It could be another trick, Amara said.

I’ll let Kai worry about them, Sera decided. Let’s do something about that portal.

The portal was growing. It wouldn’t be long before the opening was large enough for the demon to pass through. Sera blasted it, trying to break its magic. The portal swallowed up her magic and belched. Shit.

“The world will worship me, Serafina Dering,” Alden declared.

“You actually want them to summon the demons,” she realized. This wasn’t just about scooping up the remaining Magic Council members.

“Everyone will see the Council fail this day. They will see the Council has betrayed everyone by summoning demons. And I will be the savior to banish them back to hell.”

“After the demons do a little damage, of course,” Olivia added, bouncing in place beside her master. Her shrill, high-pitched laugh cut through the air like a hot knife.

“You will not be able to stop all of the demons,” Sera told Alden.

“I will,” he replied with perfect confidence. “I am more powerful than you can possibly imagine.”

I guess the gloves are off. He isn’t even trying to pretend anymore.

Let’s take our gloves off too, Amara said.

You are not wooed by flowers and kind words, Sera, another voice said inside of her head. A foreign voice. Alden’s voice. You are wooed by strength. I should have realized that before. You chose Drachenburg after all. See my strength. Feel it.

He unleashed his magic. The shockwave of raw power knocked the air out of Sera’s lungs. She fell to her knees, cringing under the onslaught. He was so powerful like this—his magic unmasked, unpacked—more powerful than she’d ever realized. The blast had knocked Alex back too, but she jumped up to her feet, throwing up a new barrier against the mist.

The demons were coming. Sera could feel it, that disgusting stench slithering against her senses. Rot. Burning. Decay. Desolation. She had to stop them. She sprinted for the barrier.

“You cannot win,” Alden told her. “Feel my power.”

“You feel mine,” Sera snarled.

Then she jumped at the hole between realms. She pushed out with every ounce of magic she had to seal the hole. The barrier crackled with purple lightning. A furious chorus of inhuman cries echoed off the rim of the portal as the emerging demons were all pushed back. Their hideously blistered bodies flew off into the depths of hell, their entrance to earth denied.

But as the portal closed, its magic latched onto Sera, sucking her into hell.

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

The Seventh Circle of Hell

SERA WAS IN hell. She felt slow, her limbs heavy, her body smothered in the harsh heat of this unearthly realm. The air was thick with ash and the stench of decay. She moved her hand across her face. The movement streaked, melting into the red-cast world of fire and shadows.

A weird, deafening echo drummed inside of her ears. And also in her magic, which was gurgling, gasping for breath as though it were being choked to death. It puffed out in ragged beats, not reaching her. This place was leeching away her magic. In this realm, she was weak. Vulnerable.

Sera stumbled to the side and threw up. The pounding inside her head was making it hard to concentrate. She couldn’t think. She could barely walk, her balance thrown off like something really big and hard had smashed into her head. She staggered around, looking for the portal that led back home. She had to use her eyes. Her magic had gone too crazy to track anything. It was bouncing around like a jack-in-the-box on a trampoline, echoing in every direction.

Her step faltered, but someone caught her before she fell. Sera looked up into Naomi’s twinkling blue eyes.

“You’re…here.” Sera could barely talk. Her tongue was swollen, her tastebuds burning from the ash and sulfur in the air.

“Sorry I couldn’t make it sooner,” Naomi said, giving her hand a squeeze. “Makani and I were in the spirit realm, developing my powers. It’s easy to lose track of time. Days pass, even weeks.”

“You stay here…for weeks?”

“Not so deep as here. You’re in the seventh circle of hell.”

Sera pointed at a few of the shadowy forms playing hide-and-go-seek behind the blackened bushes. “People?”

Naomi shook her head. “There aren’t many people here. Usually, it’s only the really bad people who end up this deep in hell. But there are a lot of demons here. And spirits and ghosts too. If you get lost, they will sometimes help you. Or trick you if they’re the naughty sort.”

“How can you tell…if they’re the naughty sort?”

“You can’t always tell. But,” she said, smiling. “I’m here. You don’t need them.”

“Council summoned…demons.”

Naomi nodded. “I felt the rupture in the veils. I could sense the ripples of dragon magic when you were drawn in, and I came here as fast as I could.” She started walking with Sera, supporting her. “We have to get you out of here before this place drains you of all your magic. Your body is fighting the drain so far.”

Sera leaned over and threw up again.

“But it’s only a matter of time before your magic fails,” Naomi said. “I’m going to get you out of here before that happens. The portal is still open, but it’s closing fast.”

“Can’t you…take me out?”

“No, I’m not really here, not all of me. I don’t yet have the power to send all of myself here or to make a passage to earth for you. So I sent my mind to find you, to help you find the open portal.”