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“We didn’t close it,” I said.
“Even if we had, new portals were always opening into our world, all throughout history,” Jax pointed out.
We all knew the history. Leaving new portals unguarded had brought about the Dark Ages, after all.
Mel’s hand slid into mine. “I’ve never seen the entire airport grounds. No one has, not since the Year of Rending sent the threshold ripping along all the way over here.”
To someone who knew Charlotte’s geography, it must have been shocking, but almost nothing remained of the airport or its surrounds, even with the threshold’s sudden withdraw. The ground here was barren, empty of buildings or anything else.
With the threshold now so far away, the wall here felt pointless. Any demon hunter patrolling all the way over here wouldn’t know to expect a demon attack, because the threshold was too far away to see clearly. And if agents went down to patrol on foot inside the wall, they risked the chance of getting turned in a biter attack.
Maybe the DHA would set up some cameras, or maybe the regs would agree to set up a wall inside this one, closer to the threshold. The old walls had apparently been devoured like all the buildings had as the threshold expanded over the years.
Jax came up on the other side of Mel and wrapped his arms around her shoulders. “I hope those two directors get what’s coming to them. The threshold never would’ve come this far if not for them.”
“Makes me wonder if that’s what caused portals in other cities to expand, too,” Mel mused.
“Not every DHA department is corrupt,” Nico said from behind us.
Jax’s shoulders instantly tightened at his words, and I stifled a sigh. My twin was usually the one trying to play matchmaker, but this time, it was just so painfully obvious. Everyone could see it but him. He was bringing about his own heartbreak, and if he would just let Nico properly apologize, things might improve. The two of them needed to either get over each other or fuck it out. The tension between them was starting to annoy me.
For a while, we all stood and stared toward the shrunken threshold to the infernal realm. We should’ve been celebrating. We should’ve felt victorious. But we all knew the truth — we’d struck a powerful blow against the demons, but we hadn’t won the war.
“Perhaps someday historians will name this year something special too,” Jax mused. “The Year of Rending was the first time the portals expanded so rapidly. This can be the start of demon hunters reducing portals back to their original sizes all over the world.”
Mel laughed. “The Year of Reduction just doesn’t have the same ring to it.”
Jax chuckled. “True. Let’s get back. Nimue said surprises — plural.”
Minutes later, we pulled into Mel’s old driveway, where she disabled the extra wards she’d put up.
“Those were meant to keep out anyone but the Wildes coven, and it looks like they haven’t been tampered with.” She sounded reassured. “I made it where Nim was the only one who could get in besides me. Just in case…”
She trailed off, and that’s when I realized even Mel hadn’t been sure we’d come back alive. She’d crossed the threshold to try to rescue her mother’s spirit without any certainty that she wouldn’t end up dead alongside her.
Breaking the tense moment, Jax said, “I hope they brought groceries. Otherwise we’ll need to go.”
The AV rolled to a stop at the end of the long driveway, and I narrowed my eyes at him, wondering if he planned to use that as an excuse to duck out.
Nico began scouting around the outside as the rest of us went in. Seeing through the bank of front windows into the living room and kitchen made me feel like we were coming home at last.
When had I started thinking of Mel’s place as home?
As soon as Mel threw open the front door, she called into the empty house, “Honey, I’m home!”
“Is she talking to the Roost itself?” Jax stage-whispered to me.
“No idea,” I admitted.
With Tempest at our heels, the three of us went room to room, looking for anything out of the ordinary. Mel let out a gasp when she reached her bedroom.
“My mother’s urn,” she said, going to the side table.
“They brought it back from the park,” I realized. After all the chaos of Mel getting turned, I hadn’t thought about the fact that she’d left the urn by the bench.
“Nim must’ve brought it in,” Mel said.
Jax reheated some frozen chili, and Mel heaved a sigh of relief as she slipped into the dining room chair. “It’s good to be back.”
