Page 73 of Hex
“All clear. Seeing as you’re coming with me, you could lead the way to Danika’s room.” I step aside for Slay to walk ahead, and he comfortably takes the lead as he always does in heavy situations.
Pierce and I follow in silence, knowing that one wrong move could put us all back in the dungeon. I don’t know exactly how Dei Rafi captured both Slay and Pierce, but I’m sure we’ll have time to talk about all of that when we’re not sneaking around.
“It’s the door at the end of the hall, but it’s guarded with djinn magic. Impossible to penetrate without killing the djinn responsible.” Slay waves his arm toward the large, looming black door, as if he hasn’t just given me the most amazing information.
Danika is behind that door.
That’s all I need to know.
Running down the dark hall, I ignore everything around me and focus on the black separating me from my best friend. I bang on the door as loud as I can, throwing myself against it when the handle remains motionless.
“Danika! It’s me! Are you in there?”
“Oh shit, Sage? Is that really you?” Her sweet voice is hoarser than usual, but it still brings a tear to my eye and relief floods me. She’s really here.
“Yeah, babe. It’s really me. Does the door open from your side?” I keep struggling with the handle but it doesn’t budge.
“No. Dei Rafi is the only one who can come and go. Please tell me you’re here to help.”
“Why does he come and go, Dan? What’s he been doing to you?” I pause for a second, disgusting thoughts running through my mind until I push them away. Thinking of Danika being hurt makes me feel the same way as I do about Hack.
Vengeful.
“Who’s trespassing in my domain?” The big, booming voice comes with a woosh of wind, easily blowing me to the marbled floor.
“Sage, you have to run. Get out of here. Tell Desdemon, he’ll save me.” Danika’s panicked tone is unusual for her, she’s the more upbeat one of the two of us.
“I’m not leaving here without you!” I stand and turn to Slay. “You said I need to kill the djinn responsible to free the magic on this door?”
His dark eyes widen and he shakes his head. “No, Sage. Rafi is a djinn, yes, but he is also a Dei. There are consequences likely leading to a permanent death. For you.”
He barely has time to finish before a giant djinn rounds the corner.
“You.” The single word from Rafi is a threat and a promise, all rolled into one.
He points his long green finger in my direction, the dark green hair on his head flying all over as he speeds closer.
I don’t care what Slay said, this djinn needs to die. This is the closest anyone has been to saving Danika, I can’t leave her now. Plus, I pretty much guarantee that this green fucker had a lot to do with what happened to Hack. And me…and Saffron. I have no idea why, but it all seems to lead back to this guy. Except the gorgons and lamia belong to the Dei of Monsters, not the spirits.
That’s a future me thing to deal with. For now me has a djinn to kill.
Drawing on every single slice of hatred inside me, I picture the threads of magic running through my body. I was too late last time, Hack had been stabbed before I blew everything up, but this time I’m not pulling my magical punches.
Gotta say, I’m glad to have Slay and Pierce here as back up, but I don’t want to be responsible for them getting hurt too.
I’m emitting total badass energy vibes, but whether my skill level is up to par or not is yet to be seen. You only fail if you stop trying, and I’m never going to stop trying to kill this Dei.
“You.” I mirror back his word, throwing balls of fire at him as the heat ramps up in my stomach. My head starts pounding, my vision turning white as I picture the Dei in a green heap of ashes. It’s taking a lot of energy, but the world seems to have paused around me, everything moving in slow motion.
The Dei’s snarl is coming straight at me and he leaps with a glinting blade in his palm, but as he gets too close, he bouncesfrom my protective bubble. I have figured out how to make it invisible to the naked eye. Handy for exactly this occasion.
My concentration is fully focused on the djinn and I push forward, his slo-mo features twisting and turning.
Until…
His face begins to expand, the rest of his body, too, right before he explodes into a thousand pieces, green skin and guts flying everywhere.
“Huh…I thought that was going be a lot harder than that.” The clicking of the door behind us has me swiveling around. Tears freefall as soon as I see her.
