statue. Cracks begin to spread through his body, slowly at first, then picking up speed as they take over every inch of his frame.
Saxon appears by my side, pulling me into his arms. I completely melt into him, relieved that our nightmare is almost over. Together, we watch our nemesis collapse on itself in a pile of dust, burying the athame with it.
“Are you okay, my love?” Saxon asks, but my mind is whirling, so I don’t answer him right away.
Shit. There’s no demon blood. How are we getting out of here?
42
Saxon
Aurora keeps staring without blinking at the pile of dust that’s left of Ashmedai, making me extremely worried.
“Rora?” I ask again. “What’s wrong?”
With eyes as round as saucers, she looks at me. “Declan said that the only way to get out of this place was to use Ashmedai’s blood. But where is the blood, Sax? There’s nothing left but soot.”
I open my mouth to reply when hissing and snarling sounds can be heard not too far from us. Ashmedai is gone, but this is hell. “Let’s grab the athame and get out of here. We’ve got company.”
Aurora looks over her shoulder, squinting as she tries to see the approaching danger. Quickly, I head over to Ashmedai’s remains and dig our only weapon out. On instinct, I don’t dust it off. It’s not blood, but maybe the warlocks were wrong about that detail. I wouldn’t be surprised.
“Come on, Rora. We have to leave.”
“What if we can’t open the portal again?” Her voice comes out as a squeak. She’s panicking, and I can’t have that.
I pull her to me, cupping her cheek. “We’ll find a way out of here, my love. I promise.”
She nods, her eyes hardening with determination. “Yes, we will.”
When I step back, I see that her right hand has doubled in size, and her left arm is hanging limp by her side.
“You’re hurt.”
“I think I broke my arm when I fell, and Ashmedai crushed my hand under his foot.”
Rage surges within me, making me wish I could kill the motherfucker again. I tuck the athame in my pants, and pick her up in my arms, careful not to jostle her too much.
“It’s going to be all right, Rora.”
She presses her face against my chest. “I love you, Sax.”
“I love you too, Rora.”
Running at my maximum speed in unfamiliar and perilous territory is not ideal, especially when I have no clue where to go. Everything looks the same here. I have to keep my speed down because one false step can be fatal to us.
“Turn left after that jagged cluster of rocks,” Aurora tells me. “I remember running past it.”
“Okay.”
I don’t hear the sound of pursuit, so I slow down. “Does this area look familiar to you?”
“It’s hard to say for sure, but I think so. Let me down.”
I do so as gently as I can.
“I marked the location of the portal with a pile of rocks,” she says.
“Good thinking.” I scan the area, and after a minute, I spot Aurora’s marking. “There it is.” I point ahead.
“I see nothing but gloom.”
“I have other perks besides my enormous dick.” I wink at her.
With a shake of her head, she says, “You’re such a dork.”
Still sporting a cheeky smile, I press my hand on her lower back, and steer her toward the rocks. I’d like to say I remember being here, but at the time, I was too busy fighting that fucking demon.
“Now what?” I ask.
“I don’t know. Can I have the athame, please?”
“How are you going to hold it? Your arm and hand are broken, love.”
Wincing, she raises her broken arm. “I can manage. It doesn’t hurt as much anymore.”
She’s lying through her teeth, but she’s too stubborn and won’t relent.
“Fine. I’ll pretend I believe you.” I hand it over to her, pommel first. The green stone glows when Aurora touches it, and immediately, a bad feeling enters my chest.
“What was that?”
She locks her gaze with mine, and I don’t like the sorrow shining in her eyes. “In order to use the athame, I had to bond with it. Its magic wouldn’t have worked otherwise.”
“But I was the one who killed the demon with it.”
“I know. Maybe you were able to use it because we’re mates.”
“I don’t like this at all, Rora. But let’s figure out how to open the portal first.”
“Yeah.”
She turns to the right, shutting her eyes. The light on the stone burns brighter, creating a small halo around us. The outline of a crescent moon appears