The portal shimmered to life before us, swirling with reds and golds and black, just like it had inside the glass. Hudson’s grip tightened, nearly crushing my fingers. Jax moved closer, lacing his fingers through my other hand. Elian hooked his fingers through the back of my waistband.
And together, my monsters and I stepped into the light of the portal.
Into the darkness of another realm.
And into a volley of flaming arrows sailing right toward us.
16
HALEY
Down! Now!” Elian shoved me hard from behind, and we all dropped to the ground as the arrows whizzed overhead, leaving trails of smoke behind them. All around us, fires burned unchecked.
Ash and fire choked the air, making my eyes water. Through the haze about fifty feet out, I counted a dozen soldiers moving through the bare trees, their arrows knocked for another volley, bows aimed toward the sky.
“Fae. They’re not after us,” Elian said, and we all looked up at once. Two dark, winged figures cut through the glow of a blood-red sky, letting loose an earsplitting cry that sent shivers down my spine.
“Raven gryphons.” Jax cursed as the beasts flew closer. “What the fuck are they doing this far east?”
“Hold!” came the command from the fae troops. “Hold! On my mark!”
I watched in a state of shock and wonder as two monstrous black birds the size of large SUVs swooped down to the treetops. They had the heads and wings of ravens, the limbs and tails of lions, and talons that looked like they could tear through concrete.
“Fire!” shouted the commander.
The troops unleashed another volley, their arrows whistling. The gryphons soared higher, avoiding a direct hit.
“Holy shit, they’re fast,” Elian said.
They screeched into the night, circling once before swooping back down, heading right for the fae.
The commander shouted again. “Fire at will! Fire at will!”
This time, some of the arrows actually hit the wings, but they had little effect on the huge gryphons, the fires fizzling out almost immediately. The winged beasts crashed through the dead trees and snatched up three fae, rending them apart in a shower of blood and gore that sent the others scampering off toward us.
“Get up!” Jax hissed, helping Elian to his feet. “We need to move before we’re spotted by the gryphonsorthe fae.”
Before I could say another word, Hudson hauled me up by my pack and set me back on my feet, his hand clamping around mine again.
Heads ducked, the four of us took off in the opposite direction of the advancing line. I chanced a quick glance behind us; the gryphons were busy turning the soldiers into their own personal buffet.
All around us, the bare, pitch-black trees of Blackbone Forest rose like skeleton fingers reaching up toward the stars. The sky glowed orange-red with the fire that raged behind us, chewing through the underbrush with a sound like a runaway train.
I choked back a cough, forcing my lungs to keep breathing despite the acrid air. My heart pounded, ears ringing with the roar of the fire and that awful screeching, all of it now mixing with the terrified cries of fae soldiers as the gryphons continued their relentless attacks.
It felt like we’d been running for hours when Jax finally stopped us at the top of a rise, bending over to catch his breath. Hands on his knees, he glanced up at me and said, “You okay?”
“Midnight makes one hell of a first impression,” I said, finally letting loose that cough. The air was marginally cleaner up here, but the sky still held that ethereal orange glow. In the distance, I could just make out the silhouettes of the two gryphons, their forms growing smaller and smaller until they finally vanished.
I was pretty sure none of the fae had survived.
“The Midnight welcoming committee could use some new blood,” I said. “Because thatcompletelysucked. Didn’t you say this forest would be deserted?”
“It should’ve been,” Elian said.
Certain we were alone, we took a moment to check over our packs and each other for any signs of loss—gear, blood, or otherwise. All signs indicated we’d survived the literal trial-by-fire. After a quick water break, we started moving again, heading deeper into Blackbone.
Jax stayed by my side, with Hudson taking point and Elian bringing up the rear. We walked in silence for a few minutes, our gear clinking, boots hitting the scorched earth with soft thuds.
