Page 36 of Phoenix Academy: Mayhem

Then suddenly it happens. The door is nothing but ash and cinder beneath my fingers. A tear is opened right in the middle of Hell itself, leading straight towards the Spirit Realm and beyond—but only for a moment. Feeling the breath of demonic forces at our back, I spare one moment to turn and throw my phoenix fire at everything that waits in the darkness.

It spreads and burns in an area larger than any I've ever managed. Fire to consume countless demons rages through Hell itself. They roar and howl as they're beaten back, blue flames dancing through a space as big as a football stadium. Bigger, even.

This is our one and only chance to get back home without anything evil on our tails.

"Now!"

We race through. I feel an invisible barrier smack into me and grit my teeth as I force myself to keep running. Through the veil between Hell and the Spirit Realm. Then through the Spirit Realm and straight into the mortal realm, not knowing what I'll find.

My heart slams into my chest.

We're here. In the thick of it. Standing at the top of a hill covered in mud and grass as rain splatters us from overhead.

The force of the running, of the power within me, makes me stumble and fall. I go skidding down the incline, breath leaving my lungs in a whumpf of air. My ass bruises; my arms and knees get scraped up by the rough ground beneath me. I grit my teeth and bite my lip so hard that I taste blood.

For a moment I just lie down and breathe, taking it all in, the ground at my feet. Reggie skids to a stop beside me and yells my name; not far from me, I can hear Xavier groan and David pant as both of them are thrown through the veil between realms as well.

We're here. We're home.

I did it. I saved them.

Finally, I can rest.

"Ari! Ari, where are you?" My eyes fly open and I stare up into Reggie's fast as he frantically looks around him for—me. Even though I'm right here. "Fuck, guys—do you see her? Where is she?"

"I'm right here," I tell him, while at the same time David says, "I don't see any sign of her."

Pushing up to my feet, I look around at them, mouth agape—then realize it all at once.

Only my spirit ever entered Hell.

And only my spirit has returned.

Somewhere out there my body is waiting for me—empty and devoid of life.

If I don't get back to it soon, I know what will happen. I'll wind up a ghost unmoored by purpose or body. Eventually, if I don't either find my body or move on from the mortal realm, I could turn into a poltergeist—forever.

Which wouldn't be the worst news if we were somewhere on the Phoenix Academy campus, close to the infirmary where my body is hopefully still being kept whole and healthy by Mage Auerbach.

But I don't recognize my surroundings at all.

We're lost in the middle of nowhere, and no one can even hear—or see—me scream.

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