He’s heading in now. Roger says to hang tight while he scouts the portal. There’s been a lot of activity in the Realm. Elves are patrolling in record numbers.”
Devon gritted his teeth. “She doesn’t have a lot of time.”
“You’ll need to think on what is more important,” Barbara said, her eyes softening to something almost human, “her life, or her freedom. The elves would be able to help her.”
Words that had been plaguing Devon for months forced themselves into the forefront of his mind.
The time will come when you need to make a choice. A choice that concerns the rest of your life, and more importantly, her life. To save Charity’s life—to give her a life—you must take the hard road, sacrifice your heart, and let her go.
Pain knifed through Devon’s middle. Karen was an incredible Seer who was almost never wrong.
“The longest she’s been out is three and a half hours.” Devon sucked in a deep breath. “We’ll give her that long. If she doesn’t wake up…” He swallowed down the words, unable to get them out, and looked down at Charity’s beautiful, cherubic face. The alpha in him flared and his arms tightened around her possessively. Protectively. He couldn’t imagine leaving her for any reason. He couldn’t imagine handing her over to anyone.
But he wouldn’t be able to live with himself if he didn’t and she died because of it.
Chapter Six
Devon stood just outside the open door of the van, staring through the trees at the collection of disgusting creatures in the distance. Like the demon Charity had decimated earlier, these creatures had charred limbs ending in thick claws, glowing eyes, and misshapen heads.
And they were gathered in front of the nearest portal into the Realm.
Devon’s pack was a hundred miles from Charity’s house on the outskirts of a small town, the entrance point Emery had chosen for their journey. The mage was supposed to be waiting for them on the other side of that portal, which they could only reach through a wall of demons.
Vlad had worked with demons in their last run-in with him. Devon didn’t like the implications.
“You’re sure this Emery character is on the right side of things?” asked Dale, who had, regrettably, decided to continue on with the journey. Devon suspected his persistence had more to do with not disappointing Roger than any dedication to the cause.
“No, but Roger arranged him as our guide,” Devon said, counting thirteen demons in all. That number was probably significant to this situation, but he had no idea how. He wasn’t chummy with any witches or mages.
“How would these demons know to show up at the exact portal we’d planned to use, at the exact time we’d planned to use it?” Cole asked, and everyone repeatedly flinched as though his words were machine gun fire.
Devon held up his hand. “Cole, if you can’t figure out how to whisper, don’t speak at all.”
“I am—”
“No.” Devon shot Cole a warning glare. “You’re not.”
Cole frowned, but he shut his trap.
Steve emerged in human form from a bush behind him, his chest heaving from his two quick changes and his body glistening with sweat. Given that were-lions were known for their stealth, and Steve seemed to be on Team Devon for the moment, Devon had sent him to scout out the area.
“Besides, this isn’t the exact time we’d planned to use it,” Devon said, looking out over the field. The dying sun glinted off the windows of a housing development that overlooked the area. Their adversary was bold—the portal wasn’t far enough from civilization that a bunch of inhuman weirdos would escape notice for long. Eventually someone would get curious or suspicious, and walk or drive out to see what had gathered the small crowd. Since there weren’t any humans gawking at the monsters, let alone any authorities, these demons couldn’t have been here for long. He said as much.
“Good observation,” Barbara said, as though she hadn’t made that connection. His original pack murmured their assent.
“They also look about the same as the demon in the street near Charity’s house,” he continued, grabbing his phone. “It wouldn’t be a stretch to suspect the same person called them.”
“These demons are more advanced,” Barbara said. “Lower level three, mostly. A couple of high twos and, if I’m not mistaken, one lower level four. That one might give us some trouble.”
“What’s the demon scale, again?” Andy asked.
Yasmine shifted her stance next to him, clearly wondering the same thing but not wanting to appear uninformed