Page 10 of Phoenix Academy: Mayhem

Xavier asks, "Anything else? A sense or something?"

I shake my head. "My witch senses aren't pulling me towards it the way they did in the Spirit Realm. So that probably means it's fine. No tricks." Shuddering, I add, "Though it did just occur to me... are we even really sure Ezriel is dead? We saw his body die, after all, but I don't think demons work that way."

David and Xavier exchange a look. The wolf shifter says, "You'd have to ask someone with more knowledge about demons. We mostly learn how to fight Grims, since they're the biggest threats to phoenix. But I'm pretty sure anything that qualified as an upper level demon can come back to life, just not in the same body anymore."

I grimace. "Great. So when we encounter him again, we won't even know it's him."

"I don't know," Reggie says, "I think the foul stench of assholishness will give him away."

"Let's just head inside and bunker down while we plan our escape." Xavier sounds far more confident about the words plan and escape than I feel. "Maybe we can figure out a way to beat the demons back from the door and go through it or something. Or we'll get some sort of message from someone who can help. Like Auerbach—he talked to you, right?"

I nod, frowning as we walk towards the front of the building, which is two-story with a grey brick face and resembles a school, complete with the flagpole out front and little desks visible through the classroom windows. "He was able to speak to me telepathically. But that was near the door. I don't know how far his voice could carry. I was hoping maybe he and Dani could do something about... well, all of this."

"Once she's back, she'll probably kill all those demons in a fit of rage and pull us all out by the tail," Reggie says. "Pretty sure nothing can stop her. I mean, she's a Grim and a phoenix, with a shitload of lives besides. What could go wrong?"

I'm not so sure about that, given Dani wasn't even near campus when the trickster demon attacked. "We should still plan on trying to get ourselves out. It might be harder than getting in, though. I'm not sure that the bond will pull you three back to Earth with me the way it pulled you into Hell. Especially because... because the rules of this place are different."

"How so?"

"I hadn't wanted to mention this before," I admit, "but only my soul is here. And the three of you... your bodies are here as well. That makes things harder. We should be able to get you out, since you haven't technically died. But I don't want to gamble with it. Just in case."

None of them look happy at this, and I can't blame them. It was one thing when we'd just stumbled into Hell and weren't sure what would happen next. Now that we're facing the possibility of being trapped down here, everything is looking a little more, well, grim.

At least Ezriel is stopped for now. And I gave a warning to Auerbach to protect the campus. Plus, we have this new place to shelter in—things can't be that bad. We haven't even been attacked by demons yet.

Maybe we'll be out in no time.

As I take the steps up towards the front of the school, though, a little shiver goes down my back. Whirling around, I narrow my eyes into the darkness and throw a blue fireball down the steps, arcing past the guys—but it hits nothing.

There's no one there.

"Something wrong?" Reggie growls low in his throat, much like the black panther form he takes. "Did you hear something?"

"I thought I sensed something... but if you guys didn't, maybe it was just my imagination." Shaking it off, I take another few steps up towards the school, and a sense of foreboding goes through me. "Do you feel that?"

Frowning, Xavier races up the steps beside me, and shakes his head. "I don't see or hear anything."

"Or smell anything," David adds, shoving his hands into the pockets of his borrowed Phoenix Academy blazer. "Sure it's not just your imagination, Ari?"

"It must be. I guess it's something to do with what happened here before." At their quizzical looks, I explain, "I can feel the old energy of this place. Souls used to be tortured here. Some of them left their pain behind long after it was over."

"Fantastic," Reggie says dryly. "We're heading into a torture factory."

"At least we know it was abandoned."

As we push open the front doors and walk through the empty hallways, though, I don't feel alone.

I feel a menacing presence all around me.

Just when I'm about to grab the guys and drag them out with me, something hits me right in the chest, and all the air leaves my lungs.

My father.

The Heretic.

He's here.

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