Page 9 of Monsters of Midnight

“She’s not human. She’s fae,” Laney corrected. “And she was put there by mistake.”

“There are no mistakes. There’s just when it’s your time to go, you go.” I grumbled, sadness welling up inside me. My emotions were on a roller coaster. I took a deep breath. I needed to get them under control.

“And there’s no coming back,” Magnus said.

“Right now, we have to concern ourselves with getting off the mountain and away from Cade.” I couldn’t bear thinking about Caroline trapped in Undirheim. I glared at Magnus. “We can leave him for all I care.”

“We’re not leaving your brother on the mountain at the mercy of another demigod,” Laney argued. “You carry him and I’ll fly next to you.”

I grumbled and groaned, but at the end, she was right. As much as I hated Magnus and couldn’t stand the thought of him, he was my brother.

“We may not make it anyway,” I said, staring back up the mountain as a loud boom filled the air. Dirt and rocks flew through the sky as an avalanche erupt from its side. Lava began to spurt down upon us. Cade must’ve returned, and he was hell-bent on finding us. There was no way I was going to let that happen, though.

I grabbed Laney’s hand, tugging at her as I flew faster and harder, practically dragging her through the air.

“Be careful, these wings are new,” Laney complained as she bounced in the wind stream behind me.

“You don’t understand, we’ve got to get to Ratchet,” I said, “and we need to get him to make a portal. Otherwise, none of us are getting out of here alive.”

“You’ve got a pretty good chance of it, seeing as you’re a demigod and all,” Laney murmured.

“We aren’t immortal. We can be killed,” I insisted.

“Let’s not have that be tonight.” Laney shook her head, her gaze falling on Magnus. How deep were her feelings for him? Was she going to be able to stand by and watch the punishment which he was due for causing the death of a supernatural?

I felt nothing when I thought about my brother's suffering. There was no pain and suffering greater than what I was inundated with over the death of Caroline. My brother’s betrayal was but a small speed bump or dip next to the cavernous gaping canyon of my heart.

If nothing else, my brother would stand a trial, and for that to happen, we owed it to ourselves to get him through the portal, rather than having him be killed by Cade.

I gripped Magnus tighter in my arms and dove steadily to where I knew Ratchet had to be. I didn’t even bother glancing over my shoulder. I just hoped Laney could keep up. I couldn’t handle losing her as well. Right now, she seemed like my only link to Caroline.

“Keep up!” I called over my shoulder to Laney. Then I turned straight forward and dove with Magnus, grabbing Laney’s wrist at the last moment, when I realized there was no way she was going to make it on her own.

Ratchet looked up blearily watching us approach.

“Open a portal!” I cried, watching the glow from the volcano shine on his face. “Get us out of here!”

Ratchet squinted but them somehow seemed to understand. He turned and with a flick of his wrists he created a portal. The witches made their way through it disappearing into the hazy light emitted by the portal. I swung my arm forward, pulling Laney as fast and as hard as I could.

We weren’t going to make it!

I yanked her arm forward, throwing her towards the portal and with relief I saw her make it through. I glanced at Ratchet. We dove for the portal, smashing into each other seconds before it closed.

Chapter 5

LANEY

Fire balls of lava trail their way through the edges of the portal right before it closed, some of them even getting sliced in half as they dropped into Ryder’s command center. Perched on the top of Mount Diablo on the outskirts of the San Francisco Bay Area. It had a three-hundred-and-sixty-degree view on the top lookout level with all the private accommodation one level below. They had everything here, even the healing room, which was apparently where I was at the moment. The witches were standing around me in a circle, candles burning and incense filling the air with heady scents.

We had come through the portal about an hour ago, and I had been brought immediately here. I was weak as all fuck. I felt like the energy had really been zapped out of me, not by Cade and not by his brother, but with having to save Magnus. My heart ached over it.

I don’t know why, but I thought he was the one. I was clearly mistaken. He was not the one, but it took a little of time for my heart to catch up with my head.

Ryder knew it, too. He had the same look on his face, like he would accept the proximity of this person because of their connection. In his case, blood, but in my case, I couldn’t deny my heart. Not that I still wanted him, I didn’t. I had at one point, though, and therefore he should be protected when I could.

At first, being in the healing center felt quite good. My body had relaxed, and I inhaled the essential oils misting in the air and the vibrational tones of the witches’ songs entered into each part of my body. Now, though, after an hour of my body waking up again, I was ready to start talking to people and find out what was actually going on with Magnus. The creature in the cave had said something about Caroline still being alive.

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