I stood by the front gates watching the red tail lights of the second hummer disappear down the winding road through the forest that led away from the school. The demons cold chill filled the air, but as far as I could tell none of them made a move towards the vehicle that I was protecting. Instead they seemed more interested in watching the House of Night and checking the boundaries for weaknesses. I felt the earth tremble as one of them moved closer to the school and shuddered at the thought of their large scaly bodies. They were ginormous and once again I found myself reconsidering our chances of defeating them.
My phone vibrated in my pocket startling me and causing me to nearly jump out of my pants. I felt my stomach turn in anticipation and sent a silent prayer to Nyx asking her to calm and center me. Whatever else might happen I did not need a raging case of diarrhea in the middle of it! I pulled out my phone and flipped it open pressing it gently to my ear.
"We're out," Starks voice said through the phone. "We made it to the main road. Is everything still ok there?" He asked and I smiled slightly at the concern in his voice.
"Yes," I said glancing around as the earth shook again beneath me. The creatures were growing restless and their attempts to break through my defenses were becoming more obvious. "Did they see the cars go?" I asked knowing that Marla had covered at least their vehicle with the silver wisps that surrounded her when she was in spirit form.
The power of the circle combined with Marla's gift would have allowed them to see the demons coming and hopefully given them enough warning to protect themselves. Not to mention I had used the elements to protect both cars on their way out of the school. The first car that had left had actually been the most vulnerable as none of our circle members had been in it. Instead it had contained Natasha, Neferet, Dragon, Anastasia, Lenobia, Erik, and my grandma. Though all of them were very capable against a vampyre we were unsure how they would make out against a demon attack. That car had gotten out safely but the demons had thudded around frantically as if they knew that the school was weakening with the loss of so many powerful vampyres. I prayed our plan would work otherwise the school would be left vulnerable with only a few adult vamps and warriors here to protect it. We were taking a big risk leaving the school, but it was one we had to take.
"Yes," Stark said and I could almost see him nodding his head. "They saw us, but they made no moves towards us. So far the demons have stayed fairly consistent with that and only attacked those on foot around the school grounds. Well everyone but our pal O'Ryan," he said and I grimaced. "Marla thinks it has something to do with the tangibility of the vehicles. The demons haven't been able to obtain a physical form yet and since the cars have no soul…"
"The demons can't affect them," I finished for him.
"Not yet anyway," he said thoughtfully, "But they are stronger otherwise we wouldn't be able to feel or hear them without Marla's help."
I nodded to myself. Marla had been the only one who could see or hear them until we had lost so many fledglings. Blood had been spilt out of hatred and it had strengthened the demons enough that the whole school had begun to hear them moving about. All it would take is for a few more lives to be lost out of hatred and the demons would gain their physical form. They would no longer be just spirits, but would be monsters that I was sure were beyond most people's craziest nightmares.
"Either way," Stark continued, "I think your elemental protection around both cars would have enough to keep them away.
"Maybe, but I'm glad we didn't have to test that theory. How close are you to Street Cats?" I asked checking my watch and knowing that the first car should have reached Sister Mary Angela by now.
"About two minutes," Stark replied and I heard Darius confirm it in the background. "Aphrodite will cast the circle as soon as we arrive and have everything in place. Be careful, Zoey," he said and then clicked the phone shut.
I hung up my own phone shoving it back into my pocket as I watched the grounds from the gates. The earth was trembling more frequently now and I could feel the demons testing my defenses. I bit my lower lip and looked over towards the infirmary where O'Ryan and the other red fledglings were gathered. I was worried that he would try something while we were gone. Stevie Rae had assured me that all the red fledglings were watching the situation and I knew there were also a few warriors alerted to the situation, but I still was unsure what kind of powers he might have and that had me worried. Even with my own precautions around him I still didn't trust that he wouldn't try and hinder us in some way, shape or form.
I felt the familiar tingle begin to spread through my body as I looked back towards the gates and knew that the circle had been cast and that my friends had been able to help Marla direct her gift towards me. I lifted my hand smiling at the transparent silver glow that covered it and felt the weightlessness flow through my body. I took a deep breath in concentrating on turning the gates into a portal and hoped that my friends were doing the same. I could see our House of Night on the other side and I held on to the image willing the portal to take all who crossed it there. Slowly I began to weaken the defensive ring that surrounded the school making sure not to completely erase it. I wanted the demons to think that they were making progress and losing the entire defensive parameter would only make them suspicious.
I continued to ask the elements of fire and water I had used to create the defense to weaken, making sure that the weakest location was just before the front gate. There was another loud zap and a strong sing of electricity in my blood as the first demon crossed the threshold. Covered by Marla's gift I could see their form and swallowed as their sunken yellow eyes scanned my small frame. I could see the blood lust that shone in them and feel the fear and hate as it crossed my defense heading for the school gates. There were zaps of electricity as others followed the first and I had to remind myself to stay calm and focus on the task at hand. We needed to get them through the spiritual portal and that meant I needed to concentrate.
I took a deep breath in feeling slightly relieved as the first of the demons disappeared. The others didn't seem to notice and I hoped that was because they were seeing the illusion of the House of Night we had created. They wouldn't realize that they weren't really breaking into the school campus until it was too late; until we followed them and trapped them in our alternate reality.
Ok I know this is a really short chapter, but I'm having a hard time once again finding time to sit down and write. I promise the next chapter will be much longer and we will finally be into the fun stuff!!!
