Page 28 of Discord and Cinder (Fire Witches of Salem #7)
CINDER
“T hink you’ll fit through the window?” I shoved everything into my backpack and slipped my arms through the straps, buckling it at my waist before pacing toward the bathroom.
“I think I have no choice.” Discord followed, and I pried open the pane.
“How did they find us?” I stepped onto the back of the toilet and braced my hands on either side of the window before pulling myself up onto the ledge. A quick glance left and right said the coast was clear for now, so I hopped out, my boots thudding on the rocky ground.
“Bedlam is an excellent tracker. Apparently, Seraphine is as well.” He narrowed his eyes at the window. There was no way he’d fit through, so he did what any big, burly demon would do and yanked it from the wall. The glass cracked, and he tossed it aside before climbing out to join me.
“Fabulous,” I said. “How do we get to the temple?”
“The quickest way is to cross the canyon. Come.” He hung a left and strode toward the back of the property.
I jogged to keep up—no more scurrying… yay --and we scaled a chain link fence before darting into the trees.
We reached a clearing, and the massive canyon stretched out before us.
A steaming stream of greenish-yellow liquid flowed through the bottom, having etched into the volcanic rock for millennia upon millennia, creating ledges and crevices in the mile-deep ravine.
To our right, a visitor center stood in the distance, with an obsidian bridge stretching across a narrower section of the canyon. To our left lay nothing but miles and miles of rocky terrain.
We went left—because of course we did—running along the ridge until my lungs burned and my legs ached.
“Where can we cross?” I panted and slowed my pace.
“A mile ahead,” he said, and he jerked his head toward something behind me. “Quickly.”
He grabbed my hand and pulled me down a narrow path, into the ravine. My boot slipped on the gravel, and I fell, my left leg folding beneath me as I rolled and slid deeper and deeper into the canyon.
“I suppose that’s one way to do it.” Discord leaned back, steadying himself with his hand and allowing the gravel to carry him down to my side.
I landed on a ledge with a grunt and unfolded my legs. Sitting up, I clutched my head and squinted against the orange moonlight. Two silhouettes passed above us before disappearing from view.
I stumbled to my feet, gripping the rocks on the side of the canyon, lest my dizziness send me plummeting into the acidic liquid below. “Those two just won’t give up.”
“Not until we’re dead. Come.” He took my hand, and we scooted along the ledge, our backsides pressed against the wall.
I held my breath as I crossed a narrow section of the path, my toes hanging over the edge. My pulse sprinted, and I swallowed the bitter taste in my mouth. “How about we kill them first?”
“That would be an excellent plan if we had more weapons.” He dropped my hand and leaped onto a shelf in the rock. I followed.
“We do. Check my pack. The blue bag.” I turned my back toward him, and he unzipped it to retrieve the set I’d picked up at the outfitters.
“Camping knives against poisoned arrows and air magic.” He frowned and handed me two from the set. “I don’t like our odds.”
I shoved them both into my thigh holster. “You sound more worried about Seraphine than Bedlam.”
“I will never underestimate the abilities of a witch again.”
“Smart man.” I started for a trail leading deeper into the ravine.
A slight shift in the wind signaled Seraphine’s presence, and my instincts kicked in. I ducked a fraction of a second before the first arrow whizzed past my head. Straightening, I hurled a fireball the size of a watermelon, but she turned her palm up and rose from the ground, levitating.
A tiny tornado swirled around her feet as she floated over the ravine and descended. She attached her crossbow to her back and shoved her hands toward us. Wind blasted us backward. Discord caught himself on a piece of jagged rock, but I tumbled over the ledge.
I had never fallen from anything higher than two stories, which only gave me enough time to think oh, shit before I hit the ground. With the bottom of the ravine five thousand feet below, I had plenty of time to contemplate my life choices before my body went splat.
Maybe I should have enlisted my sisters’ help in this adventure.
Hecate knew I could use one of Ash’s on-the-fly spells.
A massive pillow of air to bounce off of would have been nice.
Instead, it looked like I’d find out exactly what that greenish-yellow liquid flowing through the canyon was made of.
I was just about to kiss my life goodbye when an invisible cord stopped me mid-air. My body folded as if a rope were wrapped around my waist, and my neck snapped back and forward with enough force to give me whiplash.
I spun, rolling over and over like a gas station hot dog. Seraphine stood at the bottom of the canyon, a maniacal grin stretching across her face as she toyed with me. Discord stood on a ledge a few yards up, he and Bedlam both wielding knives and glowering at each other.
I kept spinning, circling, circling, circling. If Seraphine didn’t stop me soon, she’d have to deal with a vomit cyclone.
I chunked a fireball at her, but my aim was off, thanks to the spin cycle. It hit the stream, and a geyser of putrid liquid shot twenty feet high before raining onto her. She squealed, her skin sizzling as the droplets hit her, the distraction enough to make her lose her grip on me.
