Page 48 of Death Trap

“Don’t forget, Jade. You must come back as part of our deal,” he said.

“Yeah, I know. I will.”

“I held up my end of the bargain. You must hold up yours.”

“All right. I hear you loud and clear,” I snapped. “Now unfreeze my friends, Monnie.”

This time, when he snapped his fingers, he disappeared before my eyes. In the same second, Eli and Lisa moved. The last bullet shot out of the gun but hit emptiness, bouncing off the wall and clattering somewhere at the other end of the hallway. She looked around, confused to find the place empty again. Eli grasped at the air where the closest Halfling had been at his back, but when he found nothing there, he spun around and stared at me, dazed.

“What’s happened? Where did they all go?” he asked, glancing up and down the corridor, ready for more to pop out of some unseen hiding place.

“They’re gone,” I said. Now, the next question was did I tell Eli the truth about Monnie and our deal? Or did I leave that out?

Wisest choice at the moment? Don’t tell him. There was no way he would be happy with me for making a deal with a demon to spare their souls and get us a way out.

“I used whatever I could of my power, and they all vanished,” I went on. It was believable enough—except I wasn’t howling in pain from the aftershock using my power always left me in. But hopefully Eli didn’t catch on to that part. “I think I know an exit, too. Follow me.”

I hurried down the hall to avoid any more questions or suspicious looks. I ignored the feeling of Eli’s judging gaze searing into the back of my head as I rounded the corner and approached another big metal door, just like Monnie had said in his directions.

When I pushed it open, we were in another long, poorly lit hallway, but this time, a section of the wall was opaque and slightly see-through. The glimmer of a cobblestone street and brick storefronts appeared on the other side.

Fairport. I recognized the old downtown immediately. It was and always had been my favorite part of the city.

“Because the veil is thinning in many places, this is our way out,” I said, pointing to it.

Eli peered at the narrow streets and alleyways beyond the wall and sighed in relief. “How did you know this was here, Jade?”

“I made one of the Halflings tell me before I blasted him.” I shrugged my shoulder to try and seem more nonchalant and convincing. It felt a little too stiff to me. “Come on. Let’s get the H-E-double-hockey-sticks out of here.”

Lisa popped up by my side. “I’m with her. I’ve had enough of this Hell hole.”

Eli didn’t appear fully convinced by my story, but overall, he seemed relieved to have a way out. To him, that was the most important thing, so he nodded for us to go through the veil first.

I had never gone through the veil this way, so I reached out to touch whatever was in front of me. To my surprise, my fingers met with a strange, clear goo-like substance, like some kind of gel membrane that separated the two worlds.

Out of habit, I sucked in a breath and held it as I pushed my way through. As the stuff glided over my skin, it reminded me of baby oil or something. I felt it, but it never really touched me, and it didn’t leave any kind of residue behind.

Passing through only took a second, and when I emerged on the living plane, I drew in a lungful of crisp, slightly polluted, fishy-scented air. The smell of Fairport’s harbor. Besides the occasional car, the streets were empty in the late hour.

The fact that it was so easy to cross over was concerning. Really concerning. If it was easy for me, it was just as effortless for demons. There had to be dozens of them running amok in the living world, causing chaos and God knows what else. There was nothing holding them back anymore.

Lisa appeared on the sidewalk beside me. Her gaze roamed across the many dark Victorian-style homes. “Where are we? Is this Fairport?”

“Good guess,” I replied.

Eli materialized next. His shoulders fell at the sight of the living world, and some of the tension tightening his muscles eased. But only some. He was still on high alert, his spear clutched firmly in his hand.

“It’s not a guess,” Lisa said. “This city is a supernatural hub. No idea why, but supes love settling here.”

I could see that. Even I loved Fairport, and I did have to come back for reaping assignments more than any other city.

She turned to me and smiled. “When can I see my husband again?”

“Soon. Very soon.” I patted my back pocket for the piece of chalk I used to create the spirit door into the afterlife. “We can go now, actually.”

When I glanced up and spotted the street sign, which read Maple Street, my heart beat with a newfound fear. Oh! Kay’s Pastries was only a few blocks over from where we were. Was this the open door Xaver had used to attack Kay? Very possible. But that meant she was dangerously close to more demons crossing over and hurting her, Laurence, and their new son, Zachary.

Kay was a beacon to all spirits. They all could be in danger’s direct line of fire.

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