Page 127 of Legendary

Leah held the bracelet out for me. “There isn’t much I can do about dark magic, but I can help with this. You can make Dani your main priority in this fight, no need to worry about Isabel and her magic…at least, I hope. I truly don’t know how strong she is now, but even if they help a tiny amount, I at least know I did something.”

“You’ve done a lot already. Don’t worry about that.” I let her place the bracelet around my wrist. I felt a tiny spark as it touched my skin, and she placed a hand over where the accessory rested along my wrist. Garrett took the other one from her hand and tossed it at Reese. He drew his wife back so we could make our way out of the room, but I noticed she was staring at me. Not in a way that made me uncomfortable, but her mouth was slightly open, and she looked like she wanted to speak but no words came out. It felt like wheels were turning in her head over something. Garrett looked down at his wife as Reese nudged my shoulder to get us moving. “Honey, are you alright?”

Leah blinked and shook her head. “Yes, yeah, of course. I just um…” She looked at me again and took a deep breath. “Just good luck I suppose.” It was like she wanted to say more but either the right words weren’t there, or she just wasn’t prepared to speak on whatever it was at all. Either way it would have to wait.

Reese and I walked over to where our weapons sat and adjusted them onto our bodies. I fiddled with the bracelet on my wrist as we took the stairs two at a time. We walked through the hostel and met Beetee and her parents at the backdoor of the building. Elise was propped up against the wall and I could feel Leah and Garrett at our backs. I didn’t want to show it, but beyond Beetee’s moms, I was the only one with a small piece of doubt embedded in my mind. There wasn’t a doubt I could fight or that I had probably the world’s oddest but most loyal team on my side, but there was a doubt thatIcould do this…

I had to put my feelings aside and forget that I…that I mightloveher.

Dani isn’t your villain.

I was afraid I would have to fight her as if she were.

Purgatory was always an eerie place but right now it felt like all the things I’d been told in stories. I felt overheated and like a million and oneeyes were watching me. Beetee hadn’t said a word to her mom’s before we left, at least not out loud, but she’d hugged each one of them before opening the back door and letting us out alongside her. Her parents had told Axel the location which somehow he could understand and waited for us to climb onto his back before he began walking. Beetee had decided to walk alongside us rather than ride Axel herself, not giving much of an explanation except for the decision itself. Garrett had offered to walk with her, which she accepted even though she vehemently told him that he didn’t have to.

The whole ride was quiet and the sound of Axel’s large footsteps padding through the leaves echoed around me. I felt like everyone was having the same feelings as me, but no one wanted to speak on it. If we spoke whatever was on our minds into existence, the entire reality of what we were going to do, how we were going to behave would be real and it was better if we just let things happen naturally without trying to overanalyze. Maybe that last part was just me, but I liked to think I wasn’t alone in that aspect. Axel made turns and ducked underneath trees before he made a wide turn near a shallow swamp area. You could see the outskirts of buildings and it looked like Lilith’s castle had gotten closer if you looked the right way through the trees.

The hellhound bowed his head and then laid the rest of the way down on the ground, letting each of us slide off of his back. His eyes were pools of black and his tongue was pushed out to the side. Those large, hooked bottom teeth dipped just above his upper lip, giving him a dopey-like snarling look. I patted the big creature on the head and turned around, beginning to look for the secret entrance we’d been told about. All of us broke apart and searched various parts of the spot Axel had stopped, but we found nothing. They’d told us what to look for, but we weren’t seeing it, unless every single one of us were just completely oblivious.

“What did your parents say again?” Reese asked, kicking up some leaves as he walked.

Beetee was crouched down near two large tree trunks. “They said it was a tree stump that was split in half. It’s blocked by other trees so it would be hard to see, but we would know it if we saw it. It’s also marked with a carving they drew in it.”

“This would be a lot easier if it wasn’t just a tiny shade of dark as fuck out here,” my best friend huffed.

“It’s not that dark Blondie. I haven’t heard you run into anything so be grateful,” Elise scolded.

