CHAPTER 28

The next morning, I paced along the rocky shore of Lough Bealach and tried to figure out the best way to get across.

The barest hint of pinkish-gray was just starting to appear over the horizon. I had no idea what time it was, but my body told me it was roughly “Ouch, This Is Way Too Early” o’clock. I’d only gotten a few hours of sleep. After Dad’s announcement that I’d be heading to the freaking Underworld the next day, no one had really been in the sleeping mood. Aislinn, Finley, Izzy, and Mom had spread out sleeping bags in the hut while I’d conjured up tents for Dad, Archer, Cal, me, and Jenna. They weren’t anything to write home about (and the one Jenna and I shared was kind of saggy in the middle), but they were still the first things I’d magicked up in a while.

When I was done, Dad had said, “You created something out of nothing. You realize that, don’t you?”

I let that sink in. Creating something out of nothing was nearly impossible for regular witches and wizards to do. Under Alice’s teaching, Elodie had mastered it, but the spell had always been tricky for me. And Dad was right: I’d just done it, almost without thinking.

“It’s so good to see you using your powers again,” he said softly. I looked at the purple marks on his face, and just wrapped my arms around him in response.

Now, as I stood by the water, I felt my powers swirling peacefully inside me. When I’d wanted to go through the Removal, Dad had told me that taking away my magic was akin to trying to rip out the color of my eyes. He’d been right. Without my powers, I had felt like a huge piece of me was missing.

I rubbed my arms, even though I’d used my magic to transform my Hex Hall uniform into a thick black sweater and jeans. Ireland in September was a lot chillier than Georgia had been. Of course, the cold wasn’t the only thing making me shiver. Rising up out of the water was a big freaking rock.

I rubbed my arms even harder and sat down next to Aislinn on one of the boulders ringing the shore. I’d gotten up before dawn in the hope of avoiding any more tearful farewells, but Aislinn had already been awake and waiting for me at the edge of the lake.

“I told Grace to let me see you off,” she had said. “I was afraid it would upset both of you too much if she did it herself. Same for your father, and you need to be focused right now.” Her voice was gruff, but I was still grateful to have her there.

“So should I just conjure a boat?” I asked her now.

She shrugged. “I’m not the one with magic. Just get over however you think is best.”

“I could swim,” I suggested. “Ooh! Or maybe magic up like, a sweet Jet Ski?” I held my hands out in from of me as if I were clutching the handlebars of said sweet Jet Ski. Aislinn watched me for a moment before saying, “Is this what you always do when you’re nervous?”

My hands fell back to my sides. “Pretty much.”

I turned back to the water. “See, the thing is, I’m pretty sure I could make a boat. But then if I do, do I give it a motor? Or a sail? Or am I expected to row myself all the way—”

“Please be quiet until you think of something.” The words themselves weren’t particularly threatening, but Aislinn had a way of looking at you that made you feel like she was mere seconds away from kicking you in the face.

The only sound was the lapping of the waves against the shore, and the chattering of my teeth. I peeked over my shoulder at the ring of tents. Jenna had been sound asleep when I’d crawled out just before dawn. I hadn’t woken her up, partly because I thought she could use the rest. But the main reason was that waking her would’ve meant telling her good-bye, and telling someone goodbye when you’re planning on walking into hell would’ve felt kind of…final.

It was the same reason I hadn’t gone into the hut to find Mom, and why I’d skirted around Archer’s tent. I’d been nearly to the shore when I’d heard him softly call, “Mercer.”

Kneeling in the doorway of his tent, his hair a mess, his Hex Hall uniform ridiculously wrinkled, he’d nearly broken my heart. And when I ran to him as soundlessly as I could and practically dove on top of him, I’d told myself that our kiss was just your normal boyfriend/ girlfriend saying good morning thing. Even when he pulled me inside, the tent warm and cozy and smelling like him, I hadn’t let myself think that might be the last time I’d see him.

And when he’d pulled me closer and murmured, “Mercer, I love—” I had covered his mouth with my hand.

“Don’t say that. Not now. Say it sometime when there is absolutely no chance of death on the horizon, okay?”

He mumbled something beneath my palm, and I rolled my eyes as I pulled it away from his mouth. He dropped a kiss on the tip of my nose. “All I was going to say was that I love this tent you made for me. But I guess I can tell you again later. When you get back.”

Curling my hand around the back of his neck, I’d pulled him down to me. “You better.”

A blush creeping up my neck from the memory, I swung my gaze away from his tent and back toward the lake. I was coming back. I was going to be fine, and getting down into the Underworld to collect demonglass wouldn’t be hard at all. Maybe I’d make it back before lunch.

Of course, I couldn’t make it back if I never left.

And just like that, the simplest way to get across the lake occurred to me.

Standing up, I pointed a finger at the water. The surface of the lake began to ripple, and then, with a great whooshing sound, the water in front of us slid back, leaving a narrow, silver muddy trail along the lake’s bottom. The path wove all the way to the base of the rocky island.

“What it lacks in pizzazz, it makes up for in practicality,” I said, hoping Aislinn couldn’t hear how terrified I was. But she put her hand on my shoulder—the first time she’d ever touched me—and said, “You’ll be fine. If there’s one thing I’ve learned about you, Sophie Brannick, it’s that you are one tough little thing.”

