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We all took turns getting our shots. Then Hudson distributed the other goodies the Wildes coven had sent us — more demonfire pendants, healing charms, and other artifacts and elixirs designed to keep us alive.
This time, we left all our phones and technology behind. We had our communication charms. That was all we needed.
In the van, I added one last thing to my bag…
Tempest climbed up the side of my pack and nestled inside on top of all my bloodbags. She curled her tail around herself, her embers completely banked. It was strange seeing her body so dark without her normal molten flesh. I ran a hand along her spikes, noticing how cool her body felt.
“We can’t do this without you,” I told her.
“I know,”she said.“That’s why I was drawn to you from the very beginning.”
There was still so much we didn’t know about familiars… so much that had been forgotten. And to have a demon as a familiar? I still felt awed that Tempest had bonded with me.
One thing I knew from my training at the academy — the bond was for life. If the familiar died first, the loss was incredibly painful for the witch. Throughout recorded history, whenever the witch died first, the familiar never survived.
“We’re all coming back out alive,” I told her sternly. “That includes you.”
“That’s the plan.”Her words were firm inside my mind, as if no other outcome could possibly occur. But I couldn’t help but doubt. As if sensing my concerns, she added,“I’ll do whatever it takes to make that happen.”
When we arrived, we picked up our packs and left the van behind. At the top of the wall, I noticed more than double the number of patrols.
“At least the DHA is taking this seriously,” I muttered as we approached.
Hudson clicked the clasps of his pack together, preparing for a long trek ahead. “It’s mostly due to the Fosters and Bao Preta’s insistence, from what I understand.”
“The higher-ups weren’t concerned that I saw an actual devil at the threshold?”
“They probably don’t believe you,” Jax said.
“They were the ones who told me Ty had been spotted in the first place!” I threw up my hands, attracting the attention of two nearby demon hunters.
“That’s Carmela Plata,” the guy said to his fellow hunter as they approached us with manifested weapons out.
I didn’t remember either of their names. As a lone operative, I very rarely worked with anyone else at the DHA until they forced me on this team of vampires.
I raised my chin and studied them, but they didn’t seem like they planned to get in our way. “We’re here to cross the threshold and close the portal to the infernal realm.”
“Do you really think you can do it?” the shorter one with the wide-set eyes asked.
“We now have proof that a devil is, in fact, the one keeping the portal open,” I said with full confidence, while not exactly answering his question.
“They’ve called in every available demon hunter coven to cover the walls so he can’t escape,” the other guy said. He was young, probably fresh out of Demon Hunter Academy, and I believed him.
“That’s not the only reason why,” the first one said, lowering his voice and stepping closer to us.
Hudson and Nico crowded either side as if to prevent him from getting too close to me, and I could feel Jax’s breath on my neck. We were going to have to talk about this over-protectiveness before we crossed the threshold.
“Demon hunters keep going missing,” the shorter demon hunter continued, oblivious to my coven’s reaction to his proximity.
“I mean, I guess they have been for a while now,” the other guy added, “I just didn’t believe the rumors until three of my closest friends went missing.”
“When did that happen?” I asked.
“Earlier this summer.” His magenta eyes burned with righteous intensity. “They’d been asking questions around the DHA, and then just a few days later, they went out to patrol the wall… and never came back.”
“What kind of questions?” Hudson asked sharply.
“They weren’t happy with the way your kind were being treated. They’d rounded up some vampires — we’re all just doing our jobs, okay? But they didn’t like seeing the conditions the vamps were being kept in.”
