He pulled his sword without hesitation and handed it to me.
I wrapped my fingers around the cold steel and gave him a weak smile.
Forgive me.
Chapter Twelve
I knew if I walked slowly toward the opening, Lincoln might grab me, so I lunged, darting so quickly that I heard the room take a collective gasp. The moment I crossed into the dark realm, a weight pushed on my skin, and for a moment it became more difficult to breathe.
Spinning, I noticed that just as I anticipated, Shea was right behind me.
“Get back here!” Lincoln whisper-screamed, eyes wide as saucers as he gaped at me from the living room where he stood.
Shea was panting, sweat beading on her forehead.
“This is the only way. I’ll be right back. She’s not far,” I assured him.
“No!” Lincoln hissed. He reached one hand into the portal, then recoiled so quickly you’d have thought he was burned. A strangled yelp fled his throat, and I stepped closer to him.
“Are you okay?” It was weird to see an opening into another world.
He held up his arm to reveal a horrible bruise. Some parts of his skin were torn and bleeding.
Oh God.
We needed to be quick.
“I’ll be right back!” I promised.
Nora took off her cloak, and chucked it through the portal at my feet. “You’re an idiot,” she stated.
Okay, not really a necessary comment, but whatever.
Pulling the cloak from the dusty ground, I quickly swung it over my shoulders, hiding Lincoln’s sword underneath and pulling the hood over my head.
“If you’re not back here in three minutes, I’m coming in,” Lincoln declared.
Considering what it did to his arm, that would probably kill him.
‘We’re coming,’ I told Sera.
I didn’t waste time, only nodded and grabbed Shea’s hand with my free one as we both started to power-walk down the alley.
“She’s disguised as a cactus and is in front of the building that’s on fire. There’s a street fight, so we should be able to slip in and out.” I caught Shea up to speed.
As we neared the end of the alley, we both stopped dead.
Holy mother of Hell.
The scene before me was a total culture shock. I couldn’t even process my own thoughts about it.
Other than the demons milling about and fighting off to the right like Sera said they were, there were souls. Spectral humanlike creatures walking around and wincing fearfully every time a demon neared them. One of them was a sweet-looking old lady.
What the…？
Shea snapped out of it before I did, and jerked my hand to the left, where a dilapidated building was on fire. I took quick strides in the direction of the flaming structure. What I’d seen so far shook me to my core, but I had to stay focused. The roads weren’t paved, but I was shocked to see that we seemed to be in some sort of city. The demons were fighting in front of what looked like a store, where someone was handing out food baskets from an open window.
The sweet old lady soul suddenly dropped to the ground and started screaming bloody murder.
Shit. What’s going on in this place?
The closer we moved to the burning building, the hotter I became.
There, five feet from me, was a tiny barrel cactus half covered in soot and dirt. Finally I could feel her.
‘I’m here,’ I thought, and in that moment she dropped her illusion, changing her form.
In one swift move, I scooped down, and picked her up. The moment the cold steel hit my hand, a wave of love poured through me, chasing the darkness back.
Sera was my light. She was an extension of my soul, the lightest part of me. I could feel that now. Tears pricked my eyes as I clutched her to my chest.
‘I missed you so much,’ I told her.
‘Me too. You smell good, like home.’
A smile curved my lips, but the smirk quickly died when Shea elbowed my rib cage hard.
I spun slowly to see a Snakeroot demon staring at us.
“Earth dwellers,” he hissed in a tiny rat chirpy voice, pointing to us.
They can speak?
I put my finger to my lips, as if the act of asking him to keep it a secret would work. The mob—which I now realized was fighting over food—had grown, and I didn’t want to know what would happen if they knew we were there.
Snakeroot demons loved candy, and I happened to have a pack of mint gum in my pocket. I slowly handed Shea Lincoln’s sword and reached for the gum.
“You want some candy?” I whispered.
Desire flared in his eyes. He looked emaciated, not like the Snakeroot demons I knew on Earth.