To Hell and Back by L.B. Gilbert
Chapter Forty-Nine
Are they back?Sanaa texted.
Thomas sighed. Not yet, he typed back, his big fingers introducing several misspellings. It was the sixth or seventh time his mate had asked.
He’d been sitting in front of this hole in the world for hours, and each second had been agony. It was wrong, this opening. Being in front of it was flipping every switch he had.
A nightmare of images played out in the big screen of his mind. In it, he saw a horde of demons pouring out of the door, ready to attack and kill everything in sight.
He’d known Rhys said anonymity was more important than brute force when it came to the doorway, but one guard on each side wasn’t enough.
I should have called my old army unit. He would have felt better with that elite team of black-ops shifters at his back.
He wanted nothing more than to smash that little jar and slam the door shut, but he knew he couldn’t. Despite their pompous bluster, the Draconai were good men, Rhys in particular. He deserved his fucking happily ever after. And despite the fact that Valeria had thrown Lanaa off a three-story building, Thomas liked the clan leader’s witch. She didn’t deserve to be dragged to the hellish place his wife had described.
“We must bring her back,” Sanaa had told him with tears in her eyes. “No one must ever be abandoned in that terrible place.”
So, Thomas had promised to do his part and guard the door. But he almost changed his mind and broke the jar prematurely when the wind blasted out of the opening, knocking him on his ass.
It had come out of nowhere. One minute, he’d been sitting on his haunches next to the circle and that poor dead witch. The next, he’d been flat on the ground. Only his excellent reflexes had saved him from accidentally smashing the jar.
Thomas jumped to his feet, tucking the jar into the inside pocket of his jacket. He’d been ready to do battle.
“Who’s there?” he challenged.
But no one answered. He was alone. Damn it. Had it been a demon? Naveen had said they could discard their bodies and jump into this plane without them.
“Shit,” Thomas added. What else could it have been?
Then Jerik poked his head out of the doorway. “Did you see them?”
“Them? It was more than one demon?”
“I’m not sure it was a demon—it was a woman. And some guy.”
Thomas drew his head back. “I didn’t see or smell anyone. There was just wind.”
Jerik frowned. “It’s my fault they got through me, but I’m fairly sure it wasn’t demons. I think it was an Elemental.”
The dreaded big E. Thomas wanted more of an explanation, but Jerik’s head disappeared back through the door and he wasn’t about to follow him to demand it.
Scowling, he turned back to the circle and almost had a heart attack. The wind had knocked the witch’s body from a sitting position to the side.
Wincing, he took the jar out of his pocket and set it down before picking his way through the circle.
Thomas took off his jacket, then laid it over the top half of Ravenna’s body. She was so small that it covered her like a blanket. Yeah, she was a kidnapper and had been more on the side of the black than the white, but he still felt sorry for her.
Too many mistakes for one life, and one big one so early. Passing a hand over his eyes, he sat down to wait, vowing never to let his life get to that point.
Except you’re not a kid anymore. And his path had been set in stone when he met Sanaa. As long as he had her, Thomas would have few regrets when he met his maker. Whoever the hell that was.
Angels, demons—all the things his grandparents had taught him—were out the window now.
Just roll with the punches, and do this so your mate is happy and your kids are safe. As far as he was concerned, that was the most anyone could ask of him.
An hour later, Rhys popped out of the door, barking orders.
Thomas took one look at the unconscious witch in the dragon’s arms and leaped to his feet. He handed the jar to the next dragon through the door, then ran to get the car.
In the end, he didn’t know which Drak closed the portal to hell, just that it was done by the time he got back.