Page 242 of Dark Haven Omegaverse

“Let’s join them,” I told the others. They didn’t question me as we walked through the flames again and to the rooftops above.

When we arrived, a black fog had rolled in, deepening by the second until it was too opaque to see through.

The demons were coming, but we were ready.

Harlow

Dark Haven Institute

The demons struck Dark Haven the moment we reached the gargoyles. We had yet to have to fight, they hadn’t made it past the blue flames.

It was as if they couldn’t comprehend the fact they no longer were in control here, or had access to the portal. Helheim had rejected them and no amount of throwing themselves at the flames would change that.

Seeing my work laid out before me and actually going as I intended was amazing. Pride and determination filled my soul and I felt it reflected back at me through my pack bond.

The demons below were on limited time. They were now a dying species. That was what would save this world.

If they gave up long enough for me to figure out the portal, at least.

The demon army below outnumbered us at first. With the gargoyles back, that was no longer an issue. I just hoped this gave the humans in the city a moment of peace from the hell they’d been living in.

With the demons’ focus on us, they couldn’t torture or kill.

Crew stood in the street with the demons, glaring up at Dark Haven as if it were the reason for his pain. The reaction only solidified my suspicions.

He mentally unraveled while he was here and they took advantage of that, using all of his inner dark thoughts against him, twisting them until it was all he knew.

After that, he was already in their pocket. He was an easy target.

“He’s gone, isn’t he?” Layne’s whisper was so full of sadness I couldn’t help but pull her into a hug.

“I’m sorry. I don’t know how to fix this,” I admitted. “He’s not Crew anymore. But I’m going to try if I can.”

She sniffled and nodded as she backed out of my hold. I hated that my best friend was still dealing with the inner battle on top of being abandoned by someone she loved. And that was all after witnessing our deaths and not knowing we survived.

The only thing I could do was bring her back to Helheim with Stravos, but to do that, she’d have to die. Killing my best friend was not an option.

Though, if she stayed in Ridgefield or Dark Haven much longer, the choice would be taken from both of us. She had no medical care here, no support outside of Sarah, and with the portal closed, I wasn’t sure Stravos could stay.

Layne and I watched as another row of demons ran at the flame, turning to ash on impact. There was a moment of angry outcries before the next row moved into place.

They clearly weren’t the brightest adversaries, but they were relentless. Even if it resulted in them dwindling quickly without us having to do the work.

“This is going to end at some point, right?” Layne’s words were more of a plea than a question.

“It has to,” I answered honestly. There was so much more at stake than she knew. I didn’t give her a rundown of Odin’s encounter and my impending death if I didn’t close it. She didn’t need more stress.

“Fuck this,” Drake growled as the next wave of demons ran to the flames. “I’m not standing up here and waiting for something to happen.”

Without warning, he dove off of the building, not caring there was way too much distance to the ground. I shouldn’t have worried. He hit the ground with ease and ran forward, sword slicing through the front row.

“Son of a bitch,” I muttered before turning to Monty. “Get me down there.”

“Gladly,” my commander obliged, wrapping shadows around me and carrying us to the battle below.

I was ready the moment he cleared them, running into the fray with my spear out, stabbing into a row of demons and cutting straight through three in one go. Pulling it back out was just as easy.

I didn’t stop moving, sending a silent thank you to the quartermaster who’d given me my weapon as I fought. It was cutting down demons as if they were nothing more than shadows.

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