“I don’t know,” I replied. “She’s unconscious. I don’t know what Chutka did to her.”

  “Maybe bringing her to this place was enough,” Vicken said with a meaningful look around. “It feels…wrong. Maybe as an empath, she can’t handle it.”

  I nodded. The same creepy-crawling feeling had been pressing against me. I felt as though I wanted to run away or curl into a ball and stay there forever to hide from this strange, dark place. We didn’t belong, that much was certain.

  “The sooner we get out of here, the better,” I replied. “But how?”

  I studied the crack. There was no sign of a break. I ran my fingers down it to the bottom, and then paused.

  “What’s this?”

  Vicken leaned closer. “Are those claw marks?”

  I traced a set of four claws away from the crack. A tiny bit of light showed through.

  “Yes, demon claws. But where are the demons?” I asked.

  Sparrow gave a tiny huff from her seat on my shoulder. Her small blue flame puffed away from her into the darkness. Before it dissipated, it revealed a single form on the floor. The lump didn’t move. I took a step closer.

  “Is that a demon?” Vicken asked.

  Sparrow huffed again. This time, the other dragons blew tiny flames as well. A multitude of colors spouted out from our circle to light the area beyond.

  “Demons,” I said. “Hundreds of them.”

  “Thousands,” Vicken corrected.

  The flames did indeed reveal demons, but they were motionless and lying in huge, unmoving piles. It appeared as though they had fought to reach the crack before Chutka died. His final breath had become theirs as well. It was everything I had hoped for, except—

  “They almost made it,” Vicken said. “They could have.”

  The realization that the demons could have made it back through the crack before they died was a terrifying one. If the flame had taken one moment longer to devour Chutka, or if our team had been unable to keep the crack shut past their struggles, we would have failed and they would have swarmed the world.

  “But without the demons, we’re stuck here,” Vicken said. He met my gaze with defeat on his face. “We killed Chutka, and by doing so, we killed ourselves.”

  He slid to a seated position against the haze. The weary acceptance of his expression ate at me.

  “Vicken,” I began.

  He shook his head. “No. Don’t you see? This is how it was supposed to end.” He opened a pale hand to indicate the demons. “We started out to defeat them, and we did it.”

  “But we’re supposed to survive,” I replied.

  He let out a flat, humorless laugh, and then winced. After a moment of silence, he said, “Good vanquishes evil. The hero destroys the bad guy.” He looked up at me. “You ran headlong into this one, and came out on top.” The light faded from his gaze when he said, “It’s not your fault that on top also meant being locked away in some dark, demon reality until we’re killed by whatever else is out there.”

  His words sent a shiver down my spine. “You heard them, too?”

  He nodded. “It doesn’t take a werewolf’s ears to know that there’s a whole lot more evil here than just Chutka.” A slight smile touched his lips. “At least Brack is good at keeping things closed.”

  I looked from Dara’s unconscious form back to the vampire. The thought that my friends would die because of me made my heart ache. I walked around the circle of light from the dragons until doing so made me dizzy, then I walked in the other direction. I searched for anything that would get us out of there. The problem was that I didn’t know any spells or chants, and I didn’t have the skills of a warlock to use them even if I knew them. There wasn’t any form of weapon I could wield against the wall. Even the dragons wearied of my pacing and eventually settled in around Vicken. The vampire went so far as to run a finger down the back of an orange and green one.

  “I’m sorry, guys,” he told them. “You were brave. You don’t deserve to die down here.”

  The thought of Sparrow being taken by whatever waited in the darkness made me mad. I grabbed one of the demon’s bodies and carried it back to the wall.

  “What are you doing?” Vicken asked with mild interest.

  I shoved one of the demon’s claws against the crack.

  “Anything I can,” I replied. “I’m not giving up.”

  The crack didn’t show any sign of breaking down beneath my efforts. Whatever power the demon’s claws had once had on the gate had apparently vanished with its death. But I tried until I was too weary to hold up the creature any longer. Defeated, I dropped it at my feet and slumped to a seated position beside Vicken. My foot touched the dead demon’s body, but I no longer had the strength to care.