“Hey guys, is this it?” I said, standing over a low tree stump with a vertical split down the middle. I bent my knees and squatted down so I couldcheck around it for a marking of any sort. I noticed that a number of trees were in closer proximity to it, so I ran my hand along the sides, stopping when I felt the indent of markings. I felt bodies around me as the others were starting to huddle around.

Garrett reached down and brushed some leaves off the top of the broken trunk. “The carvings?”

“Right here,” I answered, running my fingers along the chipped wood. It felt like letters. I followed the carvings, making out a W and then an L. “Your parents carved their initials into it?”

Beetee looked down at me with her hands on her hips. “Not surprised. They have been pretty in love with each other since the beginning of time.” She sounded sad at the statement as if she liked knowing these facts about her parents. She looked as if she thought she knew everything there was to know about them but apparently, she hardly knew a thing. Especially about herself.

I stood up and stretched my back, grasping her shoulder. “We’ll figure it all out, okay. It’s up to you how you want this to play out.” She gave me a small smile and nodded her head.

Reese started to sit on the edge of the tree stump. “Okay, we found the big stump. What do we do…” Right as he sat on the edge it started to push away from the rest of the wood. It was like the tree stump had a lid, so he jumped off of it and we both slowly pushed it away from the rest of the stump. We stared down at a gaping black hole as Reese flicked a small ball of light into it, seeing how far it traveled. It was snuffed out pretty quickly, telling me that the bottom wasn’t too far down. I turned around and nodded to the others.

“Remember what they said,” Leah instructed. “No detours, just take the path as it comes.”

“You couldn’t pay me enough celestial coins to make a detour in this place,” Reese said, peering down into the spot we were about to head into. I watched as Elise headed over to Axel, petting his head and placing her forehead against his nose. She gripped his hooked teeth and bared her own. It was like they were having some kind of silent conversation only they could understand. Axel came up and nuzzled Reese’s entire body, nearly pushing him over and did the same to me.

“He’ll take you back to the hostel,” Elise said to Leah, who nodded in understanding. Garrett gave his wife a kiss goodbye, which we all turned around for, wanting to give them some sort of privacy.

“You really don’t have to come.” I looked at Garrett who gave me a thoughtful expression. His confident voice made me feel like I was surerabout this than I originally planned. “I’m coming with you Nicholas. Worse comes to worse, my children should know their father was doing the right thing.”

I admired him and left it at that. Leah nudged us over to the tree stump, while Axel remained behind her watching us. I almost thought I heard a whimpering whine coming from him as Elise gave him a pointed look as if to say,for the love of Hell be a good boy. Leah confirmed that she’d glamour the stump to look like a normal everyday tree in Purgatory and would be nervously waiting for us to come back. I felt her grab my arm where my bracelet sat, and I turned around to face her.

“Nicholas, I…” She looked down as she ran her thumb along the accessory she’d given me. She seemed confused as to how to get her words out, like something had put her at a loss. It was the same kind of confusion that I’d seen back at the hostel. I looked down at the bracelet as well and waited patiently for her response. She shook her head, almost laughing to herself about whatever it was she was thinking. “It’s nothing, I think I’m just nervous that’s all.”

“You and me both,” I admitted. I felt around behind me to my waistband, feeling Dani’s dagger burning a hole in my skin.

“Ready?” Reese asked, leaning over the tree stump. I gave him a thumbs up and without warning he jumped into the dark hole. I heard feet hitting the ground and then a light loomed from within. Reese’s blonde hair glowed as the light created a dim flood around the otherwise dark underground passageway. I gave Leah one last smile before I jumped in after him, followed by Elise, Garrett and Beetee. I heard when Leah moved the top of the stump back in place and then there was pure silence again.

“Let’s go.” The pathway was pretty straight forward as long as you didn’t let the weird smells, the tiny scratching sounds and scurrying distract you. I had to take the lead when Reese got startled at every single sound that seemed to whisper down the path at us. With every step closer we got the heavier everything seemed. My thoughts weighed heavily on me as well, more than I’d like to admit. It was crazy that even now, knowing that she wasn’t herself, I still knew I would be in awe of the things she could do, even if they were life threatening.

I had it bad for that girl and I couldn’t even lie to myself about it anymore.

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