Phoenix Academy - Lucy Auburn Page 0,32

you can get out on your own, Ari. Since only your spirit is down here."

I shake my head firmly. "Don't even think of it. There's no way I'm leaving the three of you down here. Especially because it's my fault you're here."

Reggie asks somberly, "What if there's no other option?"

"There has to be. You heard what Nehamae said—things get out of here all the time. Just because she senses that the door is closed doesn't mean we won't be able to get through it somehow. I have my magic. The three of you have strength. Now we have her knowledge. We'll figure it out, together."

The guys are quiet for a while. If the fairy heard our conversation, she gives no sign of it, dutifully leading us down a golden path that unfurls beneath the shadow of her wings.

After a long moment, David speaks up. "If we get stuck down in Hell, I'd like everyone to know that I'd prefer to penis flattener to the penis severer. Just as a matter of principle."

We've reached the hedge maze where the trickster demon first pulled me into Hell, but this time there are no hedges. No rose bushes or shrubbery of any kind. It's all been burnt to a crisp.

All that remains is the door. At the end of the glowing protective pathway, its thick oak edges call out to me. There's magic soaked into it, carved through its surface and heavy in the whorls of the wood. I can feel it like the pulse of my heartbeat.

Landing on the ground in front of the door, Nehamae places her small golden palm against it. She turns to look at us over her delicate shoulder. And shakes her head.

"It has been sealed completely. Not by mage magic or Grim trickery this time, but by something else: the sacrificial lifeblood of four demons."

I feel her words like a kick to the chest. There's only one source I can think of for that much self-sacrificed demonic lifeblood, and it can't be good. My heart squeezes for Dani even as my mind whirls back to concern for the four of us.

"What does that mean? Can we go through the door—can you open it?"

"I can open the door," she says, but her tone isn't exactly encouraging. Which is why it's no surprise that she follows up with, "But I can only open it for a spirit. Not for a full flesh-and-blood body, much less three. Phoenix, you must go through alone."

Chapter 9

I shake my head vehemently. "No way. You said they'll die if they stay here. I can't leave them behind." My heart leaps as I consider another way. "Won't they be pulled through by my familiar bond if I go through, just like they were pulled down here in the first place?"

"Unlikely." She leaps up off the ground and flits in front of the oak door, touching her tiny golden hand to its carvings. "The bond you speak of is spirit magic. It's strongest in the Spiritual Realm—which might explain why it brought them through with you in the first place. But it will have no effect here in Hell."

Turning to the guys, I tell them, "We'll find another way."

David's eyes are bitter. "And if we don't? Will you just die down here with us? Or will you leave us here when it becomes clear it's the only option?"

"Don't say that." My heart kicks against my chest. "I won't do that. I—I love you."

"When you're drugged you do," he says, turning his face away, his mouth a thin downward-sloping line. "We both know that doesn't apply anymore."

It does, though. Doesn't it? I can't quite seem to put my feeling into words, but I know that there's something there. A deep ache that ties me to him and the others, as undeniable as our bond.

"Xavier, help me out," I plead with him, looking into his warm brown eyes framed by glasses. "You've read so much more about magic than me. Is there some way to maybe... make our bond stronger? So it pulls the three of you through."

His expression turns incredulous. "Ari, this is Hell. I have no answers for you. Maybe... maybe we should consider—"

"You should leave us behind." Reggie's words are forceful and final. "Once you're back home, you can figure out a way to help us. Get together with Dani and do Grim stuff or Black Phoenix whatever-it-is. It's our best chance."

As he says it, though, he sounds far from hopeful. His tone is despondent,