I almost said, “Sophie Mercer.” Instead I just said, “Thanks, um, Aunt Aislinn.”

She pulled her hand back. “Let’s not get carried away.”

“Right, sorry.”

I turned back to the watery path and tried to remind myself that I had done all kinds of terrifying things. Escaped a burning building. Faced off against a werewolf. Fought creepy demon mind control. Walking through some water shouldn’t be that scary. Still, my feet refused to move.

“You ready to go?” a voice said from behind me.

Cal.

He stood just at the edge of the water, hands in his pockets.

I stared at him in confusion. “You can’t.”

“I can’t go into the Underworld with you, but there’s nothing in the rule against having an escort out there.”

Aislinn looked back and forth between us, finally saying, “You can try it.”

Experimentally, Cal put one foot on the path. I tensed, waiting for the water to rush back in over him. When it didn’t, I let out the breath I’d been holding.

“Seems safe enough,” Cal said, and Aislinn shrugged.

“Well, there you go,” she said.

Without so much as a “Hey, try not to get killed,” she turned back for the stone hut. I wouldn’t let my eyes follow Aislinn. If I looked back, I was afraid I’d go running after her.

Instead I walked out to stand next to Cal. Underfoot, the surface gave slightly. Gingerly, we made our way down the watery road. “Brannicks and magic and hell, oh my,” I joked, and Cal gave a snort of what might have been laughter.

I hit a particularly slippery spot and wobbled for a second before Cal grabbed my elbow. I didn’t want it to be awkward, and I really didn’t want my entire face to go red, but that’s exactly what happened. I glanced up. Our eyes met, and Cal jerked back his hand so fast that he overbalanced. As he started to fall, I went to grab him, and the next thing I knew, we both went down. I hit the wall of water to my right, just as Cal slid to the left. I fell into the water, completely immersed, only to have it spit me back out onto the path.

I sat there, arms and legs akimbo, hair dripping water into my eyes. Cal sat opposite me, every bit as drenched, looking totally bewildered. Once again, we locked eyes.

And this time, we both burst out laughing.

“Oh God,” I spluttered. “Your face!”

“My face?” he said, his laughter dwindling to a chuckle. “You should see your hair.”

He rose to his feet, leaning down to offer me a hand. I took it gratefully. Once I was upright again, I ran my hand in front of my body, magic fluttering out of my fingertips to dry my hair and clothes. Cal did the same to himself, and then we studied each other.

“All right, now that the weirdness between us has caused actual physical damage, I think it’s time we talked it out, don’t you?”

He gave a half smile and then turned back to the path. “We don’t need to be weird,” he said. “These past few days, since the thing with Elodie, I’ve been thinking.” He took a deep breath, and I knew that this was one of those rare occasions when Cal was about to say a lot of words at once. “I like you, Sophie. A lot. For a while, I thought it might be more than that. But you love Cross.”

He said it matter-of-factly, but I still caught the way his ears reddened. “I know I’ve said some pretty awful stuff about him, but…I was wrong. He’s a good guy. So, I guess what I’m saying is that as the guy who’s betrothed to you, I wish we could be more than friends.” He stopped, turning around to face me. “But as your friend, I want you to be happy. And if Cross is who you want, then I’m not gonna stand in the way of that.”

“I’m the worst fiancée ever, aren’t I?”

Cal lifted one shoulder. “Nah. This one warlock I knew, his betrothed set him on fire.”

Laughing so I wouldn’t cry, I tentatively lifted my arms to hug him. He folded me against his chest, and there was no awkwardness between us, and I knew the warmth in the pit of my stomach was love. Just a different kind.

Sniffling, I pulled back and rubbed at my nose. “Okay, now that the hard part’s over, let’s go tackle the Underworld.”

“Got room for two more?”

Startled, I turned to see Jenna and Archer standing on the path, Jenna’s hand clutching Archer’s sleeve as she tried to stay on her feet. “What?” was all I could say.

Archer took a few careful steps forward. “Hey, this has been a group effort so far. No reason to stop now.”

“You guys can’t go into the Underworld with me,” I told them. “You heard Dad, I’m the only one with—”

“With powers strong enough. Yeah, we got that,” Jenna said. “But how are you supposed to carry a whole bunch of demonglass out of that place? It’ll burn you. And hey, maybe your powers will be strong enough to get all of us in, too.” She gestured to herself and the boys. “Plus it’s not like we don’t have powers of our own.”

I knew I should tell them to go back. But having the three of them there made me feel a whole lot better and whole lot less terrified. So in the end, I gave an exaggerated sigh and said, “Okay, fine. But just so you know, following me into hell means you’re all definitely the sidekicks.”

“Darn, I was hoping to be the rakishly charming love interest,” Archer said, taking my hand.

“Cal, any role you were after?” I asked him, and he looked ruefully at the craggy rock looming over us. As he did, there was the grinding sound of stone against stone. We all stared at the opening that appeared.

“I’m just hoping to be the Not Dead Guy,” Cal muttered.

We faced the entrance. “Between the four of us, we fought ghouls, survived attacks by demons and L’Occhio di Dio, and practically raised the dead,” I said. “We can do this.”

“See, inspiring speeches like that are why you get to be the leader,” Archer said, and he squeezed my hand.

And then, moving almost as one, we stepped into the rock.