Page 15 of Crimson Skies

The air shivered above Theo. His head snapped up.

A point of darkness was growing rapidly above him.

“Shit,” Jasper snarled. “Is that a portal?”

“That’s not a normal rift,” Reuben warned.

Theo’s stomach curdled at the sight of a hellish landscape and the horde of macabre figures with leathery wings and sharp claws filling it. Heat filled his belly.

“Suspend!”

The war demons about to dive through the doorway from the Hells stilled inches from the frozen opening. Power surged through Theo’s veins and lit up the room on a wave of light that brought with it the scent of summer.

“Return to your realm!”

The war demons screeched at his divine command, his godly radiance burning their eyes as they were forced to retreat inside their ghastly prison. Theo ignored their cries and focused on closing the portal. Something resisted him.

Dread chilled him to the bone when he tasted Elios’s darkness within the rift. He caught movement out of the corner of his eye.

The wall of earth Jasper raised deflected the spell bombs streaking through the empty window frames toward him. The demon extended his wings and took flight, his crimson gaze finding the group of cloaked figures floating outside the building.

Something blurred behind him.

“Jasper!” Charlie shouted, alarmed.

Reuben’s sword clanged against the staff of the hooded man about to strike his demon lover in the back. The force of the impact had the angel cursing and bracing his wings. Sparks danced where their weapons met.

“Go,” Reuben told Jasper in a hard voice. “We’ll take care of him!”

The demon scowled at his attacker before dipping his head at Reuben. He glanced at Charlie. “Be careful.” He headed out to confront the sorcerers. “Let’s dance, assholes!”

The man Reuben had engaged lunged toward Theo. Charlie’s magic sparked the air around the attacker, enfolding his body in a thicket of twisted branches and prickly vines that locked his limbs and staff in place.

Theo turned his attention back to the portal, grateful for the precious time the enchanter had just bought him. The rift fought back before shrinking foot by tortuous foot. He clenched his jaw.

There was no way the God of Darkness could completely overpower the divine strength of the Master of Dimensional Portals.

He gasped when the doorway finally vanished, his pulse racing from the effort it had taken to overcome Elios’s corruption. Distant shouts rose through the Cabalista headquarters as it came under attack.

Theo climbed to his feet.

“You’ll be safe inside this barrier,” the demigod told Rosemary grimly.

The secretary nodded behind the golden shield protecting her, her expression resolute despite her ashen face.

Delphine Mercier, Victor’s second-in-command, and Levi Donatio, another senior demon in Cabalista, rushed inside the office, their Stark Steel swords drawn. They staggered to a stop when they saw the destruction around them.

Levi stared at the thick grove that had taken root in the middle of the room. “What the—?!”

“Stay back,” Reuben warned.

A ghastly crimson light pierced the prison of tangled boughs holding their enemy prisoner. Sweat beaded Charlie’s brow.

The enchanter was struggling to maintain the spell he’d cast.

Vines creaked and wood snapped. Charlie panted and swayed as his magic finally broke, releasing the hooded man. Reuben landed in front of the enchanter, his blade firm in his grip as he assumed a defensive stance.

Theo brought forth the Spear of Light. He stared at the bright red veins embedded in the black staff their attacker held. The ominous lines reeked of a foul power as they pulsed under the surface of the dark wood.

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