It’s really me. Where are you?
There was nothing for a few seconds, but she focused on the energy from him.
“Down. He’s somewhere beneath us. I can’t tell exactly. There’s something down there.”
A bright light lit up next to her and she turned to see Lilly glowing like a lantern.
“What, what is she doing?”
Maddie shrugged. “Dunno. But it’s probably what she was designed to do. Let’s go.”
What the? Okay. Fine, she would follow, why? Because Deo was her life and he was in danger.
There was no quick descent into the bowels of the unknown. Carefully navigating the rusted stairwell, they made it down. Lilly led the way with everyone following. For being the shy, quiet one back at the ship, she seemed fearless. Aisha almost envied her confidence and her ability to be useful.
Pausing at the door marked with a large two on it, she studied the rust and chipped paint spotted metal.
“Wave your finger and do that thing you do,” said Maddie.
Turning her attention away from the door, she realized Maddie was talking to her.
“What?”
Shaking her head, she shook their connected hands.
“That thing you can do with memories. Do that, but project it on the other side of the door. Do you need a memory, or can you pick up some residual from this building?”
Shrugging she held up her free hand and envisioned the same spell she’d done earlier waving her hand around the space and then as instinct took over, she pushed her palm out as if directing the spell where to go.
“Did it work?” some male asked. She didn’t know who.
Deo. Hold on. We are coming for you.
She could feel his strength shifting, his mental clarity going in and out. But he was there.
Stay away. This place is crawling with demons.
She looked at her little entourage. This was the first time she wasn’t alone. She’d always been alone, resilient is what she’d called herself. Her father was always there, but never understanding. Friends, though. Had she ever trusted anyone enough to call them a friend? Seconds passed before anyone moved. Even in this moment, she felt some relief.
Yeah. I think we knew that. We’re coming, Deo.
Aisha trusted them and closing her own eyes, she trusted her own magic for once. Threads of power called to her on the other side of the door. She couldn’t see everything, not entirely, but she could feel that it was there, intact and looping. A memory from the building in another life. Memories left trace energies everywhere, and it was just now she could see them. Memories of bad things, good things, and the mundane. She’d channeled something dark though from what she could tell. Hope that’s what they wanted.
“It’s working. I mean, I found trace energy from something violent. So be ready.”
Maddie squeezed her hand. “It’s a distraction. Perhaps the darker the better. Can you feel the dark energies on the other side of this door?”
Aisha nodded as her skin prickled and the hair on the back of her neck seemed to stand up.
Lilly did the strange light thing again against the door before. Only as the door creaked on its hinges was Aisha sure it was safe to look again.
Blinking several times, Aisha tried to wrap her head around what she was seeing. Creatures, some shapeless, others nearly human looking. One spun around and hissed, the eye sockets a soulless black. No. Not human at all.
Aisha looked at where a group of entities had gathered, and in the center played the show she’d projected. She looked away as the realization she’d conjured up looked like a murder.
The good thing was it indeed distracted a hoard of demons.
“Will they attack us?”
Aisha caught Maddie’s eyes.
“This is Lilly’s domain, not mine.”
A shiver chased up her spine, and she bit back the acidic burn coming up her throat.
Something dark, with a long tongue-looking thing appeared out of nowhere and hovered in front of her. She gasped and nearly screamed, except she was paralyzed. She couldn’t scream. She wanted to. Nothing would come out. Her eyes widened as the tongue lashed out, but instead of reaching her skin, it began to burn, and a horrible screeching filled the space. She tried to drop Maddie’s hand to cover her ears but couldn’t.
“You can’t let go. The spell won’t let you. The blood running through Lilly is the strongest defense we have. You don’t want to let go.”
It was then that she took a quick look around and realized that they weren’t being followed. Or well, they were, but not by the dragons.
“Where, where are your mates?”
Maddie shook her head. “I couldn’t tether Kal to me and realized the magic wouldn’t work on them. They are here for backup. Now, tell us which direction is Deo in?”
Aisha opened her mind, moving past the fact she’d nearly been a demon’s lunch. A few seconds in and she could feel his heartbeat.
“This way,” she said, and took off pulling the other two with her. Her eyes tried to play tricks on her, but she could see through the illusions the demons projected. She went straight where dead ends appeared and turned when the building disappeared. Until they cleared the last obstacle and saw a massive figure lying down. A dragon. He lay in the middle of the floor. His eyes nearly white.
Deo? Deo, answer me.
She watched for a sign of anything, until finally he blinked.
I’m here, my mate. I am here.
Aisha tried to run faster, but the dead weight of the other two slowed her.
Fine. Whatever.
They were almost there. She could almost touch him. She almost had him back, safe, where she could tell him she wanted him. No amount of money could replace what she had.
Looking over her shoulder she nearly screamed at the two women, but why were they moving so slowly, stopping as the other two women came to a halt.
What is that? she asked Deo instinctually. He always had the answer.
The large beast
