Page 51 of Monsters of Mayhem

“What’s wrong?” I asked.

Laney stared at my hand. “No,” she murmured.

“The ring,” Caroline said.

Ratchet raised his eyebrows but didn’t say a word.

“You got the rings,” I said morosely. A single look from Caroline was all I needed to see to know I was right.

“I gave him yours to look after,” Caroline explained.

“What’s going on?” Laney asked. “I can’t believe it.”

“Ryder’s ring is gone and Magnus is missing,” I pointed out.

“Those two things don’t necessarily have anything to do with each other,” Laney said.

“It’s pretty obvious, Laney,” I said. “Don’t be offended that I’m disloyal to my brother.”

Ratchet chimed in. “He found out yesterday where they were.”

“Is there any disturbance in the rift? I asked.

As if on cue, suddenly a bunch of the alarms went off. We all rushed to the table to look at the map of the world.

The witches were all awake and everybody had come to the top floor. We stood around the table looking at it. Red lines erupted in Hawaii.

“That’s the big island,” Caroline said. “There’s a rift on the big island?”

“The entire Hawaiian chain is on a rift,” Eunice said. “That’s partly where all the volcanoes come from; the lava from the underworld coming up.”

“Come on,” I said to Ratchet. “We’ve got to go.”

“You’re not going alone,” Caroline insisted.

“Caroline, I’m not taking you to an infestation of monsters,” I growled.

“I think we’re a team now.” Caroline looked around the room. “Working together. We’re all a team.”

“Whether you like it or not, Ryder, you have our support,” Eunice said, “We’re all here to help you.”

I put my hands on my hips and stared down at the table. “Laney and Caroline, you stay here,” I said. “You mind the map. If there’s another infestation of monsters, then you send the witches there.”

“We don’t know how to make a portal,” Eunice pointed out. “It’s not a witch specialty.”

“I can make a portal from wherever I am. I just need to know where you need it,” Ratchet said.

“You’re not leaving me here again,” Caroline insisted.

I turned to her and clasped her shoulders with both my hands.

“I get it,” I said. “We’re a team and we’re working together, but you’ve got to let me face these monsters alone. These ones in Hawaii, they are some of the worst, most primal monsters, but worse than that, there’s only one way to open that rift and it’s with the rings. Magnus is there and he’s a danger.”

“It can’t be true.” Laney looked discouraged.

“Not only is he using the rings, but he will be there and we really need to have you protected.”

Caroline was livid. She had been through this before and clearly, she wasn’t going to do it again. “If you leave me here,” Caroline said. “I will leave and never see you again.”

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