I had a team of seven Royal Guards and a Portal Dweller.
“Can you portal through the barrier beyond the portal?” I asked Jinx.
“Not sure.” He disappeared, presumably to find out.
We needed to stop the beings on the other side of it, destroy the portal, and take down anyone who stood in our way—including Prince Morax—by any means necessary. He was a powerful Archdemon. If that meant I had to kill him, I would.
Jinx returned with a frazzled expression, his dark hair standing on end. “No,” he wheezed, telling me with his appearance and his pained voice that he couldn’t break through the veil magic.
Ezra,I’m going to need your sword to break the veil-like barrier.
Use the dagger,he replied.It has the same magic.
How do I ignite it?
Just touch it to the barrier. It’ll ignite on its own.His mental voice sounded ragged, yet strength radiated from his spirit to mine.
I couldn’t see what was happening, apart from the vibrant clashes of magic in the air. And I felt his fury at the events occurring in the sky.
We need to move,I thought, a chill sweeping down my spine. The longer we stayed here, the more demons would come through that portal.
“Revised plan,” I said, glancing at Jinx’s battered form before directing my attention to Gleason once more. “Your team can focus on the creatures coming up from Hell. My team will help but will also provide a protective shield around me so I can take down the barrier.”
Gleason nodded. “Agreed.”
“But be prepared. Those beings inside the barrier are powerful, and we still don’t know exactly what they are.”
Another nod from the Nephilim. “Noted. Let’s go.”
The Dark Provenance members began to disappear with their cuffs, the magical sensation in their wake familiar.
“Can you teleport her?” Yaz asked Jinx.
The Portal Dweller dipped his chin, his face still pale. “Yeah.”
“Then I’ll take Serena and Baxton.” Yaz grabbed them both before anyone could speak, the three of them winking out of existence in the next blink.
Jinx blew out a breath and held his hand out for mine.
“Make sure you just drop me off and come back here to take a break.”
He shook his head ruefully, his mop of dark hair falling into his eyes. “Nah, I’ll portal the others. Then we fight.”
I almost argued with him, but he was already moving through time and space to take me to the middle of the war zone.
Yaz, Serena, and Baxton immediately surrounded me, their hands resembling weapons as they shot hellfire from their fingertips at the approaching demons.
Prince Morax stood several yards away, his giant black wings blocking my view as he faced off with some Nephilim. I searched for Gleason and didn’t see him.
Which told me he’d likely taken on the Prince of Hell.
I muttered a curse but focused on my task.
If he could stay alive long enough to distract the Archdemon, then I could successfully do my part.
I pulled the dagger from my sheath and stabbed the invisible veil-like wall.
Energy hummed across my hand, the runes in the metal flaring to life like my cuff usually did, only the magic in this was different. It pulsated and swirled, learning the enchantment of the barricade and unraveling it piece by piece.
