“You feel real.”

“I have substance here, yes. But I do not have all my magic.”

She leaned Sera against a rock, then quickly pivoted around to shoot an arrow at a jumping beast. The creature dropped dead to the ground. Whatever it was, it didn’t look friendly, not even in death.

“I have a lot of my powers.” Naomi punched one hand out, shooting Fairy Dust out of it in a rapid firing pattern at a swarm of tiny black insects. They shivered up and fell out of the sky. “But I can’t make portals, not without being all the way here. So we need to get you to that portal.” She helped Sera up again. “If it closes, I won’t be able to get you out. Not until I learn to bring my whole self this deep in the spirit realm. And I don’t know how long that will take. Can you run?”

“No,” Sera said, but she started moving her feet faster, breaking into a run even as her stomach gurgled in protest. It was empty, but that didn’t mean she couldn’t still throw up.

“Good girl.”

They kept running, Naomi carrying half of her weight. Sera’s feet slipped and slid. It felt like she was running over slick plastic grass, not a ground made of rocks. But she just concentrated on her legs—on moving them as fast as she could. That was all that mattered.

She pushed away thoughts of what was happening back in that casino basement. Kai, Alex, Riley, the others… She couldn’t think about them now, about what Alden was doing to them. She had to get out of here. She had to get to them. She pushed herself to run faster, punching through the pain exploding inside of her head.

Naomi led them past monsters, blasting them away with powerful spells of Fairy Dust. Sera did her part by not tripping onto her face and blacking out. Naomi’s Dust was blinding here, so powerful, so beautiful. But even as strong as she was in the spirit realm, she couldn’t fight everything alone. The monsters kept coming. A deep, dark growled echoed across the red sky.

“What was that?” Sera asked.

Naomi paled. “A demon. They don’t like it when people escape their domain.”

She pointed at the portal. It was a tiny tear, a sliver of silver light in the red and black murk of hell.

“Go. I’ll hold off the demon until you are away.”

She didn’t wait for an answer. She just shoved Sera through the barrier. A wild ripple snapped across her, again and again, like magic was flapping against her body at high speeds. Then something ripped, and she landed on the floor of the Fairy Dust Casino basement.

Sera jumped up—and immediately fell back down. The second time, she rose more slowly, using her hands for support. She looked around. The room was devoid of life. The Council members were scattered across the floor, every one of them dead. A few of Alden’s people lay amongst them. Sera didn’t spot any of Kai’s allies. She didn’t see anyone else at all. How long had it been since she’d disappeared?

Sera stumbled in shuffled steps across the room to the elevators. She saw no one. Felt no one. Had Alden managed to sway them all? Or capture them? She fell against the wall of the elevator, coming eye-to-eye with the painting of a haughty young mage. He looked a lot like Alden. She slapped her palm onto his face, using the wall for support as she reached for the button to bring her back up.

Upstairs, the casino floor was as lifeless as the basement. No one was around. The overhead lights were all still on, though. She blinked rapidly, trying to clear her splotchy vision. She made her way toward the exit, stumbling and slipping like a drunk person.

She didn’t feel Alden anywhere. Sera sensed for Kai, trying to find him. Nothing. That trip through hell had turned her magic upside down, and it still hadn’t righted itself.

I’ll help you, Amara said.

Thanks.

Together, they managed to scrounge up enough magic to track down Riley. He stood beside the commandos, across the street from the casino. They were wounded. And they weren’t the only ones. Dal waved his hands over their injuries, sealing them with magic. Past them, Alex and Logan stood amongst another group of Kai’s allies, dousing them with can after can of healing spray. Alex and Logan each had blood on their skin, but no noticeable cuts. Their bodies must have already healed.

Alex turned, her blue eyes staring across the dark expanse. Relief washed across her face, and she ran toward Sera, catching her. “What happened to you?”

“I got sucked into hell.”

“You’ve been gone for hours.”

It had felt like minutes. The most agonizing minutes of her life, moments that had seemed to stretch out forever. But hours? Could it have been that long? Hell certainly had messed with her mind. She hadn’t been able to sense anything there, not even time.

Sera touched a splatter of blood on Alex’s head. “You got hurt.”

“All healed. Don’t worry about me.”

Alex was getting stronger every day, her body and magic boosted by her bond with Logan. So why didn’t Alden want her? She was the more powerful sister.

“How did you get out?” Alex asked her.

“Naomi found me. She helped me escape.”

But had Naomi managed to save herself?

She was in her element there, Amara said.

But did she get out before that demon caught up with her?

Yes.

How do you know? Sera asked.

Because I know Naomi. She’s as stubborn as you are. She wouldn’t let a stupid demon keep her from her man.

Sera looked around at the army. They were all there, all except for…