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“Good.” Mel manifested a magical bow, and a magical arrow appeared, already nocked.
She released the glowing red string, and the arrow soared over the pit… and was struck aside by a vine that whipped away from the wall.
“C’mon, we need more arrows,” Mel said. “It can’t stop us all.”
Nico and I flanked Mel, drawing our own bows while Hudson kept watch behind us, scanning the unrelenting fog for any sign of a demon attack. We launched arrow after arrow across the pit to no avail.
“We need you too, Hudson,” Mel called. “I think we can get it with four of us.”
“Tempest… keep watch behind us,” he warned, probably thinking this would be the ideal time for Ty to send his demons for us.
Hudson nocked an arrow and let it soar alongside our arrows. Nico already nocked another, and Mel wasn’t far behind. I picked up the pace, releasing magical arrow after magical arrow, some of which the vines swiped aside. It was hard to tell if any of them reached their intended target, as the vines roiled like a mythical kraken from the depths.
The spirits took notice, and a contingent of them rushed the vines. Their brilliant ploy paid off as the vines hungrily sought them, pulling back from the wall as the spirits retreated toward the center of the pit. As the vines stretched toward the spirits, they left the hook exposed, and all four of our arrows reached it simultaneously.
We didn’t stop there, launching more and more until the tether point glowed with magic. Orange flame ignited at the point where the sickly yellow tethers attached to the hook. That cleansing orange witchfire raced down the tethers until it reached each spirit in turn, burning the tethers away completely.
“Wait!” Mel shouted as dozens of spirits attempted to flee the pit.
Vines snaked out, grabbing the ones they could reach, making them wail in agony. Some spirits used their fellows’ sacrifice to ascend to freedom. The cries of those captured by the vines echoed from the pit in a hideous cacophony as the vines tortured them, feeding off of them. It looked and sounded like I’d always imagined hell to be.
“We’ll help you, just wait!” Mel called, her wand out.
She inscribed sigils in a frantic rush, and my twin and I shared a glance. I nodded at him, telling him without words that I was committed to the only plan we’d come up with so far.
A few of the spirits had managed to escape while other spirits distracted the vines. Most of them rushed past us, deeper into the periphery zone, no doubt seeking their way back to our world.
“Mel?” one of the spirits paused long enough to ask.
She turned to her with a look of surprise and clear recognition. “So, they were right.”
“What?” I asked.
“Demon hunters have been going missing.” She motioned up at five spirits who hovered behind this one.
“Nobody went missing,” one of the spirits said, still dressed in ghostly demon hunter armor. His face was a mask of fury. “We were thrown across the threshold to die.”
Without an infernal antidote like the one Mel had once worn, a witch couldn’t survive the infernal realm like we vampires could.
“What else can you tell us?” Hudson asked, always hungry for intel.
The spirits grew more and more translucent.
“Go, get out of here while you still have your strength,” Mel said. That seemed to be the last bit of cajoling they needed to make their escape as the others had.
A female ghost hung back long enough to say, “Our superiors did this to us. Watch your backs.”
The spirit faded, disappearing into the smoke and shadow of the infernal periphery. I hoped she would find her peace and no longer be trapped within this nightmare.
Mel’s expression was grim as we shared a look.
“We have to get them out of here,” I said, moving toward her magic circle so she could lower me into the pit of hell.
Chapter Fourteen
Hudson
With Tempest’s help, we might actually do this. For the first time, I dared to believe we might even survive it. Except that Mel and Jax were putting us all at risk with this insane idea.
