bottles of water from the fridge before handing them out to the guys. They all come and sit back with us at the table, and staying focused around this many abs is hard.
“Well, who?” Nevin asks and I pull my focus from the sweat running down the ink on Creek’s chest.
“Morganna is, well, essentially, the Queen of the Shadow Realm.” He drops his little bombshell and I lean back in my chair trying to take it in. A fucking queen.
“Well, surely that’s not the same Morganna. Why would she want the Shadow Realm sealed?” Creek asks and I nod in agreement.
“It could be she was sick of Demons causing havoc here, and she had to deal with the cleanup,” Nevin interjects. He could be right. “Regardless, whoever Morganna is, it says here blood of both sides, so I’d assume she’s a Demon of some sort.”
“Okay,” I say. “So she might be able to help us all get back across the seal when the time comes.”
“She might also be able to help us with Fallon,” Creek adds.
“If she’s still alive,” Roman says, and I groan. “Hey I’m just saying. This was written a hell of a long time ago. Who knows who she is, was, or if she’s still around?”
“Awesome, more questions than answers. Why is that always the fucking case with this bullshit,” I moan as Nevin keeps flicking through the pages of the journal.
“Well, there might be more questions, but I found a way to open the portal.” Nevin says and my gaze flicks to him. “But if this is right, you’re going to have a hell of a time working your way through over there. Is there any way of working out who exactly has the Witch before you cross over?”
“Not unless my brother has the information, but getting to him isn’t likely to be possible in the time we have,” I tell him.
“Well, I suggest you try, because according to this, the Shadow Realm is divided up into seven rings, and then the center. Huh, I guess it’s easy to see why the humans compare this place to hell. The seven rings are each run by a higher Demon, with the queen in the center ring with her army.”
“Why does everyone have a fucking army?” Roman grumbles and Kain agrees.
“Okay, well that sounds fun,” I sigh. “Any other awesome news from the rest of that entry?”
“I’m afraid not.” Nevin says, shaking his head.
“Then I guess it’s about time we call a Witch.”
Chapter Six
Remy
I called Marie and Colt first thing this morning, telling them we had an update. It didn’t take them long to get here after I called, and they’ve been talking Nevin’s ear off since they arrived. Apparently he’s less scary than Levi.
Less scary maybe, but way more of a dick bag—even if he did help us. The manners thing is still annoying me, I can’t help it. It’s the small things.
“So, you think you’ll be able to help us?” I ask Marie, and the others quieten down.
“I don’t see why not. Your blood is still the conduit, I’m just guiding the dormant magic in it. Fallon should be able to do the same for you from the other side to reopen it.” She smiles tightly, the unsaid words hanging thick in the air. “I brought you this.”
She hands me a necklace with a pendant on the end. “Fallon’s talisman?” I ask and she nods.
“It should help guide you to her once you’re down there, since you still don’t know where she is or who has her.” She looks pointedly at Colt who rubs the back of his neck under the piercing stare.
“We’ve tried to find Bauer, but Archer has gone to ground and it seems Bauer is with him. Willingly or not, we don’t know, but I’d assume not at this point. Not considering he came clean to Remy,” Colt says, pacing the kitchen floor. “We’ve gone over every piece of information we’ve collected a dozen times. No-one knows where they are.”
“Could they have gone to the Shadow Realm?” Nevin asks.
“I don’t think so,” I say. “I mean, Archer obviously has someone opening temporary portals for him, but why risk possibly not being able to come back? He’d know I wasn’t going to risk myself to bring him back.”
“It was just a thought,” Nevin replies.
“It wasn’t a bad one. Archer’s just too narcissistic for it,” Levi adds. “I still think this is moving too quickly, we have too many unanswered questions.”
“I am not leaving Fallon