“Why can’t we breathe?” I asked.
“I said don’t breathe too much. Unless you want to inhale poisonous gas. Let’s go.” Quinn shoved the door open.
Stepping through the door was like being dropped into a painting created with every possible shade of red. Below was a wasteland of rocks, canyons, craters, and what looked like dried-up lake beds. Red dust covered everything. The bloodshot sky was streaked with trails of silvery dust. The air was thin and hot and dry.
“Obispo and Human,” Quinn said, pointing to me and Hondo, “you’re with me. Ren, you go with Brooks.” Quinn quickly changed into a giant white eagle with brown-speckled wings. Brooks followed her sister’s lead and morphed into her hawk self.
Everyone climbed onto the birds’ backs, and after a stomach-dropping takeoff (with Quinn in the lead, of course), we were soaring through the toxic air.
My jade tooth vibrated once against my neck. I tugged on it. Hurakan? Is that you? I know it sounds crazy, but it felt like he was trying to communicate with me. Hello? He didn’t answer.
Hondo spoke low in my ear: “This is freaking awesome.” He acted like we weren’t flying over hell and trying to blend in so we didn’t get our faces eaten off.
I gripped Quinn’s neck and opened my mind to hers.
We don’t have to, like, swim in Pus River, right?
It’s the only gateway out of here. Take it or leave it.
How close will it get us to South Dakota?
Quinn shook her head. Even as an eagle she could sigh and roll her eyes. I’ll get you as close as I can. Tell muscle-head back there to quit making so much noise.
I was so busy scoping out the landscape below I didn’t notice the thing flying up behind us until it was so close there was no mistaking the familiar, best-forgotten beast.
Red bulging eyes, no nose, and a mouth filled with long, sharp fangs.
A demon runner! With wings!
Quinn! Demons!
She swiveled her head, cursed, then turned up the speed. Just act cool. He’ll fly right by. Unless he picked up the human’s scent. I told you not to bring him!
But we’re covered in bone dust!
Even bone dust can’t completely cover THIS human.
Act cool. Act cool. Act cool. What were the other rules? Barely breathe. Total fail. I was practically hyperventilating.
The demon runner’s spiderweb wings stretched wide beyond his bloated, hairy body. When the heck did demon runners get wings? Maybe it was a hell thing? The monster sniffed the air. Once. Twice.
Uh-oh. That couldn’t be good.
Brooks was cruising to our right and hadn’t spotted the demon yet, or maybe she just wanted to pretend it wasn’t there. Ren was busy taking in the red world, probably looking for aliens.
Just as I turned to whisper to Hondo to stay calm, he saw the creature and did the worst possible thing. He screamed, “Demon!”
Idiot! Quinn said. Hold on!
The scream started a chain reaction. Ren shrieked. Brooks’s panicked war cry was strangled by the thin, hot air.
Quinn went into a nosedive. Straight for a mountain of rock.
Quinn!
The demon runner released a screech that shook the dust loose from the sky. That’s when things got even uglier, because, instead of one demon, we now had two more on our tails!
Same hellish red eyes, same long fangs, same bloated hairy bodies. Same grossness!