Page 69 of Grave Consequences
“I will make you a portal, but only becauseIwant to,” he says petulantly. “I was growing tired of hearing Nefta, anyway.”
The Legion Colonel rolls her Concord grape colored eyes, but I ignore them both. “Get us as close as you can, Taz,” I tell him, feeling the need to hurry, solely based on how tense and poised for battle the four demons at my back seem to be.
“Yes, yes,” Taz says dismissively before raising his arm, ready to make a portal.
“You maynotmake a portal on Legion territory,” Nefta cuts in, one hand still holding her scythe.
Taz scoffs. “I can do whatever I want,” he says insolently.
“You absolutely cannot do whatev—”
“Stop!” I shout, cutting them both off. “You two are a fucking nightmare! Thank fuck that you gave me away, Nefta, because if I’d had to deal withthismy whole life, I would have gone bat-shit crazy,” I say, shaking my head. “Now, I don’t care about your pride or your rules. Stop thinking about yourselves for two seconds and take us where we need to go so we can kick some unauthorized demon Hell Spawn ass!”
They both stare at me. Taz looks put out, offended as usual, but Nefta...I think I see delight in her purple gaze. “I see it now. Your blood sings with battle just as mine does. A family trait,” she says before she turns and shoots Taz a look. “What are you waiting for? Get the damned portal up so our progeny can go kick some ass!”
Cursing and grumbling under his breath, he flicks his wrist out to the side, and a seven-foot tall wall of a semi-transparent, metallic veil stretches in front of us.
We don’t waste any time. All four of my guys race after me as I sprint straight into it, this time welcoming the feeling of vertigo, because I know it’s going to take us where we need to be.
I land hard on the balls of my feet, immediately wrapped in the dark shroud of Sandpiper’s night sky, smack dab in the middle of Perdition Estate’s long drive. My guys get spit out of the portal right beside me, and we immediately start cutting across the grounds toward the graveyard. My arms pump as I do my best to keep up with the fast pace of the guys, but their strides are much longer than mine, and I have to move twice as fast to keep from lagging behind.
Iceman races ahead of us, his horns glinting in the moonlight, and I focus on him as my personal beacon as we charge into who knows what kind of clusterfuck. Images of Cousin It demons flash through my mind, slowly to be replaced by memories of the different demons at the Vestibule. I have no idea what we’re about to run into, but I can’t let the uneasiness I feel slow me down.
But with every step I take, apprehension thickens in my veins. True comprehension sinks down into my joints. Fear nudges at my muscles.
I’m heading straight for another demon battle, and the last time I was in one, the guys almost died, and I was almost taken.
Memories of the Vestibule battle plague me as our racing steps crunch on gravel. We skirt around the mansion, heading through a side gate, in the direction of the cemetery.
Time seems to be breathing down the back of my neck, and I’m not sure if that’s just the guys’ anxiousness I’m picking up on or if it’s something more pushing us to hurry. All I know is, I didn’t have the same automatic physical reaction that the guys had. I didn’t feel whatever alert they got that let them know the Gate had been breached. But I do feelsomething.
Echo and Crux are both slightly ahead of me now too, and I push to catch back up. Iceman still leads the way, and Jerif is just slightly behind me to my right. I feel like his placement is strategic, and it puts me on edge even more.
I expect my lungs to start burning at any moment in protest, and for my legs to feel overworked with each running step I force them into, but they don’t. I’m surprised when my body doesn’t seem to have any reaction for my running at all. Yay for my new demon body sans blocks. It’s as if I’m on a leisurely Sunday stroll instead of possibly sprinting to my death.
I shove that thought away. No one is dying, not on my side of things anyway. The guys and I will be fine. I’ll make sure of it this time. A thrill of anticipation moves through my wings, as though they’re agreeing with me. I know I’ll need every ounce of physical prowess that I have tonight so that I can protect the Gate, the guys, and myself. The problem is, I haven’t exactly test driven this body in battle yet, so I’m not sure what I’m working with.
I clutch my scythe even tighter, hoping it will help guide me and stay glued to me like it did during the battle at the Georgia Hellgate.
“Go faster,” Jerif barks at everyone, like we’re not running at Mach Cheetah pace as it is.
I shoot him a glare over my shoulder, but he’s unfazed as he pushes us on, his flame-colored hair nearly glowing in the moonlight.
“This is as fast as I go,” I defend.
“Then dig deeper,” he retorts. I want to snap back something smart ass or surly, but instead, I try to do exactly what he says. We all dig in for that extra burst like Jerif’s impatience is a whip at our heels.
“Move it,” he orders harshly, implying that we’re just lollygagging along, making me grit my teeth. Even though his demanding voice suffuses me with anger and frustration, those are emotions I can latch onto. Those things, I can mentally handle—and that’s probably why he’s doing it. He’s making sure I’m focusing on him, on the things I can control, instead of letting my mind come up with all the awful possibilities of what we could be running into.
He’s annoying as fuck, but I need the distraction. I hate that I need it, but I do.
I know I signed up for this. I know that this is part of what being a Hellgate Guardian is all about. Defending the Mortal Realm against unauthorized demons is exactly what my new life entails, but even knowing that, there’s still no way to prepare for it. This is happening right now, whether I want it to or not.
“Don’t stop,” Jerif snarls at me, like he knows the directions of my apprehensive thoughts. If I weren’t so focused on not tripping and eating it, I might be able to send him a grateful look for bolstering my confidence in his own special asshole-ish way...or I might have just told him to fuck off. My irritation and appreciation wax and wane when it comes to the scowling lava demon beside me, but I wouldn’t have it any other way.
We finally reach the fence line for the cemetery, and all I can think is that whoever created that wholeno portaling within a mile of the Gateshould be punched in the balls. We all stop, silently observing everything around the wrought iron gate, agitation and worry pushing out of us with each exhale.
Everything is quiet.
