“Hope this was worth it,” he said. “Time to lay low for the next ten years again.”
Eva pushed herself up into a sitting position. “Yeah,” she said. “I hope it works.”
For a moment, a silence fell over the three. Until a grunt from Wayne shattered the peace.
“Now quit moping around, Spencer. Get these damn masks off us and go get Ward out of Hell.”
Eva jumped at his voice. She shot him a glare, but nodded. Both of their masks melted off their faces after Eva fingered her dagger.
“I’ll add Serena’s blood to the wards before,” she trailed off as she glanced at the obelisk. Her eyes flicked up to meet with Zoe’s. “It’s heavy. Even for me. I might need help.”
“I can levitate it, at least partially.” Zoe didn’t hesitate in her response. She could almost imagine the thoughts going through Eva’s mind.
“Great,” Wayne said. His tone was almost sarcastic and he spoke with a frown, but he didn’t say anything more about her going to Hell again.
“I’ll bring Serena in five minutes. Be finished by then.” Without waiting for an acknowledgment, Wayne vanished with a burst of cold air.
“Better get started,” Eva said with a sigh as she climbed to her feet. “I hope Nel finished with that salt.”
Split
Shalise jumped to her feet, ready for another attack. Lynn was at her side in an instant.
It was somewhat off-putting. Lynn’s lightning and fire was far more effective at dealing with the enigmas than anything Shalise could put out. Sure, her muscles were strong and afforded her a certain level of toughness that she would otherwise lack, but not a single one of the creatures had actually made it within grappling range since Eva had brought along Lynn.
She shouldn’t be complaining, but Lynn just looked so exhausted. Dealing with the constant attacks kept her from having a proper sleep schedule.
This time, however, both women sagged in relief as they spotted just who it was approaching the alternate women’s ward.
Zoe and Eva were walking slowly, carrying something heavy between the two of them.
“She actually got it,” Lynn mused under her breath. “I half expected to never see her again.”
Shalise gave Lynn a frown, but didn’t respond. She threw open the door to the women’s ward and ran out across the closed trap doors to see if she could help out in any way. They were carrying her salvation, supposedly.
Shaking her head with a frown, Shalise shot a mental glare at Prax. She was fairly certain that she
“Sounds like you’re complaining about what might get us unstuck.”
There was an uncomfortable shift in the back of her mind.
“Well, I can’t stay here. Even with Lynn here, those things will eventually kill me. Then you’ll be stuck dealing with Zagan and the dolls anyway.”
Brushing off the resignation from Prax, Shalise raised her voice to more conversational levels. “Is that the obelisk? Do you need help?”
“Just hold the door and show us where to put it.”
Eva’s words came out quick and strained, so Shalise wasn’t about to argue. She ran up to the door and kept it from swinging shut on them while Lynn directed them to the circle she had drawn.
“Set it down here,” Lynn said. “The corner needs to point towards the center of the circle.”
Zoe and Eva complied without complaint. Once the obelisk was in place, they both heaved out great sighs of relief. Eva collapsed into the couch that had been shoved against the far wall while Zoe just leaned against its armrests, sheathing her dagger as she panted.
“Shalise,” Lynn said, “strip down while I get everything set up.”
