Page 27 of Fallen Demon

Zadkiel said goodbye to Elisa, while Drake hugged Thea and Aurora. Farrah and Wyatt crossed the portal, then Frank and Cyran.

Lacey and I started for the portal, but Aurora reached for my hand. I stopped and looked at her. “Everything okay, pretty girl?”

“The darkness is there,” she said, sounding older than she was. “It’s always there, but it’ll spread and come with. Be aware of the darkness.”

“Aurora?” I asked.

“What was that, sweetie?” Thea asked.

“I don’t know,” she said, her voice back to her childish one. “I could only see black everywhere.”

Over Aurora’s head, Thea met my gaze. “I’ll try to find out what it means and I’ll let you know.”

I nodded, and after squeezing Aurora’s hand, I crossed the portal. Lacey stepped through next.

Drake was the last one. He signaled to Keeran, who dropped his chin once, then closed the portal.

Keeran had sent us to a place I had been before—the gate outside Winnipeg. Right now, we were in an empty field that went on for miles with a large stone the size of a three-story building dead center. But I knew that if I walked several feet in any direction, an illusion would appear and I would find myself in the middle of a farm, complete with a farmhouse, a barn, and extensive fields ready for planting.

A dozen Blackthorn Hunters guarded the large stone wall, and two of them stood directly at its side. As we approached, they touched the wall at the same time and a green line appeared from their hands. It swirled over the stone until it met in the center and grew, becoming one large, green mesh shining bright.

We crossed the portal and the world shimmered for a second, then settled once more.

A black path opened in front of us, flanked by hot red lava, its heat palpable. Above us, the sky was dark gray, and beyond the path was a huge black palace with several endless turrets sprawled over the dark landscape. Lightning cut across the sky, casting larger-than-life shadows everywhere.

I had heard King Tanner and Jasmin had done everything to tone down the menace and creepiness of this place, but its magic was so ancient and strong, nothing worked.

“This way,” Drake said, taking the lead across the path cutting through the lava.

As we approached the castle, I saw a handful of demon hunters standing by the giant double doors. They nodded at Drake and turned their attention back to the horizon. I frowned, confused for a minute, wondering why they didn’t open the doors for us.

But then they opened by themselves.

Inside, the foyer was as large as a ballroom and as dark as the outside. Black stone, dark gray walls, dark crystal chandeliers, dark framed mirrors on the walls.

We crossed under an archway into a wide hallway. At the end, another set of double black doors greeted us. Once more, the doors opened by themselves, and behind them a female smiled at us.

“Welcome to the underworld,” she said. I was certain she was a demon; I just didn’t know what kind. “I’m Lily, King Tanner’s assistant.” She gestured for us to come in. “Please, come with me.”

We followed Lily through the door into a large room. At the end of the room were two thrones made of black marble, one slightly smaller than the other. King Tanner sat on the largest one, while Jasmin was on the other.

When they saw us approaching, they stood.

“Thank you, Lily,” Tanner said. Then, he glanced at our group and smiled. “Welcome to the underworld.”

“Are we having a party?” Jasmin asked, her eyes alight. “I would have prepared the ballroom.”

“The underworld has a ballroom?” Lacey asked.

Jasmin nodded. “It has everything.”

“King Tanner,” Drake started, his deep, serious voice echoing through the large room and bringing everyone to attention. “It was my idea to bring a large party to the underworld. If your lead turns out to be a good one, I didn’t want to waste time putting a team together.”

“I understand.” Tanner reached forward and swept his hand from left to right. Chairs made of shadows appeared behind us, forming an arc in front of the thrones. “Please sit. I don’t like to talk with my friends as if they were my subjects.”

We all took a seat, but I couldn't settle. “What did you find?”

Tanner glanced to his left as a man entered the room from a side doorway. He was tall and broad, with cropped blond hair and a mean face. He wore black leather that looked like a modified demon hunter’s uniform, and he sported a bow across his back.

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