And this time it would be The Power of Five.
Finding out I was going to serve on the Coalition was both terrifying and exhilarating. I could see now that it was the role I was destined for—the very reason I’d been born. There was no use arguing against it, because I had no choice in the matter.
I was the Enforcer.
27
“What do you mean it’s dead?” I asked. We had all gathered around the circle Rourke and Ray had landed in. The other witch’s circle, the one Eudoxia and Danny had arrived in, was also dead. “How can all the circles be inactive?”
“It means no one is manning these circles on your plane,” the Princess answered patiently, an array of demon guards surrounding her.
After our discussion in the auditorium, the Prince of Hell had promptly left and had not returned—but not without threatening to end my life if he ever laid eyes on me again.
The feeling was mutual.
The Princess had left for a while, but had returned with her faithful guards to escort us out of the Underworld. Rourke had insisted on taking care of my clone himself. I knew my doppelganger was only a shell with no working parts, but it was awful to think about. The Princess had assured us that in order for the clone to have been successfully reanimated with my magic and power, it first would have needed her heart, along with my blood, and a powerful spell that had died with Lili. It was a relief to know that no more clones could be made in the Underworld with Lili gone, but we still had to get rid of mine.
In the end, Tyler had insisted on accompanying Rourke, and the Princess had taken them somewhere. When they’d all returned they seemed satisfied. I didn’t ask. I didn’t want to know how they’d disposed of me, and I trusted them completely, so the details weren’t necessary.
Now it was time for us to exit the Underworld.
None of us knew how to deal with the Hags, or the fallout, so all we could do now was head home and wait for their move. It wasn’t ideal, but we weren’t going to wait around in Hell any longer to figure it out.
“How can no one be manning the circle on our plane?” Danny complained. “The witches literally just sent us down here.”
“Time works much differently here,” the Princess responded, her voice sounding harsh as her Demonish accent mixed with the English words, making them sound clipped at the ends. “While you are here, time on your plane goes both forward and backward with no regularity. It has to do with our plane being in constant motion. But time is not the issue here. The witches are not sending power down to fuel the circle, so we must find you another way back.”
We had voted to bring Selene back by a four-to-two margin. She was going to have to serve jail time for her misdeeds, which she had neither agreed to nor protested. Ray hovered near her, accepting his role as her guard without dissent. I addressed Selene directly, as she’d been a witch. “What does this mean?” I asked her. “Why aren’t they manning the circle?”
“I’d assume it means something catastrophic has happened.” Her voice was callous. “If what you said is true, they should be on a twenty-four-hour watch. They would be powering it at all times. So”—she smiled slyly, enjoying this—“it means they’re gone. And if they can’t keep the circle manned, it likely means trouble.”
“Or perhaps they are temporarily without a leader and have completely fallen apart,” the Vampire Queen interjected. “When Ardat Lili died we all felt something. Lili was the witch portion of the Five, and a very powerful one at that. She will have to be replaced by the next most powerful witch in line. Is there any witch in the world more powerful than Tallulah Talbot?”
“I don’t know,” I confessed. “If Tally is the most powerful, that means she’s the next female witch in line for the Coalition. Possibly the shift in Fate triggered something and Tally had to leave quickly—or was forced to leave.” I didn’t know of another witch as powerful as Tally, but that didn’t mean there wasn’t one. The world was a big place.
“It doesn’t really matter,” Eudoxia said flatly. “The witches are otherwise occupied, so it looks as though there is no one to get us off this godforsaken plane.”
“There is another way. I can escort you to a portal,” the Princess said. “But the location on your plane will vary each time one of you goes through. You will not be gathered in the same place upon your return, and you will likely be far from home.”
“How many can travel together at one time through a portal?” Rourke asked. I knew there was no way he would go without me. His grip on my hand tightened as he awaited her response.
“Technically there is only supposed to be one traveler at a time, but we have learned that if two seem as one it will work,” the Princess replied.
“What does that mean?” Ray asked. “Two seem as one?”
“It means you must be thoroughly connected while traveling,” she answered.
“Connected how?” Danny interrupted. “And please don’t tell me that means what I think it means.”
“Your brain is dangerous territory, Danny.” I chuckled. “I’m sure it’s not what you’re thinking, and it means something like we have to be tied together in some way.”
“Yes, you must be bound together.” The Princess nodded. “We have something called torep lahy, which means ‘spelled rope,’ and it’s used for just this purpose. Only imps can use the portals. A full demon will be ripped apart upon entry. But with this rope the imps can go by twos.”
“That doesn’t exactly seem safe,” Tyler said. “And being ripped apart doesn’t sound appealing. How do you know we can go through without danger?”
She smiled. “These few portals were created by witches on your plane long ago. They made them for themselves with the intent to travel here. They were meant for your species, not ours. It has taken us many centuries to figure out ways for the imps to travel through them, but they are still unpredictable and dangerous for demons, and therefore banned in She’ol. Many from this era do not even know of their locations.”
“Okay,” I said, making the necessary decision. “Heading to a portal sounds like the only viable plan we have. If they were made by witches, they have to be okay for us. We’ll pair up. Ray and Selene, Tyler and Danny, Rourke and me…” I paused when my gaze landed on the Vamp Queen.