I grabbed her hand, admiring the gold band that lay on her wedding finger.
“Oh, it’s so lovely!” I sighed happily. “I’m so glad—you’re a perfect match, aren’t you? He’s the only man I think I’ve ever seen stand up to you,” I teased.
“Shut up.” She grinned. “But yeah, pretty much. He’s a good influence on me…and I’m crazy about him,” she added shyly.
I laughed out loud. I’d never seen Ruby come even close to shy. “Wow—are you blushing?”
She tutted at me, shoving my foot away.
“It makes the waiting worse,” she replied eventually, all traces of good humor gone. “The fact that he almost died—I don’t know…It makes everything seem so fragile. Like you can be so completely happy, and then…”
“Don’t think about it,” I replied quietly, not letting on that it was pretty much the same thing I’d been thinking all evening.
She nodded. “I know. How do you think the boys and Yelena are getting on?”
“Field said they were doing okay. I just worry about them being in the forest at night. Mom and Dad are worried too, but at least they have the Hawk boys, Ridan, Aisha and Horatio with them. I just hope they find the jinn soon.”
“Do you think they’re still here?” Ruby asked. “I mean really? Don’t you think it’s strange that they’ve stayed away all this time—through the red rains, the ice fires, the earthquakes…If they wanted to help, surely they would have done something by now?”
“I know,” I replied. “That’s what I think. If they are here, maybe they don’t want to help. But then it might just be a case of forcing them to.”
“GASP can be pretty persuasive.” Ruby smirked.
There was another knock on the door. We both jumped up as my mom’s head appeared around the door.
“Lucas has just come through the barriers—hurry.”
We ran, following my mom down the stairs, all the other GASP members coming out of their rooms and joining us in total silence as we hurried to hear the verdict. Lucas reached the entrance doors before we did, Ash by his side.
“It’s not great news,” Lucas burst out, holding his hands up for silence, anticipating the flood of questions that would be coming his way. “Ghouls have arrived through the portal—including a ghoul queen that Ben recognized.”
I looked at Ruby.
Why are ghouls coming to join the entity?
“Not only that, but the entity has taken over Hellswan castle—sort of. I’ll explain the details later,” Lucas continued. “It’s also watching us. Right now it knows about every move we make…and has since the beginning. The others are still by the cove—we’re still waiting for the right moment to get to the portal, but the shadow’s been hovering over it constantly. It’s going to be difficult to get close, but it won’t be impossible.”
“What can we do?” my mom asked.
“Be ready,” Lucas replied. “We might need to go into battle again at a moment’s notice. Until then, just keep the barriers secure. Has there been any more news from the boys?”
Ruby and I shook our heads.
“Not since Field left.”
“Okay.” Lucas nodded. “Get your weapons ready—ministers and guards too,” he added to Ash. “We’ll send the dragons when we need back-up.”
I blinked and he was gone.
“I guess we get ready then,” Ruby murmured to me. “Shall we check the armory, see if there’s anything else we can bring?”
“Good idea,” I agreed.
Most of the weapons down there were infused with the immortal waters. If we were going to go to battle again, I wanted more than just the dagger—as awesome as it was.
“I’m thinking arrows,” I mused out loud.
“I’m thinking a mace,” Ruby replied.
“Old school.”
“Yeah, I’m going medieval on the entity’s ass this time. Enough is enough.”
I couldn’t have agreed more.
Derek
We joined the warlock and the rest of our party by the cliff edge. They had followed a row of jagged rock around the cove, taking them closer to the portal.
“Why haven’t they attacked?” Ibrahim asked, as soon as he saw us.
“No idea,” I replied. “Maybe they just don’t see us as a threat right now…or the armies are playing with us—biding their time.”
Not knowing the answer to that made me uncomfortable. I wasn’t entirely sure what our next move should be—whether it would be sensible to leave, or continue to wait for an opportunity to get down to the portal. If the entity was underestimating us, perhaps in its arrogance, it might provide us with a chance.