Heart of Vengeance (Alice Worth #6) - Lisa Edmonds Page 0,150

all I could do to keep them from discorporating me and closing that door on you. You got back just in time. They were about to call in a necromancer to try to deal with me.”

My stomach contracted, and it had nothing to do with the knot of death magic. The Guardians had tried to discorporate Malcolm and shut the door on us when they knew we were still down there, and apparently we’d been gone a hell of a lot longer than I’d thought. “We’ve been down there for two weeks?” I asked finally.

“Time sometimes slips in the Underworld,” Ronan explained. “I thought we would gain time on the way back to the door. We did, but not enough to make up the difference. I’m sorry, Alice.”

Two weeks. That meant I’d been gone from Sean and the rest of our pack for nearly three weeks. They probably thought I was dead. The thought made me sicker than the damn death magic. I needed to get to the mirror-door and get home.

“I have to go,” I said.

Ellis’s expression darkened. “No one’s going anywhere until I get a full explanation for this. You’re all coming to the outpost.” He gestured at the other Guardians. “Arrest them.”

Silver-blue magic flared, searing my eyes. When my vision cleared, all five of the Guardians, including Captain Ellis, were sprawled unconscious on the ground.

Lucy glared at Ronan. “What the hell did you do?”

He shrugged. “Put them to sleep and muddled their memories so we can get out of here.”

“How did you do that?” Malcolm demanded.

“He’s a fallen angel,” I said.

“Oh yeah? How fallen?” Malcolm asked with interest.

“All the way,” Ronan told him.

Malcolm’s eyebrows went up. “You don’t say.”

“Stoooo-oooop,” I groaned.

Ronan shouldered his pack. “When they come to, you can tell them the doorway flared when you came through and knocked them out. Tell them you hunted down Mariela yourself and brought her to justice for leaving this door open.”

“We can’t just leave Lucy here to face the music alone,” Malcolm protested.

“Sure you can.” Lucy grinned. “You have any idea how many times Captain Ellis has threatened to arrest me? Half the time, he ends up giving me a medal instead. I’ve got a drawer full of ’em back home.”

“Where’s home?” I asked.

“Millville, Texas—whenever I can get back there for a visit, which isn’t very often these days.” Her smile faded. “Go home, Alice. You’ve got a hot werewolf waiting for you, and I’ve got to fill out a literal mountain of paperwork on this mess. I’ll be writing reports until the trolls come home.”

“Until the trolls…” I frowned. “Wait, how do you know Sean’s hot?”

“I looked through your backpack when you were in the shower at Hawthorne’s and saw his picture.” And she didn’t look the least bit repentant about it. “I’ll miss you, woman. Even though I didn’t meet you at your best, you’re a damn good deputy. Plus, it was nice having a partner who laughed at my jokes and didn’t argue with me about every damn thing for a change.”

I rubbed Daisy’s head. “I wondered why you and your partner were working separately. If you don’t get along, why not ask for a different partner?”

She grinned again. “Oh, we get along just fine, as long as we take a break from each other from time to time. The stick up his ass has a stick up its ass, but he’s a hell of a Guardian. Not that I’d ever tell him that. He’s insufferable enough as it is.”

I sensed she wanted to say goodbye quickly rather than draw this out. That was probably for the best, but my heart hurt. Despite how she’d pushed me to get in her jeep to begin with, I liked Lucy, and I’d miss her. She hadn’t done it to hurt me, or to make me hurt someone else, and I supposed that counted for something.

I hugged her. She hugged me back, then released me. “You take care of yourself, Malcolm,” she told my ghost.

“You too, Lucy,” he said. “You’re pretty good with that sword, for a girl.”

She flipped him off. They hugged.

When she and Malcolm let go of each other, Lucy eyed Ronan. “You get them safely to where they’re going, you hear me?”

“Absolutely, Lieutenant. Keep your blade sharp.” He offered his hand.

She shook it. “You too, Wings.”

He made a rumbly sound. She laughed and headed in the direction of where she’d left her jeep in the forest.

We went in the opposite direction, where I presumed Ronan