Fallen Academy: Year Two (Fallen Academy #2)(30)

My glare cut into Lincoln and he winced. “Last night, Noah scanned you and discovered that, so… I don’t know if it’s worth it, Bri.”

Screw that. Sera was family just as much as Shea or my mom was.

Reaching up, I unclipped the necklace. “She’s worth it. I’d do the same for you,” I informed him curtly.

His face fell as I set the necklace into his hand.

The moment my fingers released the chain, I felt a surge of energy buzz up along my spine and wrap around my heart, pinching it in a viselike grip. I gasped, short of breath for a moment.

Lincoln stepped closer, pressing in on me. “Oh God, what’s wrong?”

I glared at him, then slowly turned to stare at all of them. “I’m going to kill you all.” Venom dripped from my voice.

One by one, their faces dropped. Noah actually took a step back.

I couldn’t hold it in any longer. Laughter burst out of me and I keeled forward, holding my stomach.

“Something’s not right with her,” Nora told the room.

Lincoln’s chest fell as he sighed in relief. “That wasn’t funny.”

Shea snickered. “It kind of was.”

“Are we doing this or not?” Nora snapped, holding the glowing crystal in her hand.

I nodded. Whatever weirdness I’d felt when I took the necklace off was gone now.

I was getting Sera no matter what.

“I’m fine. I feel fine. It’s all good. Let’s do this.” I tried to push reassurance into my voice, but Lincoln’s face still held concern.

Shea started to work on the portal as Nora took two paces toward me. “This might hurt a bit,” she declared and then slammed the crystal onto my chest, right over my tattoo.

Pain flared to life where the crystal touched me, and then a massive headache rocked my world. My hands flew to my skull as I moaned.

“Why?” I grunted.

Nora released the crystal, the purple magic had left the rock, and was now dancing around my body in whirls. “It’s reconnecting your bond, which was somewhat severed when your weapon was tossed into another realm,” she informed me.

Lincoln’s hand came up to rub my back, and I tried to work through the ice pick that was stabbing my brain.

I was just about to ask how long it would last when the pain lessened, and I heard something.

‘Bri!’

Joy ripped through my body as I nearly cried in relief. ‘Sera! I’m here!’ I told her.

“The portal is almost ready,” Shea stated.

“I’m talking to her!” I shouted.

A few raised their eyebrows, but I didn’t care if I looked crazy. I was freaking talking to Sera! I hadn’t realized how lonely I was for her companionship, until I heard her voice in my head.

‘It’s bad down here. Everything smells awful,’ Sera lamented.

Laughter bubbled up in chest, and now I was really getting some crazy looks, even from Lincoln.

‘You don’t have a nose,’ I reminded her.

Shea had started to open the portal. As she did, I saw a desolate landscape come into view.

Oh God.

I’d never peered into Hell. I mean, the one time Shea opened the portal in the training room, it was in the floor and I’d been too focused on the demons crawling out to notice anything. Then when Lucifer came through, he’d done so within a building, so I’d only seen a wall. The Succubus had opened one in the sky and all I’d seen was smoke, but this… this was my first view of Hell in all its horrific nature.

‘Where are you?’ I breathed as my eyes swept over the hordes of demons that passed before us. We seemed to be in some alleyway between two crumbling buildings, and the stench of sulfur and oil was nauseating.

‘I’m a cactus,’ she exclaimed.

My brow burrowed. ‘Excuse me?’

Was she drunk? Was it possible for her to get drunk? She could smell, so probably.

Maybe I was drunk.

‘I’ve been using all my power to morph myself into a cactus, so one of these cesspools doesn’t pick me up and sell me.’

My eyes widened. ‘You can do that?’

‘Hurry, I can’t hold it much longer. I’d nearly given up hope.’

For three weeks she’s been draining her magic to appear as a cactus?

I needed to focus before one of the passing demons noticed us. I couldn’t see any cacti nearby, but I figured Michael’s retrieval spell would still work.

Taking a deep breath, I felt for Sera’s energy, but nothing happened.

‘I can’t feel you,’ I told her with panic.

‘I don’t think that will work here.’

“Can you do the retrieval spell?” I asked the Light Mage, who seemed lost in concentration.

Nora growled and shook her head. “It’s not working. Her energy is different. You’re going to have to call her to you.”

Dammit. Could it be because she was a cactus? But if she dropped her illusion and was suddenly a shiny dagger on the ground, the demons might pick her up.

I closed my eyes and tried again, pulling at my Celestial magic, which felt a thousand miles away right then.

Then realization hit me in the gut. My Sera retrieval was a Celestial light gift, and when I’d taken off my necklace, it had forced the darkness to rear up.