Acid rain wasn’t what I’d been going for, but the end result worked out just fine…ish. I fell the remaining ten feet, my body crumpling with the impact, but I managed to right myself and face her like the strong elemental witch I was.
Her eye twitched as her burns healed. Apparently, Lucifer had granted her a speed-healing ability when he’d dragged her from the pits of despair. Fabulous.
“You don’t have to do this. I’m not a threat to you.” I raised my hands and activated my persuasion magic. “I have no desire to join Lucifer’s court. I swear.”
She blinked, my magic making her consider my words. “Then why are you here?”
“I came to rescue my parents. A demon tricked them. I just want to take them home.”
Seraphine laughed, and I glanced up at the commotion of the warring demons above. Discord jabbed a knife into Bedlam’s gut, but the hunter shoved him, pushing him over the edge. He tumbled down, landing on another shelf ten feet above us.
“Why is that funny?” I asked, keeping her focus on me.
“Because you can’t escape Hell. No mortal can.” She looked at me like I’d grown a second head.
“Right. Not without Lucifer’s blessing, but I’m sure Hec—” I stopped myself from finishing the goddess’s name. Mentioning her nearly got me killed last time. “I’m sure he’ll give it to me. I can be very persuasive.”
She laughed harder. “Even if you could persuade him, he literally can’t help you. Not without the amulet that your boyfriend lost.” She reached behind her back for her crossbow.
“What do you mean?” I laid my magic on as thickly as possible, demanding she return her full attention to me. “What does the amulet have to do with it?”
“If I tell you, I’ll have to kill you.”
“Aren’t you planning to do that anyway?” My muscles tightened, and I shifted my weight, preparing to either attack or run. I wasn’t sure which.
She notched an arrow and pulled back the string. “He demanded a sacrifice from Hecate to prove her devotion, so she demanded one from him.”
“Eyes on me,” I said, daring to push my magic further into the gray. “What did they sacrifice?”
She snapped her gaze to mine, unable to fight my command.
“Lucifer gave up the ability to send beings across the veil. The only way a creature from this realm can cross is if they are summoned. Weaker entities can still slip through rifts, but he can no longer send anyone…including a witch…to the other side.”
My stomach sank. “And Hecate?”
Her lip curled. “She gave up her power of resurrection, promising never to take a soul from Lucifer’s domain. Both their powers now reside in the amulet. Without it, you’re stuck here, and I’m not about to give up my chance at the throne.”
She lifted her crossbow, and I charged. The arrow hit my hair, ripping a chunk from the roots before lodging in the wall behind me. She already had another in her hand, ready to reload, when I sank my shoulder into her stomach and tackled her.
The crossbow skidded across the rocks, and the arrow clattered to the ground. She shoved me off and scrambled for it, but I grabbed it first and stood, raising it toward her.
She clambered to her feet. “Hoarfrost isn’t poisonous to air witches.”
“Maybe not, but arrows still hurt like a mother.” I lunged and sank the tip deep into her shoulder.
She stumbled backward and yanked it out, blood spouting from the wound as she chucked it to the ground. “You bitch!”
“Come on now. That’s not a very girl power insult.” I grabbed a knife from my thigh holster and circled her. “Hit an artery, didn’t it? You might want to put pressure on that before you bleed out.”
She raised her hands, and a gust of wind whipped toward me. I leaned into it, planting my feet in a wide stance and bracing myself against the assault. As long as she didn’t reverse it and suck the life out of me again, I could give her a run for her money.
I plowed forward, a knife in one hand, fire dancing just below the surface of the other. Gravel rained from the ledge above, and Discord grunted, his foot slipping over the edge. Seraphine clapped, and the gale-force wind I was leaning into dissipated in an instant.
I stumbled forward, catching myself on my hands. Skin ripped from my palms, and searing pain pulsed through them. “Son of a banshee!”
Scrambling to my feet, I shot a stream of fire toward her, burning a hole in her shirt and scorching her stomach. She groaned and countered me with wind, pushing my flames toward me until we looked like characters from a video game, equally matched.
“I really don’t want to kill you.” I strained, pushing my fire harder against her air. “My sisters are on the other side of the veil. They can find the amulet and make things right.”
“Right? And give that bitch of a goddess a place by Lucifer’s side? Not a chance.” She forced the wind toward me, gaining distance in our elemental standoff.
“All I want is to find my parents and go home.”
“All I want is your head on a stake.”
I glanced at the ledge above. Discord’s fist connected with Bedlam’s jaw. The hunter lunged, and they both tumbled, landing at our feet with grunts and groans. The distraction was enough for me to dart left, out of the wind stream, and barrel into Seraphine, shoving her with everything I had.
She landed on her butt at the river’s edge and scrambled toward the crossbow. Bedlam turned his fingers into talons and slashed at Discord, ripping his stomach open. My demon fell. Bedlam pinned him to the ground.
Seraphine grabbed her crossbow and notched an arrow, aiming at my chest. Bedlam lifted his taloned hand above Discord’s chest.