  “This isn’t the way it’s supposed to end,” I said with my head in my hands. “You aren’t supposed to follow me to your death.”

  Vicken surprised me by patting my shoulder. “I told myself that not following you would probably keep me alive.”

  I gave him a dry look. “You should have followed that plan.”

  He shook his head. “And be locked up there never knowing what happened? We defeated Chutka the Shambler and we protected our world from the demons.” He smiled. “We did exactly what we set out to do.”

  “We didn’t set out to die,” I pointed out.

  He lifted a shoulder. “Like I said, you need to work on your plans.” His gaze shifted to the dead demon at my feet. “If the demons could have gotten through in time, they would have. We’re lucky your werewolf blood is so susceptible to burning.”

  That brought a wry laugh from me. I sat back against the wall and lifted my hand to view the barely discernable burn on my palm. “Yeah, lucky.”

  Vicken’s answering chuckle faded away to silence. I had just about closed my eyes when he sat up. I looked at him to find his gaze on the demon once more.

  “If they could have gotten through, they would have,” he repeated.

  “You already said that,” I pointed out.

  He lifted a hand to silence me. “I have a plan.”

  “Why do I think I’m not going to like it?” I replied warily.

  Vicken didn’t look at me. “You’ve done enough stupid things. My turn.”

  “What are you talking about?” I asked.

  Vicken pulled the demon toward him. “Don’t try to stop me.”

  “Stop you from doing what?” I asked, alarmed.

  Vicken lowered his head to the demon’s throat. “This,” he said before he sunk his teeth into the creature’s jugular.

  “Vicken, stop!” I protested.

  I grabbed the demon and tried to pull it away, but the vampire held the body in his vicelike grip as he took several deep gulps of the creature’s blood.

  When he finally lifted his head, blood streaked his chin. “That’s what I thought,” he said.

  “What?” I asked with concern.

  “Demon blood is nasty,” he replied. He gave a choking sound and the demon body fell from his hands.

  “Vick!” I grabbed his arm.

  Vicken pushed me away. He fell to his knees in the middle of the circle of light from the dragons and bent over, gagging.

  “Not…pleasant…,” he gasped out.

  I took a step toward him, but he held out a hand. I stopped at the look on his face.

  “Demons can open the gate,” he said, his breath coming quickly. “So I become the demon and open it.”

  I shook my head. “That’s madness.”

  He gave me a wild, crazy look. “So is letting you die here.”

  I stared at him. “You came here because of me! I’m the reason we’re going to die!”

  He clenched his teeth. “Not if I can help it.”

  He doubled over and grabbed his stomach. A cry of pain tore from him. I reached out a hand to touch his shoulder, but he jerked back. A wail escaped him that turned into a yowl so similar to the demons’ that fear sent tingles along my arms. I couldn’t defeat Vicken at full strength. What if he couldn’t control the demon and turned on us?

  I backed away to place myself between Vicken, Dara, and the dragons. Sparrow hissed a warning from my shoulder.

  At the sound, Vicken straightened with his back to us. Spikes poked through his shirt. His knees lengthened and became jointed strangely, and when he rose to full height, he was taller than he had been. I could see an extra joint at his elbows that popped when he opened them. I sucked in a breath.

  Vicken turned. My heart slowed. His eyes were larger than they had been and they were black and filled with green flames. His cheeks were sunken and hollow. His mouth opened and when he panted, I saw rows of pointed needle-like teeth where his fangs had been. He sucked in rapid breaths and wove his head from side to side like a snake. With his hair out of its band and hanging to his shoulders, his black tee-shirt tattered, and limbs double jointed, he looked like something out of my darkest nightmare. I had to tell myself that he was my friend. I wouldn’t fear him.

  “V-Vicken?” I said.

