Chapter 42

Chapter

Forty-Two

Crusher

M y focus switches from the oncoming hoard of—of whatever they are—onto Ana, who seems too terrified to act. If she doesn't act soon, I'll grab the sword myself, and spare Phil's body the humiliation of being ripped apart by that dragon—or whatever's coming.

But Ana is brave. And she knows how important this is to our world, and if I kill the demon, Phil has no chance.

Part of me refuses to believe what Ember told me. I'm still holding on to the small hope Phil might survive. From the moment we arrived in this realm, I could have overpowered Ana and forced her straight back through the portal. It would have been easy once the dragon trapped Phil.

But I believe in Ana.

"You can do this," I tell her. "You're a warrior, Ana. My brave warrior."

Ana's chest expands as she raises the sword, aiming its tip over Phil's liver. He thrashes, fighting under the dragon's hold, and so I hold his legs to help her aim.

The anguish in Ana's eyes breaks my heart, but determination comes over her, and then she looks into Phil's eyes as she drops her weight onto the sword to impale him.

"No!" Leaving the sword stuck through his liver, she backs away from Phil's body.

"Well done," shouts the rider. "Now, leave the way you came! No one with a pure heart can survive in this place."

With a rush of warm air, the dragon rises, somehow avoiding knocking us off the plateau, and Rosomon and Zogar fly toward the barrier they came through.

Ana falls to her knees next to Phil, cradling his head in her hands. "What have I done?"

Phil shows no signs of life.

"Ana." I rest my hand on her shoulder. "We need to leave. Now."

The horde is approaching. The temperature has dropped. The air even tastes different. Foul. It's difficult to make out the creatures' shapes from this distance, but my imagination fills in the gaps, using every depiction I've seen of demons and other evil creatures.

"Pull out the sword!" Ana looks up at me, as if I'm barbaric, as if it was me who stabbed Phil.

I pull it out, laying it beside him. But he still doesn't move. And while my senses don't work well here, I can't hear his heart beating.

"He's gone, Ana. You and I need to leave. Now!"

She shakes her head. "I won't leave him. He'll heal. He can survive this."

Shrieks fill the air, and Ana raises her hands to cover her ears. The creatures are gaining on our position. Turning to my last resort, I pull out a syringe of colloidal silver and inject it into the vein in her throat.

Ana spins toward me, her sense of betrayal clear in her eyes, but then she slumps to the side. Catching her, I gather her into my arms and rush toward the portal.

Holding her folded over my shoulder, I descend, grateful that we fit. I'll have to be very careful so that her head won't bang against the tunnel wall behind us.

Just before my eyesight drops below the surface, I stop. Can I carry them both?

Closing my eyes, I steel my heart against the idea. There is no way I can carry both out of here, and Ana is my priority. She's still alive, and I love her with all my heart.

After taking a few dozen rungs, I change strategies. This is too slow.

Taking her off my shoulder, I hold her tightly against me with one arm. Then I drop, letting my free hand skim along the ladder rungs to make sure we stay on course, and so I can grab on to one to pull the emergency break if needed.

The utter darkness is astounding. I've been a vampire for so long and have never experienced blackness like this. An utter void to all of my senses.

I feel our descent slow.

Taking hold of a rung, I hang until my feet find purchase, and start to climb.

I'm halfway there. Approximately another three thousand and sixty-two steps to go, if my count was accurate on the way down.

Ana stirs in my arms, and I consider stopping to give her another shot of silver. She's so tiny I didn't want to give her more than necessary, even though I prepared the syringe with enough to take Phil down too.

She struggles in my arms, pounds on my chest. I suspect she's yelling at me, but I can't hear anything in this void, and so I continue to climb as quickly as I can, rising three rungs at a time. The best I can do with one arm.

Miraculously, a faint light appears above, but I still can't see her expression. She's given up and is sobbing, with her head against my chest, her arms around me.

"Let me go back!" Her cries become audible when we're near the top. "I want to stay with his body. If he's dead, I want to die too. Please, Crusher. Please."

Still climbing, I shake my head.

"Crusher, you once said you loved me. If you love me at all, you'll do this for me. If you don't let me go back, I will never, ever forgive you."

I look into her eyes and my heart shatters. I thought it was broken before, but I had no idea what broken feels like. I keep climbing.

Above us, Ember's face appears, filled with joy that I've brought Ana back.

I hoist her up and out of the hole, staying just inside.

"Get out," Ember says. "I need to seal it."

I don't move.

"I feel evil building on the other side." Ember's eyes fill with urgency. "I need to seal this portal. Now!"

"Move!" Ana grabs for my shoulders. "I'm going back. Even if he's dead, we can't leave him behind with those monsters!"

"No, my brave warrior," I tell her. "You've done your part."

Releasing the rungs, I drop, trusting Ember to use her magic, if needed, to keep Ana in Paris where she belongs.