But therewasone place outside our realm I could send him.
I grabbed the pocket mirror from my jacket and shoved my arm straight into the middle of the demon’s form. A portal opened within the mirror, and a terrifying screech filled the air as the demon was sucked inside, transported straight to the Mirror Realm.
I gasped a breath of relief as I felt the demon’s dark magic leave the room. The second he was gone, I threw the mirror to the ground and smashed it with my foot. Glass crunched beneath my shoe, trapping the entity. That fucker was stuck in the Mirror Realm now, and there was no getting out.
Except now I’d just eliminated our way out, too.
“It’s like Salvatore to put a curse on the safe,” Ava spat. “He didn’t trust his men enough to keep the key safe, so he trapped a demon inside to guard it. Asshole.”
“Forget about it.” Flames licked up the wall, and I coughed as the smoke filled the room. I was getting sicker with each passing second we remained near the inferichite.
“Grab the key, and let’s go!” I barked.
Ava was close to the safe, and I heard the clink of metal as she grabbed the vampire key. “Take it,” she said, shoving the key into my hand.
I clutched the key tightly. We finally had the vampire key in our grasp— literally. We weren’t letting it go for anything.
“Pidge… any mirrored surfaces around?” I asked between coughs.
“None.”
We needed to find another way out, because mirrors were the one illusion I always failed to create. I couldn’t portal us out on my own.
I pressed my finger to my earpiece. “Mirror portal is a no-go. We need extractionnow!”
No response came, and I realized our magic must’ve blasted out the comms. Ava and I were going to have to find another way.
Shouts came from down the hall. Salvatore was coming. We didn’t have time to think about it.
“We’re taking the windows,” I decided. I pulled Ava upward and cradled her in my arms. I took off running out of the room, smoke from Ava’s Fire billowing behind us.
“Straight ahead, at the end of the hall,” Ava instructed.
Footsteps sounded behind us as Salvatore’s men pursued us. Oberi galloped ahead, while I focused all my energy on creating an illusion. A harness wrapped around my legs, becoming solid in response to my thoughts. Another harness securely attached Ava to my front, so that he was straddling me.
Ready?Oberi warned.One… two… three!
The sound of shattering glass filled the hall as Oberi smashed through the window. Immediately, her shifting magic swelled through the bond, and she became a phoenix.
“Now!” Ava shouted. She turned her head into my shoulder, squeezing me tightly.
I jumped through the window, and for a moment, we were free-falling, nearly toppling in slow motion through the sky. I turned in mid-air, and a grappling hook appeared from my illusion, shooting upward until it snagged on the top of the building. A long rope connected us to the side of The Devil’s City, and we went swinging back in the direction of the building like a pendulum. I braced my feet against the side of the building and kicked off again. We repelled downward at a rapid pace, leaving the vampires behind us.
Ava drew away from my chest and turned her gaze upward. “I don’t get it. Salvatore’s men aren’t following us. Where’d they go?—?”
Ava barely got the question out before a massive explosion detonated overhead. The blast rocked the whole building, and shattered glass fell to the city streets. A scream echoed through the air, coming closer, until it was gone a second later, the sound fading below us. Someone hadthrown a vampire out of the building.
I dared to smirk in satisfaction. “Well, that answers your question. I guess Danny isn’t so bad after all.”
Ava’s arms wrapped tighter around my neck, and she let out a ragged breath as we continued repelling off the side of the building. “It’s hot, isn’t it? Escaping with you— the key in our hands.”
“Hot as fuck,” I growled.
Then, Ava and I were kissing. It wasn’t justkissing. It was a full-on, hot make-out session on the side of a skyscraper. Her tongue rolled over mine, and her hands moved downward to cup my ass. My stomach tingled in my abdomen as the thrill of the free-fall ignited a more intense desire for her. We’d fucking did it, and there was nothing more of a turn-on than pulling off a heist and getting away with my pidge in my arms.
I was born for it.
The ground came near, and Ava and I were forced to draw away from each other to catch our breath. I slowed our descent, and I landed softly on the sidewalk. Oberi landed beside us and shifted back into a unicorn. The street was deserted, because everyone had fled when the explosions started going off.