  He took a step toward me. Claws had forced their way through the toes of his favorite black leather shoes. The sound of them scratching on the ground with the step made my muscles tighten. I lifted my hands in an unconscious effort to keep him from Dara.

  Vicken stopped. He looked from me to Dara’s still form without blinking. It unsettled me to see the predatory cast to his gaze. Never in my time in the demon realm had I thought that maybe the creature to fear in the darkness was the friend I had come to trust.

  That thought solidified when Vicken took a step forward and then another. I backed up to stand in front of Dara. The dragons hid behind me. I could hear their little breaths of fear. They had been so brave. They didn’t deserve to die in this evil realm.

  “He won’t hurt us,” I told them. “Trust him. It’s going to be alright.”

  Vicken didn’t appear to hear me. The dragons backed away at his approach. They covered Dara with their wings and puffed little clouds of flame, but Vicken ignored them as well. He advanced with slow, scratching steps.

  “Vicken, stop,” I commanded when he was less than two feet from us.

  He could have reached out a clawed hand and torn my heart from my chest. I wasn’t sure if I would have fought him.

  Vicken merely looked at me, his gaze demonic and at the same time so familiar I told myself over and over that he wouldn’t hurt anyone.

  Vicken turned away with slow movements as though he was fighting inside of himself. I let out the breath I hadn’t known I’d been holding. Vicken lifted a clawed hand to the crack in the wall. He put a single claw to it and brought it down slowly like a child scraping frost from a window. The mist peeled away to let in a tiny sliver of light. Vicken lifted his hand again and scratched downward. More lights appeared. Relief flooded me. I knelt next to Dara and the dragons.

  “Vicken’s got this,” I told them.

  Vicken put both clawed hands to the wall. A grunt escaped him as he shoved his claws into the haze. With a rumble from deep within his chest, he drew his claws downward to cause a long gash.

  Light spilled through the gloomy darkness. Vicken hissed and stepped back as though it hurt his skin. I realized it must have been moonlight from his reaction.

  “You’ve got this,” I told him. “You’re almost there.”

  Vicken turned his head to look at me. The familiarity of his gaze had been almost completely overtaken by the demon. Confusion warred with determination on his face. I was losing him.

  “Keep clawing the wall,” I told him. I rose to my feet. “Break through. You can do this. You can make it.”

  Vicken looked back at the claw marks. He looked from them to his hands.

  “That’s it,” I urged. “You’ve got this, Vicken. Don’t give up!”

  As if his name jarred his mind back into focus, Vicken clawed at the wall with a strength that terrified and amazed me. The crack grew deeper and more pronounced. I glimpsed the main corridor beyond where students and professors from the Academy waited.

  But then it vanished. The crack began to close despite Vicken’s efforts.

  I remembered Vicken’s mention of Brack’s affinity.

  “Brack!” I yelled. “Brack, it’s us! You’ve got to let us through!”

  The crack lessened even more. Vicken clawed at it, but he couldn’t get it to widen.

  Desperate to get out, I changed my tactic and focused my thoughts on the werewolves. Pushing with all of my might, I said, “Stop Brack. We need to get through. He’s trapping us here!”

  The crack lessened for the space of another heartbeat, and then paused.

  “That’s it,” I breathed.

  Vicken shoved his claws in the crack and pulled. It widened, but barely. He shoved his claws deeper and tried to force it apart. A snarl escaped him as he put his entire strength behind it, but the crack’s movement was almost imperceptible.

  I reached Vicken’s side. He looked down at me. I held his gaze, searching for my friend beneath the demon.

  “I trust you, Vicken,” I said quietly.

  I put my hands to the crack and pushed. After a moment, Vicken’s claws joined me. Together, we clawed, shoved, struggled, and grunted as we forced the crack wide enough to accommodate a single person. The moment we let go, the crack began to close again with maddening strength.

  Vicken strained to hold it open. “Go,” he grunted.

  I let go and ran to Dara’s side. “Come on!” I told the dragons. I gathered Dara up in my arms and ran back to the crack. Ducking in sideways, I forced my way through. A hiss escaped Vicken as the effort to hold the tear open became too great.

