but stand up taller—that is, until I hear Levi.
