AllFreeNovel
Share Us
"Demon scent. I don't know how long ago, but a demon's passed this way," she said.
I glanced in the rearview mirror. Her eyes were shining red, and her fangs were extended. She gave me a feral smile and winked.
"Jansshi demon," she said. "They're scavengers. They'll eat whatever you throw at them. This squad of Hell Scouts is probably led by Kyoka. Both Lianel and he have to be smarter than the Jansshi, who's primarily a thug wrapped up in brimstone."
Rhonda coughed. "I've never faced a demon," she said, sounding less sure of herself than she had a few minutes before.
"We have." I gave her a quick smile. "They can be terrifying, but in this case, I think we face more danger from Lianel and Kyoka than from the Jansshi. And don't forget the spiderlings. When I saw Geph von Spynne in my dream, he wielded a tremendous amount of power, and he can see out onto the astral. Of that I'm sure."
"The turn's a half mile up the road," Chase said. "Goldenrod Road."
My blood quickened, and I focused on driving. The scenery was looking familiar. I caught my breath. Shit, this was going to be bad.
"They're in a cave, mind you. We don't want to walk into a trap, but I doubt they'll welcome us at the door. We're going to have to go in after them. And that means danger."
Chase pulled out his cell phone and dialed. After a moment, he started speaking. When I glanced at him in the rearview mirror, he covered the mouthpiece and whispered, "It's Camille. Just coordinating."
I concentrated on driving. And there it was—just as I'd dreamed, a signpost that read Goldenrod Road. In my vision I'd been coming the other way, but that didn't matter now.
I took a shuddering deep breath and turned left, Morio right on my tail. As we bumped along over the rough drive, I tried to remember how far it had been before the turnout leading to the nest. The S-curves seemed more precarious now that I was driving, especially with the packed snow and ice clinging to the road. And then, before I was ready, there it was—the turnout. I pulled to the side and killed the motor.
"We're here," I said. "See that dark spot there between those two fir trees? That's our path." Reluctantly, I unbuckled my seat belt and climbed out of the car. The others followed suit, and Chase pulled out our supplies that we'd prepared before leaving. As I slid my backpack on and made sure my long knife was fastened firmly in my boot and that my wrist blades were secure, Camille pulled to a stop right behind my Jeep.
They tumbled out of the car, and we gathered by the edge of the road.
"Everybody have everything you need?" Camille asked. We all nodded. She glanced up at the clouds and closed her eyes. "Moon Mother, be with us. Great Mother, watch over us."
"Lady Bast, guide and protect us," I added my own prayer. "See us through the coming battle, strengthen our magic, and enchant our blades."
I looked up. It was time. "All right, let's go." The second seal hung in the balance. We couldn't wait any longer. I swung onto the path, slipping between the fir trees that towered over us. As a gust of wind billowed past, setting the trees to creaking, the mark on my forehead tingled. My blood surged and, like a river raging in its banks, a current of fire rolled through my veins. Shaken but feeling stronger than I'd ever felt in my life, I straightened my shoulders. Somebody had heard our prayers, it seemed, but a little part of myself wondered just who had decided to answer.
"Okay, boys and girls, here we go," I said, and plunged into the brush, the others following in a silent line behind me.
* * *
CHAPTER 18
As we headed into the bush, my vision shifted, and I found myself seeing everything as clearly as if I were wearing night-vision goggles. Startled, I stumbled, and Camille, who was right behind me, braced me from falling.
"Are you okay?" she asked, keeping her voice low.
I blinked. Sure enough, I could see almost as clearly as if it were daylight, in an odd, colorless sort of way. "I don't know," I said, quickly filling her in on what was going on with my eyesight. "At least whatever this is seems to be in my favor. Where's Menolly?" I added, looking around.
"Look. Up there, see her?" Camille pointed to a low-flying bat. Menolly was slowly but surely learning to use her own powers to shift, although she couldn't stay aloft for long.
"Wow, she's starting to get the hang of it," I said. "Though she won't be able to stay up for long. I don't think she's managed a transformation for more than ten minutes yet."
"Well, at least she's trying, and this is a good place to give it a shot. She might be able to hide in a tree when we get to the cave. She could be our surprise element." Camille did her best to sound lighthearted, but her expression told me she was anything but that. She knew as well as I did that a lot was riding on what happened in the next few hours.
As we hiked along the inclining path, we came out into the patch looking down into the ravine. Just as I'd dreamed it. Peering over the edge, Camille and I stared into the raging water as it poured along the channel.
"I wouldn't want to get caught in those blackberry bushes," she said, pointing to the thorny mass covering the side of the dirt slope.
"What's up this hill?" Chase asked from the other side of the road. "Did you have a chance to explore at all?"
We crossed the path to join him. Smoky was staring at the hillside, frowning. He shook his head and said, "I don't think it's a good idea for any of you to go up there. I could without worrying, but I won't."
"What is it? What do you know?" I asked.