  Staring students and wide-eyed professors met me on the other side.

  “Take her!” I shouted as soon as I reached the corridor.

  Hands grabbed Dara and tried to pull me through, too.

  “Not yet,” I told them.

  I shoved my shoulders back inside the crack and reached until my hand closed on Vicken’s clawed one. He pulled back.

  “I…stay,” I heard him say.

  A growl escaped me. “There’s no way I’m letting you stay there,” I replied.

  I grabbed his other hand and yanked him forward. The crack closed as I fell backwards. I felt it press against my body, threatening to shut us inside. Hands pulled me from the corridor. Vicken let out a yell of pain as something else grabbed him from the demon realm. With a final yell, I pulled back with all of my might.

  Vicken and I fell from the crack and collapsed in a heap on the floor of the Academy.

  I looked up to see Brack staring down at us with wide eyes.

  “Close it!” I gasped.

  The warlock motioned with one hand. The crack above us closed with a resolute snap and then vanished altogether.

  “Demon!” someone shouted.

  “Start the chant!” another said.

  “No!” I yelled.

  I pushed to my feet, shielding Vicken with my body. A glance back showed that anything familiar about my friend had vanished to leave a cowering, confused, long-limbed demon behind. My heart fell.

  “This is Vicken,” I said as much to convince myself as to warn them.

  “Finn, are you sure?”

  I looked up to see Professor Mellon and the Headmistress looking at the demon. Mercer stood behind them with the closest thing to a worried expression I had ever seen on his face.

  I nodded. “I’m sure. We’ve got to banish the demon from his body. You must know how.”

  I looked from one of them to the other in desperation.

  First Professor Mellon, then the Headmistress, and finally Mercer shook their heads. The other professors that stood in front of the students lowered their gazes.

  “There isn’t a chant for that,” the Headmistress said.

  Fear filled me. “There must be something!”

  “Finn, look out!”

  I glanced back as the demon lunged with his mouth open. Rhett and another werewolf named Cameron tackled him before he could reach me. The other werewolves joined them, pinning the demon down.

  “Don’t hurt him,” I said.

  “What do we do with him?” Rhett asked, his voice tight as he struggled to keep from being sliced open by one of Vicken’s claws.

  I looked around quickly. My gaze landed on the shredded unicorn photograph the demons had destroyed. “The basement. Hurry. Brack, show them where it is.”

  They half-dragged, half-carried the spitting, clawing, protesting demon toward the hidden door the warlock opened. The sound of their struggle down the stairs faded to leave a room scented in fear and panic. I turned my gaze back to the professors.

  “There must be a way. He sacrificed himself for us!” I pleaded.

  Mercer nodded. “We’ll start searching. Where’s Briggs?”

  The thought of the professor made my knees go weak. “He, uh….” I glanced at the crack. The fact that I had left his body behind in the demon realm made my shoulders start to shake. “He helped kill Chutka. But the fire…the fire….” I couldn’t force the words out.

  A hand touched my shoulder. For a moment, for just a happy, split-reality moment, I thought it was Professor Briggs comforting me.

  I turned to see Mercer with understanding in his usually impassive eyes. “It’s alright, Finn.”

  I shook my head. “It’s not alright. He died to protect us, and now he’s there and he’s, he’s….”

  “He’s not there.”

  I looked over at the sound of Alden’s voice.

  The Grim met my gaze through the mass of students. They parted to let him through. “He’s home, Finn. He’s where he wants to be.”

  I looked from my friend to where Professor Rexus held Dara in his huge arms. His horns dwarfed the girl.

  I forced myself to ask Alden the question I was dreading. It was hard to keep the accusation out of my voice. “And what about Dara? Do you have her name, too?”

  Alden pulled up his sleeve to show me his bare arm. Relief filled me with such sharpness that I could barely breathe. I must have looked as close to falling over as I felt because the Headmistress ducked under my arm.

 

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