‘How did I feel about Lincoln when I first met him?’ I asked her.

I could almost sense a smile in her, if that were possible. ‘You hated his guts, and you stole his fruit, yet you secretly wanted to see him naked.’

I burst out laughing, and now Lincoln was really looking at me with concern.

“I need your sword.” I peered at my lover. “She needs to feel another soul weapon so she can guide herself to that,” I lied.

If I died, he’d never forgive me. I knew from history class that he couldn’t follow me in, but I was pretty sure I’d be able to walk through that hole, and I was also pretty sure my best friend wasn’t going to let me go in alone. Even now, Shea was watching me like a hawk.

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.

With one nod, he crouched as if ready to pounce on me.

I quickly ripped open the flap to the gum and tossed a piece on the floor.

He lunged for it and ate it in one bite, the metallic wrapper included. His nostrils flared as his eyes landed on the packet in my hands.

I tossed another piece as Shea and I started to inch backward toward the alley.

“We gotta start keeping more candy on us,” Shea whispered.

“Agreed.” You never know when you’ll run into a hungry Snakeroot demon.

I kept throwing pieces of gum in front of him, but he was inhaling them like he hadn’t eaten in weeks. And now a few of the other demons in the mob had trickled away and were smelling the air.

Freaking mint. Or human. I didn’t know which it was, but they were totally staring at us, so they’d smelled something off. Why can’t Hell have mint? It should be a normal thing.

“Time to run.” I gulped and chucked the whole packet. Shea handed Lincoln’s sword to me and I pivoted, kicking off the dusty ground into a full-on sprint with my bestie right behind me.

“I’m going to start closing the portal!” she shouted, her hands making wide arcs in the air as purple magic danced about in her palms.

Unfortunately, there was a Castor demon gunning for me, and I knew I wouldn’t make it to the portal in time without a fight.

‘I don’t have much strength left,’ Sera told me.

I’d figured, which was why I’d brought Lincoln’s weapon. It may not have been my own soul weapon, but it was still a big-ass sword, and I was hoping since it was tied to Lincoln’s soul, it would help me.

Just as we reached the mouth of the alley, I spun.

The Castor demon was right on me. With one thrust of his gnarled hands, he shot an energy pulse straight at my gut. I held Lincoln’s sword before me and it deflected some of the blast, but I was still rocked backward.

“Bri!” Lincoln’s strangled voice cut through the space and filtered down the alleyway. He must have had a view of what was going on, but I didn’t have time to focus on him.

Shea was there then, throwing a purple ball of energy at the ugly Castor demon. It crashed into his chest and he faltered, tipping his head back to roar.

I turned when I heard movement behind me. The sound of their comrade in trouble had alerted the mob.

Shit.

‘Run.’ Sera was stating the obvious, but damn, it was good to have her voice back in my head.

Shea hooked me under the armpit and hauled me up just as the Castor demon lunged for me. Castor demons, aside from throwing mini EMP bursts at you, had nearly impenetrable skin—except behind their heels. Don’t ask me how I knew that; long story short, it was Shea’s fault.

“Start closing the portal. I’ll jump through!” I told her.

No way was I going to let this angry mob through to kill my friends and loved ones. The friends who’d helped me get Sera back.

“Fine!” Shea snapped, clearly not happy with my plan.

There was no time to dwell on it.

I shook Lincoln’s sword a little. “Come on. Go blue,” I urged it. I’d seen Lincoln do the blinding blue light thing a million times, and if this sword was an intelligent being, then maybe—

Blue light flared to life along the blade, and I ran to meet the Castor demon head on. Lincoln’s sword was in my left hand, Sera in my right. As I suspected, when I made it within two feet of the demon, he flared out with a burst of energy. With a cry, I held up Lincoln’s sword and it acted as a shield, the blue light breaking apart the energy burst.

I didn’t want to give him time to build another, so I dropped to my knees and slashed out, prison style, with Sera’s short and sharp blade. I made short fast hacks into the back of his right heel, and he went down with a roar. Tucking my head in, I rolled to the side, hitting the wall of the alley to avoid getting smooshed by the demon.

The crowd was on us now, though the other demons were slightly shocked by the Castor demon falling over in a flood of black blood.

“Come on!” Shea yelled.

Bursting from the ground, and yanking Lincoln’s heavy-ass sword up in front of me, I took off running.

The portal was about a three-foot circle now, beyond it was Lincoln’s pissed-off face, and a pile of cushions—to ease my landing, I guessed.

Those blue eyes were livid. Oops. For two people in love, I sure made him mad a lot.

Hot acid hit the back of my calf and I faltered, pain flaring to life just below my knee. My all-out run turned to a frantic limp.

The blood drained from Lincoln’s face and he pulled a gun. “Jump!” he shouted, raising the weapon.

Oh God. What’s behind me?

Having your boyfriend point a gun at you—even if it wasn’t directly at you—was not cool, but I leapt off the crusted ground with my good leg, tucking the weapons into my body in a way that wouldn’t gore me when I landed.