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“Gone?” I prayed I’d somehow misunderstood her.
“Yes. I went back, but the crystals were dead. All of them. I think some of those evil monks must’ve found the mine and—”
“Shit.” So that was a bust. I wanted to scream and cry and throw the table across the room, but that wouldn’t solve any of our problems. “I can’t believe Luciana’s magic is still fucking us over. It’s unreal.”
“I know.” Her voice was so quiet, but I could still hear the pain in it. Dealing with the fallout from Luciana’s magic had to be just as hard on her as it was on me. If not harder.
I thought back to what I knew and what I didn’t know. “A few hours after Muraco was killed, I was pulled into the abyss. I’m assuming that Astaroth needed the power boost from Muraco to take me, and he’s going to need another one before trying again. Do you think that’s accurate?”
“Abyss? Is that what you’re calling it?” Claudia asked.
“Yes.” My heart started beating too fast. “Don’t say it.” I didn’t actually go to Hell. I wasn’t sure there was any coming back from that and my body had stayed with Dastien. But my soul had been somewhere close.
Claudia pursed her lips together. “I think you’re right. Astaroth will need more power if he’s going to make another grab for you or try to enter this realm. But it gets worse…”
I wasn’t sure how much worse it could get, and I also wasn’t sure I wanted to find out.
I closed my eyes, and tried to prepare for what she was going to say next.
Whatever it is, we will handle it, Dastien said. I don’t know how, but we’ll figure something out.
The way he was talking, I wasn’t sure who he was trying to convince more—me or him. I know. I just don’t know how it got this messed up so quickly.
It’s been brewing. We just didn’t know about it, but we do now. So, we’ll deal with it.
We will. We’ll deal with it. I blinked my eyes open. “Tell me what you know.” I was on the edge of my seat as I waited for her answer. Dastien was trying to be calm on the surface, but I could feel his rising fear. We were both still shaken up, and from how this discussion was going, there wasn’t going to be an easy way to get rid of Astaroth.
“I don’t think I should call another circle,” Claudia said. “I’m pretty sure Astaroth can cross any circle we try to close. And I’m not sure any of my magic can be trusted. And I definitely don’t think you should do any either. Especially force a vision.”
That was basically tying our wrists behind our backs. “If we can’t call a circle or do any magic or use my visions, then how are we going to fight this demon and win?” I laughed, but only because we were so ridiculously outmatched and she was nixing just about every advantage we had. “I know that werewolves are strong and all, but we’re talking about one of the evil mother fucking trinity here. We’re not that strong. Not even together. So what do we do?”
Claudia shook her head slowly. “I don’t know. If we somehow could fight and win, that would be the end of it. But I agree. I don’t think we’d win. With the Seven down so many members and the fey courts gone and us tied to Astaroth, I’m not sure there’s enough magic in the world to stop the demon from getting what he wants.”
“No.” I refused to believe that. “He can’t get to me. If he does, he’ll use my power to open a portal and start the apocalypse. Eli said if we found the right solution, that he’d help, but…” If he helped me, I could be trading my tie from Astaroth to him. And maybe that was better, but—
No. I don’t want you tied to anyone but me and the pack.
I don’t disagree. But it might have to happen.
“Forming a tie with someone isn’t a little thing. You should be very, very careful,” Lucas said.
“We’re in agreement there.”
“What do we even know about an archon anyway?” Adrian asked. The guys had been so quiet as Claudia and I talked, I almost forgot they were there. “He seemed to be on
our side, but I don’t know what we should trust anyone at this point.”
“No one knows anything about them,” Lucas said.
“What do you mean no one knows?” Chris asked.
“I’ve only seen one once before. It was a long, long time ago, but he stayed away from the battle. Just watching. I did some research after that. They’re mentioned in a few different texts, but there’s not any information on them. And I’ve never personally known anyone who’s spoken to one.”
He wasn’t making me feel any better about my run-in with Eli. Dastien grabbed my hand and squeezed, letting me know that he was there with me. “Except for me.”
“Yes. Except for you.”
“What else do you know?” I asked. “Anything could help.”
