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Then, just like that, we were there, gathered in a semi-circle.
"You were right," I told Ace, stepping out from Ly's hold, hand extended, feeling the tingling sensation on my palm—an undeniable sizzle of power at this point. I knew it from our sacred ritual space deep in the woods. That was where we went to do spells that needed more power than we individually, or collectively, possessed.
"Here," Ace said, holding out another sheet of paper with old, curved handwriting.
The spell for opening the hell mouth.
"Get it done," he added, voice rough as I stepped forward, feeling Lycus's wing caress across the back of my neck before I moved out of reach.
My stomach was tight and swirling as the first words started coming out of my mouth.
I could feel the spell moving through me, conjuring up my magic—what little I had of it—and pulling it toward my fingertips.
"Keep going," Ace told me, voice reassuring, as mine faltered, feeling the ground vibrate beneath me. "Louder now," he demanded on my fifth read-through of the spell, my mouth getting dry. "Louder, witch," Ace shouted.
"Shut up!" I shouted, frustrated with my seeming lack of progress.
And just like that, the vibrating became more like an earthquake.
Before I could even think to move, Ly's arms were reaching out, yanking me backward as the floor became much like lava, hot, melting the forest floor inward as the earth opened up.
"Holy shit," Drex hissed.
"This is it," Ace said, gaze going to me, eyes wide. "This is it," he said again, tone disbelieving, before his gaze slid back to the hell mouth that was steadily opening.
"I don't know what you idiots are waiting for," Red said, shaking her head. "I have a hot date with an unrepentant sinner," she added, smiling wide as she jumped forward into the hole.
"Wait—" Ace tried, but it was too late, she was gone.
"Ace," Drex said, clamping a hand on his shoulder. "This was your baby. You go ahead," he said, nodding.
Ace cast his gaze around the group, eyes warm, excited, hopeful, pleased. He was ready to go home.
"Lenore," he said, giving me a nod. "Thank you," he told me. "For your sacrifice. I hope you and Ly have a nice life together. Minos," he called, turning to his other man. "May you know some peace," he said to his old friend. "It's been an honor knowing you."
With that, he moved to take a step forward.
But before he could drop down in the hole like Red had done, to go home after so long, there was a strange rippling of the ground, a high-pitched shrieking sound.
"Lenore?" Ace asked, looking over at me.
"I'm not doing that," I assured him. "What's going on?"
"I have no fucking idea," Ace said.
"Whatever it is, I don't think we should jump into the flaming hole just yet," Aram decided, staring at it as it continued to shriek.
"Yeah, I don't intend—" Ace started, voice drowned out by the screaming as it got loud enough to cause a headache to pierce through my skull.
Then there was a loud pop, making all our bodies duck instinctively.
And there they were.
Two men.
Two demons.
In place of the now-closed hell mouth.
"Fuck!" Ace raged, raking a hand through his hair.
"Who the fuck are you?" Drex asked, looking down at the two new demons.
"Hey, look, Earth," one of them declared.
Tall and somewhat thin, he had a wickedly handsome face full of sharp lines, bright green eyes with flecks of red, a scar down his left cheek, other scars covering his hands, and a head of black hair.
"Well," he added, jumping up, brushing off his clothes. "Where are all these women I hear about up here? The ones who can, and I quote, 'suck the paint off a car.' I'm not entirely sure what that means, but I am happy to find out," he added, casting a devilish smile around those gathered. "Oh, hey, here's one. Does she suck—" he started before Ly's wings burst outward again, grabbing me, pulling me close. "Alrighty. Message received."
"Who the fuck are you?" Ace asked, stepping forward slightly.
"Oh, me? I'm Daemon."
"Daemon, the demon," I repeated, feeling a nervous laugh bubble up and burst out.
Daemon shot me that wicked little smile of his as he reached down, offering his hand to his comrade. "And this here is Bael," he said as the other demon gained his feet.
Much like Daemon, Bael was tall. But that was where the similarities ended.
Bael was square-jawed with dark, deep green eyes, with their signature red flecks. He was built more solidly, strongly. And his hair was the deepest shade of red possible before it looked black.
There were no smiles from this demon.
Everything about him seemed serious, angry.
"And he doesn't want to be here," Daemon said, shrugging.
"Then why is he?" Ace asked.
"Because my stupid fucking brother thought it would be smart to hijack a hell mouth to the human plane," Bael said, voice rough. "I tried to stop him. Only to get pulled up here too. How did you open a hell mouth?" he asked.
