“Faster, Sailor,” he shouts, pulling me forward so fast I’m sure I’ll fall on my face.
I manage to stay upright until Rye drags me through the portal and then I let myself collapse in a heap beside the portal. I realize Jinx and Aziza still aren’t through, and I push myself to my knees to look for them. Jinx stands a few paces back from the portal, using his force field to hold back the demons and now the Krops.
I can see his force field flickering in and out as his already exhausted body is drained of its power.
“I can’t hold it much longer, Aziza. Go,” he shouts.
Instead, Aziza steps up beside him. She sends a wall of flames from her palms, a wall that holds back the demons and Krops long enough for Aziza to grab Jinx by the waistband of his jeans and pull him through the portal.
“Close it, Grace,” Rye commands.
Grace staggers forward and snaps her fingers. I look away from the opening, frantically looking for the box. It’s not here. It was all for nothing. I feel relief flood me as I spot it on the small table at the end of the couch where Mel lies.
Suddenly I feel a hand grab my shoulder, sharp talons piercing my skin. I try to pull away but I can’t. I am being pulled backwards. I scream and try to find something to hold onto but there’s nothing. Jinx makes a grab for my ankle, missing me by less than a quarter of an inch.
I am back in the bus station, the Slip Demon who grabbed me laughing manically in my ear. Fire rages around me and stings my eyes, my nose, my throat. I cough and splutter, trying and failing to free myself from the demon’s grasp.
“Sailor, stay down,” I hear Aziza yell.
A yellow fireball flies over my head and then hands grab my ankles. I am being pulled again and I kick and flail.
“Stop fighting me,” Aziza yells.
I stop, realizing it’s her hands on my ankles. She pulls me back into the game room as the portal zaps closed, and I take in a deep breath, which comes out as a long, wracking cough. Rye is instantly by my side, rubbing my back. Aziza glowers at me. She saved my life, but she’s probably back to thinking I am weak.
My coughing fit passes and I feel okay again. Tired, but okay. Rye gets back up with an effort.
“Is everyone okay?” he asks.
He’s greeted with a round of not very enthusiastic yesses. I look around at the team. Already they’re rallying while I still feel like utter death.
“Let’s see what all of the fuss was about then,” I say, getting to my feet slowly.
Rye looks like he’s about to object to me being up, but he bites it back when I walk to the box. I flip the lid open and throw the box on the ground in disgust. There’s no dagger inside. Just a silver medallion.
“It’s not the dagger. It was all for nothing,” I say.
Rye picks the medallion up. He turns it over in his hands and puts it in his pocket.
“It has to be important,” he says. “Look how well guarded it was. And the door needed Paradox blood to open it.”
He doesn’t sound overly convinced.
“Maybe it is important to you, but it’s not the damn dagger, is it?” I snap.
I can’t believe we all risked our lives for what is essentially a rather ugly necklace.
“Nexus will know its significance,” Rye says. “She’ll explain when we pass it on to her.”
“Pass it on to her?” I say.
Rye nods.
“Yeah. Myself as the team leader and you as the Paradox must go to Nexus as a pair and hand over any artifacts we find along the way.”
“Let’s go then,” I say.
Rye shakes his head.
“You need to go home and sleep, Sailor. Tomorrow will be soon enough.”
“I’m fine,” I say, even though my head is spinning and my eyes are almost closed.
“Yeah. I don’t think so,” Rye says.
He steps forward and catches me as my legs give way again. I vaguely hear him asking Grace to make a portal and I am vaguely aware of him carrying me though it and putting me down on my bed. I try to ask him to stay with me, but I am too tired to form the words and I fall into a deep sleep.
RYE SPEAKS
Images flash in front of my eyes.
Sailor lying on the ground, her neck broken, her left leg bent at a ninety-degree angle, her eyes glassy. Dead.
Sailor running toward me, trying desperately to outrun a shadowy figure. She is crying, screaming, reaching her hands out to me. I try to get to her but I can’t move, I am stuck in place, paralyzed. The figure catches her and snaps her neck with an audible crack. She drops to the ground, a thin trail of blood running from her lips.
Sailor running into my arms, happy, laughing. I reach out for her, but as my arms touch her, she turns to dust and crumbles away, leaving me nothing but a small pile of gray ashes.
Sailor standing in the bus station, her knife in her hand. A Savior Spirit swoops low, touching her. She screams and blood runs from her nose. I run toward her, but I’m too late. The whole pack has her. They lift her from the ground and fade from sight, taking Sailor with them.
I wake up with a jolt, my sweaty limbs tangled in the sheet. Angrily, I throw the sheet to one side. I am panting, my heart racing. I know how close I came to losing Sailor today, and although I tried to hide how much effect it had on me, in my dreams, she’s there and the constant danger hanging over her taunts me, showing me what will happen if I allow myself
