VEE

As we drive along the freeway towards a desert two hours’ drive away, we remain silent for most of the trip.

"Is he still attacking the portal?" I ask Heath, leaning between the driver and passenger seat from the car's rear.

"The wards are weaker."

"The other creature—the one we killed. If he managed to break portal wards before without us detecting, why can you sense it this time?"

"Because he wants us to, of course." Xander accelerates harder as we hit the open road.

I sink back and look to the rising sun. "Another test?"

"As long as we get there before anything else breaks through." Ewan finally speaks, the words we've worried about the most—including that the guys don’t know what lies behind this one.

A rough track leads through the scrub, which guides us to the area holding the portal. The Jeep easily navigates the terrain, built for off-road. As it continues to bump along, I grip the door handle, ready to jump out.

Xander pulls the car up beneath a single Joshua tree and I stare out in confusion. The scenery surrounding us is no different than a few hundred metres behind. Why stop here?

“The portal must be intact.” Xander opens his door. “I can’t see anything. Check the wards.”

He steps out, closely followed by Heath. I cautiously follow. They stride from point to point around us, crouching down to touch something on the floor. I look over Heath’s shoulder. A stone rests near a larger rock, coloured a different grey and smoother. He touches the top. "Wards are broken."

"Shit." Ewan pushes hair from his face and spins around before yelling, "Seth! We're here. There aren't any other trees for you to hide in so where the fuck are you?"

Something pulls at my chest, as if an invisible band tightens and I stumble forward. A few metres away, something shimmers on the ground. If the sun were stronger, I’d swear this was a mirage, but the shimmering grows and moves into the air. Portal. There’s no question because my head spins and the pull toward it intensifies.

“Maybe he isn’t here. Hopefully we’re only dealing with the portal,” mutters Xander, and I sense relief mingled with the disappointment.

A dark shadow looms in the portal centre, blotting out the bright shine and beginning a crack from the middle as the last one did.

“I’ll stop this.” I break into a run but this time I’m pulled back by Ewan, who clamps his arms around me.

“Remember the dog? Whatever is behind there could be worse. Wait.”

I pull from his grip as if a child was holding me. “No.”

As I move closer, the shadow does too and I’m half a metre from the portal when the line tears the mirage in two.

Seth steps from inside the shimmering oval in front of us, which closes behind him. He’s dishevelled, dressed in the same T-shirt and jeans combination, his lanky figure the exact same body as before. The only thing missing is his glasses.

Seth takes on a mock-surprised expression. “Hey guys. How’s things?” He points at the portal. “There’s some weird shit living behind there."

Ewan growls something under his breath.

“Don’t go to him,” I whisper. “Stay back.”

Is this it? Is here and now where the prophecy fulfills?

Seth pokes at the barrier with one finger. "Did you bring me answers? If you won't bring me the book, at least tell me what's written inside.”

“No.” Xander’s firm, and to my relief he stays where he is.

“Did you meet my new friends yet?” he asks.

“What friends?”

Seth steps toward Xander who holds his ground. “They’re special friends who I want to meet you. Just like Joss and Ewan met some before.”

“Oh my god,” I whisper. “You did open portals before. Is that where the things that attacked Joss and Ewan came from?”

Seth claps his hands together then points at me while keeping his eyes on the guys. “See. One of you is smart.”

Ewan crosses his arms. “How? We’re connected to them. We know.”

Seth scoffs. “My portals. I do what the fuck I like. You think I can’t break through pathetic warding magic and not be detected?”

“This time we knew,” says Joss.

“I’ve been waiting for you to find me, but you’re taking too long. I thought I’d let you know this time. See if you could deal with more than a dog." He waves a hand at the portal. “The guys behind there? They’ll have so much fun in this world.”

A sound and new pull in my chest interrupts our conversation as the crack reappears, sudden, fully instead of slowly.

“Close it!” I demand.

“You close it.”

I narrow my eyes and step toward the portal. As I pass Seth he snatches my arm and pulls me to him. "Can you kill me, Vee?”

"Try me and find out.” Dragging my arm away, I fight the rising fear. Is it sensible to challenge him right now? “We can end this."

Seth tips his chin to Heath, closest to me, who’s moving forward with an arm outstretched to me. "Nah. Not yet. I want to kill your Horsemen first."

He flicks his fingers at Heath, who flies backwards, landing on the ground twenty metres away. He groans and attempts to sit as Xander rushes over to him. I turn my head between the opening portal and Heath on the floor. What do I do?

“Go on. See if one of your lapdogs is okay,” he mocks.

Ignoring Seth, I continue to stride toward the portal, but the energy dragging me closer shifts polarity and I’m pushed away. My head snaps back as Seth grabs my hair.

“Get the hell off me,” I shout.

Ewan yells and his footsteps thud toward us. He curls a hand around my waist and tries to dislocate Seth’s fingers from my hair. “I won’t let go. You’ll rip Vee’s hair out if you pull at her,” snarls Seth. “Such pretty hair, too.”

“Let go,” he snarls.

“Fuck off.” Seth scowls and, with another flick of his fingers, he sends Ewan hurtling backwards.

“You arsehole!” I dig my nails into Seth’s fingers and he swears at me, dropping his grip. Staring at the bloody marks on the back of his hand, he pouts before turning blackened eyes toward mine.

“Move away from him, Vee,” calls Joss.

“He’s sensible staying where he is.” Seth cranes his head. “Or are you the coward, Joss? You always seemed a bit pathetic to me with your ‘oh, no, they’re going to take me back to Hell’ whining.”

“Joss, don’t,” I warn as he surges toward us. Seth’s words have the effect he wanted and he snickers as he clicks his fingers. The ground cracks, a narrow chasm opening close to Joss’s feet. Dirt falls into the hole as Joss half-slips. He backs up.

“Let her go!”

I gasp as Seth closes one hand around my neck, but his smile fades as his attempt to lift me fails.

"Interesting. How strong are you, Verity?"

“Try me,” I hiss.

Xander and Joss stand behind the gap he created, unable to cross. Seth nods at them. "Your protectors are a bit shit, aren't they?"

"They don't protect me."

"Not against me." He steps to one side. "You distract them too much."

I swallow and face off the man before me. The guy with dark eyes holding a mesmerising void. A god hell bent on killing everything round him. The pressure in my head pushes against my eyes and I look down. No glow around my hands. How is this enough power? I hardly feel any different to a normal fight.

"Let’s do this," I hiss. “You’ll lose.”

"Seriously? I'm not dumb enough to think this ends with a skirmish in the desert. Hundreds of years for everything to end here? I don't think so."

The portal gapes open, the bright colours behind now a blinding light contrasting with the darkness from the last. Standing, blinking in front of the portal stand two hulking creatures—and by hulking, I mean three times the size of Ewan. I instantly sense they’re demons, even though they could be anything. Crude features with flattened noses. Pale green lips thin in an ashen face. They squint in the sun before looking down at us.

Seth clicks his fingers and the earth shakes below my feet again. Shit, is he opening more of the ground? Instead, the chasm snaps closed, knocking Xander and Joss from their feet.

The two demons at the front aren't what worries me. It's the army behind.

"Holy fuck," mutters Xander. "Now what?"

"Yes, now what?" calls Seth.