Phoenix Academy - Lucy Auburn Page 0,31

get lost in the never-ending darkness of Hell, never to be seen or heard from again.

Needless to say, the option she provides is the best one.

"Okay, guys. I know it's weird and a long shot, but we're going to follow her through Hell. So please—save yourselves. Help me get you out of here."

They do, thankfully. And they listen to me as I shepherd them through the meadow, picking up bits of clothing here and there. I make sure Xavier has his glasses and Reggie finds his shoes. I keep them from drinking more of the water or eating any of the fruit.

And I try not to think about the fact that by leaving this place, I'll also be leaving the peace that led us to find each other.

Somehow I doubt my three familiars will be as easy-going about sharing my love once we're back in the harsh light of the real world.

Nehamae leads us down a brightly glowing golden path. While it resembles the blue path my magic made, this one doesn't have flames on either side of it. Instead if just has a simple golden railing that seems to keep the demonic hordes outside away—barely.

More than one towering, frightening thing gets close enough to the edge of the path to snarl down at us.

And creepy crawly things. Flying things. Things with eight legs and things with seven fingers.

Needless to say, I'm not going to forget that we're in Hell again anytime soon.

"How long were we in there?" David has shaken the stupor of the meadow lake from his mind and is back to being his serious, somewhat unhappy self. "Do we even know if the outside world will be waiting for us when we get back?"

Flying ahead of us on her gossamer wings, Nehamae calls back sharply, "Would you rather die and spend eternity in Hell?"

Reggie grouses, "I don't like her attitude."

"And I don't like yours."

He jumps and scowls. "Those ears of hers must be bat ears."

We don't know what's waiting for us back home, it's true. Now that I've fully recovered from the false feelings of peacefulness that the lake and its surroundings gave me, I'm coming to terms with the uncomfortable truth that I may not have a home to go back to. Sure, Mage Auerbach promised to keep the demons back, but they could very well have overrun Phoenix Academy—I didn't get a chance to ask Dani how it was going or why she was down here in Hell. For all I know the campus, its teachers, and all the young students are gone now.

Which would mean there's nowhere for me to take refuge from the Heretic.

While I'm sure Reggie and Xavier would offer their home to me, I couldn't possibly risk staying with them and their family. The Heretic can follow me anywhere without proper magical wards. He'd hunt me down and kill everyone in his way—including the entire Black family, and David along with them.

I hope the campus is still standing.

Even with its oftentimes ostentatious Gothic architecture, I'd take it over anywhere else. I don't even care now that some of the shifters are assholes. It's far better than Hell, and the only place my father hasn't found me.

"We're almost there," Nehamae says as we take a bend in the path towards deeper darkness. "I can sense the door up ahead. Its magic calls to me. Although..."

There's hesitation in her voice, which makes my heart slam against my rib cage. "Is something wrong?"

"Possibly. But possibly not. The door you came through... it was propped open. With a spell to seal it, but a flimsy one." I try not to take offense, since I'm the one who cast that spell. "Something is different now. It was closed in a way that it's never been closed before, or at least that's what I sense from here. But don't trouble yourself too much—the door to and from Hell has opened a crack or a hair from time to time for millennia. Nothing that's down here is truly trapped forever."

That isn't exactly reassuring, given that most of the things down here are demonic in nature. I guess it makes sense, though. If Hell were truly a one-way street, no Grim would be able to summon demons. There have to be ways to get out—even from this side of the door.

At least I hope so.

Because I'm not sure that the guys and I can rely on being summoned.

"If we can't get out..." Xavier's voice is quiet and low. "Maybe