“What’s the date?” I tilted my head, measuring it.
Its irises flashed serpentine, and a lock of its perfectly shellacked hair fell by its ear.
“Its anger boils,” Ben said. “You puzzle it.”
“When the date arrives, it won’t force me to the Underworld, will it?” I said. “I’m too strong, or the infractions are too petty. So now you’re stuck trying to take me hostage or hope that your new teammates take me out for you.”
“It can’t take you hostage,” Rourke murmured. “You have to verbally agree to its terms.”
“Demon, I’m not agreeing to anything,” I said. “So you’re wasting your time here, causing all this uproar for no reason.”
Rather than speak, the Prince of Hell took a bold step forward. We were only twenty feet away from each other, both of us glaring.
Growls and teeth gnashing rent the air.
I glanced sideways at the Queen. Her arms were folded. She was done fighting or aiding me and I knew the only way she would engage the Prince directly was if her vampires were in direct danger.
“Take a single step closer and I’ll blow you up,” Tally said, cocking her gun and locking her sights.
Its gaze flicked to the right. “You have proven inferior to me, witch,” it said. “Why waste your time?”
“Because I saved the best for last,” she countered. “And because you don’t get to take my friend just because you feel like it.”
That was the best news I’d heard all day.
“If the gun doesn’t stop you, we have other means.” Marcy’s voice cut through the group like a caustic bullet. I hadn’t known she followed me in. “I happen to know how to incapacitate a Demon Lord, because your sorcerer friends are careless and have big, flapping mouths when they think crafty witches are unconscious. When you were forced to make your deal with them, you gave away some very valuable information.”
“There is no way to incapacitate me. They were lying.”
“Seriously? You just have to—”
Power shot out of the Prince, hitting Marcy fully in the chest. She soared backward and crumpled to the ground like her strings had been cut.
James roared and I started to run.
“What do you think you’re doing?” I screamed, barreling toward it. “You can’t hurt innocent people like that.”
The Prince looked insanely happy I was coming at him, his mouth quirking up at the sides. It looked all wrong and a moment of doubt crept into my psyche, but I couldn’t stop now. I was almost to it.
“She attacked me verbally,” it said in a singsong voice. “Revealing a sworn secret is an act of aggression.”
I lunged, but something collided with me at the last moment, knocking me off balance. I tumbled, spinning, landing back on my feet in time to see Tyler change directions and sprint for the Prince of Hell.
He was beautiful in his wolf form, fangs bared, howl ferocious.
He leapt and the Prince caught him around the middle easily, like netting a fish, but not before Tyler’s teeth caught its neck.
Dark black liquid dribbled out of a gash, marring its perfect, shiny, unnatural skin.
The exertion from catching a werewolf didn’t even seem to compute. It didn’t even look flustered as it held Tyler’s massive form.
“No!” I shouted, agony ringing in my voice. “Put him down!”
The Prince’s head snapped to me.
Something new crossed its features. “Ah, you love this one, do you?” it said. “How perfectly wonderful.”
“I said put him down,” I snarled, stalking forward, hands fisted. If it wanted a fight, it would have one.
“I plan to do just that,” it said. “But your version of
Tyler squirmed, whining.
Then suddenly he went limp.
I knew what the Prince of Hell was going to do and I switched control to my wolf and sprang. My father and Rourke both lunged forward at the same time, all of us howling our rage.
“Too late,” it cackled. “If you want this one back, you must claim him in the Underworld.”
They both popped out of existence.
29
I cradled my head in my hands. Rourke sat beside me. We had all gathered in the main living room of the Coterie. The Queen hadn’t wanted us here, but my father had forcefully convinced her to acquiesce.
At the heart of it, she still wanted my blood, so she abided having us in her space for the time being.
“Jessica,” my father said. “You couldn’t have known. None of us knew.”
“He’s right.” Tally paced in front of the ornate fireplace still dressed in her battle gear. Her witches fidgeted against one wall, vamps and wolves spread out along the others. The entire room was amped up on adrenaline from the fight, and even though the room was huge, and each Sect had its own space, tension still ran high. “It’s a little known fact that if you draw blood on a demon, it’s free to defend itself any way it wishes,” she told the room. “Marring their skin is considered a high crime against them. I don’t know if I’d call that stuff blood, but it still counts.”
“I don’t care if we didn’t know ahead of time. The question is how are we going to get him back?” I lifted my head. “I’m not leaving my brother there for a moment longer than necessary. They want me. He’s the bait, so I go. Just tell me how to get there.” My Pack knew nothing about demon circles or the Underworld. If the witches didn’t choose to help, I was screwed.
“Getting you to the Underworld is no small task,” Tally said. “It’s a huge ordeal that will take time and planning. We can’t send you unarmed, but only organic compounds can travel across the boundaries. There will be training involved.”
I couldn’t think straight. Grief pounded behind my temples.
As soon as Tyler had blipped out of existence on this plane, his connection to me had vanished. I hadn’t realized having him bound to me had become like second nature, like the best security blanket in the world. Without being aware, I’d known he was alive and functioning at every moment. It was a bond we should’ve forged a long time ago and I desperately missed it.
“I will go with you,” Naomi said, her voice thoughtful. “You need not battle the Underworld alone.”
“Me too,” Danny added. “I’m not going to let my best mate die down there without a fight. I’m in for whatever it takes to bring him back.”
“Count me in too,” Marcy said from across the room. “You just saved my life. I owe you. But more than that, I can help because I’m a witch.” After the Prince of Hell had struck her down, I had poured my power into her and eradicated the last of the blackness. But Tally had already been on it, spelling the mist out with her magic.
It was debatable who had saved whom.
“If she goes, I go,” James said. “There is no reason we can’t all accompany you, Jessica.”
“Okay, that’s enough,” Tally said, marching forward with her hand in the air, turning to address the entire group. “It’s all well and good everyone here is dying to jump on board. And by dying, I mean that literally. But none of you are going. Not one of you is powerful enough to survive the journey by circle, much less what you’ll find when you get there. They have pet beasts, demons in every size and color, and all of them can kill you with a small flick of their wrists. The Underworld has the home-court advantage and we have to play this smart if we actually want to bring the wolf back.”
Rourke stood, growling, his eyes blazing, arms folded.
Tally sized him up. “Well, except you. You’d survive the transition, but you still can’t go.”
