Phoenix Academy - Lucy Auburn Page 0,35

let blue flames dance across their tips. And I begun my onslaught of destruction.

Hours later, the door is no worse off than it was at the start. If anything it looks stronger and sturdier. Despite how many times I've tried to burn it and all the witch spells I've thrown at it, the thing mocks me with its unburnt surface.

I've contacted the Blue Phoenix ancestors, to little help. More than once I've tried to contact Auerbach, but there's no open line to him remaining. And I've bargained, brainstormed, and raged at Nehamae—all for nothing. The little fairy insists my three familiars are stuck here, and I'm starting to think that she's right.

Which means the most heartbreaking choice is in front of me.

Either I stay down here with them, and we resign ourselves to a life in Hell.

Or I leave them, promising to try to find a way to get them back out—knowing there might not be one at all.

Both seem intolerable to me. I'm a Wolfe woman; we don't just give up at the first sign of adversity. We keep trying time and time again. Failure just isn't an option.

But as time stretches by, the fairy stares at me like I'm a fool. My guys settle on the golden path, legs crossed, faces empty. And I realize that I'm not making things better by doing this. I'm just putting off the inevitable, and forcing everyone to watch me wrestle with my denial.

It isn't helpful.

It's just self-indulgent.

"Well?" Sagging against the door, I turn to face my guys, exhausted body and heart. "I can go back and ask Auerbach for helping getting you three out. The door was opened before... maybe we can open it again. Without letting scores of demons through this time."

"I can block them from the doorway for a time, as I am now," Nehamae offers. "But only a time. A click or two here, which would be... about ten to fifteen minutes on Earth."

My stomach flips, and my heart squeezes. "That's it? That's all the chance I would get?"

"Once your presence is gone from Hell, I'll have no purpose to feed my magic." She folds her arms, wings a blur as she hovers at my height. "My curse is to serve. Without someone to serve, I can't hold the demonic hordes at bay."

As if on cue, something screeches in the darkness, its jaw or its claws making a disturbing clicking sound. I shudder and try not to imagine what it must look like.

"Ten to fifteen minutes." I stare at my three familiars, taking in their empty expressions. "Maybe it's enough time. We just have to—"

"You just have to," David cuts in, his jaw tight with tension. "Once you're back on Earth, we'll be stuck here, and it'll all be up to you. We'll be helpless."

Xavier interjects, "What David means to say, Ari, is that we're counting on you. And we believe in you, of course. I'm sure it'll be just the right amount of time."

"And if it isn't," Reggie adds in a voice filled with false cheer, "we'll head to the nearest dick-flattening machine and wait in line."

David raises his brows. "You think there's a line for the dick-flattening machine?"

"You think it has room to pancake more than one dick at a time?" He snorts. "Doubtful."

I sigh, and the sigh turns into helpless laughter. It's not that the joke is terribly funny—it's more than I'm so incredibly tired. Wrung out and empty of hope. I feel like the Heretic punched a hole in my chest and ripped my heart out. Only in this case, my heart takes the shape of three shifter familiars, stuck in the worst place in existence because of me.

"If I don't free you guys in time, you'll be torn apart by demons." I feel tears trickle down my cheek, and don't bother to wipe them away. "There'll be nothing left of you to bring back to Earth, because your bodies will be gone. You'll be..."

"Dead." Xavier finished the thought for me. He pushes his glasses up and stands, striding towards me with a serious expression on his handsome face. "We're putting our lives in your hands, Ari. Because we trust you. Absolutely."

I glance over at the other two. Reggie unconvincingly says, "Yeah, absolute trust!"

"I'd be your cheerleader if I had a sunnier disposition," David jokes. A moment later his expression turns somber. "Yeah, you can do it. You're just that stubborn, smart, and talented. I couldn't do it, but Ari—you can."

"You know what? He's