Fallen University: Year Three

“Yeah.” I scrunched up my face, fighting for control over my emotions, then straightened, looking up at the sky. “I just—”

My voice broke off. I blinked up at the sky again, my mouth falling open slightly.

“Oh, shit…”

“What?” Kai looked up sharply. All the men tensed, picking up on my feelings but not sure what was causing the shift in my emotional state.

“We have to go back,” I said quickly, glancing around at all of them.

“Where?”

“To Arizona. To the Barringer Crater.”

“Um, okay.” Jayce shrugged. He looked like he was trying to remember what he might’ve seen or not seen the first time we were there that made it so important to go back.

Instead of explaining, I just reached for his hand, grabbing onto Kai’s too. There would be time to explain if it turned out I was right, but first I had to figure out if I was right.

We all linked up and opened a portal, then popped back out of the ether in Arizona.

Just as I’d done in Australia, I tilted my head back, scanning the sky. Then my heart leapt. “There!”

I pointed upward, and five sets of eyes followed my gesture.

“Oh, fuck. You’re right.” Xero’s voice was thick with relief.

“Yep,” Jayce said. “I see it now. Good fucking catch, Pipes!”

We’d been looking for a pentagram on the ground. We hadn’t been looking toward the sky. I had noticed a flicker of light out of the corner of my eye the first time we’d been here, but I’d thought it was just the sun glinting off a bird’s wing or something.

But it came from a portal that spanned the entire crater, shimmering in the air like a mirage. I was willing to bet it was invisible to most humans, and hard to spot even for supernaturals. But if you knew where to look, it was definitely there. And the more attention I paid to it, the stronger the lines seemed to glow, and the more power seemed to pulse out of it.

“It’s this one. It has to be.” I glanced around again. “It meets all the criteria. There’s definitely a climb on all sides, and I can see why the general thought this pentagram would be important. Although I still don’t quite know why.”

“Hey, we can figure that out next.” Jayce slung an arm around my shoulder, pressing a kiss to my temple. He exhaled a soft breath against my hair. “We’re one step closer, thanks to you.”

I hugged him back, wrapping my arms around him and melting into his side. His sea foam scent was slightly tinged with sulfur from the fight we’d just had, but I could still smell Jayce—my Jayce—under the stink of underworld monsters and blood.

“We should get out of here. Head someplace safer to regroup and figure out what to do ne—”

Before I could finish speaking, a loud burst of music filled the air, and I almost jumped out of my skin.

“Fuck.” Kingston quickly dug into his pocket, retrieving his phone and swiping the screen to answer. “Hello?”

I was shocked he got reception here, but I was grateful as hell that he did. The rest of us all stepped forward quickly, and Kingston put the cell phone on speaker just in time for us to hear the gruff voice on the other end finish speaking.

“…had some interesting developments.”

Michael’s voice was as gravelly and deep as usual. And even though I’d missed the first part, I didn’t bother asking him to repeat himself.

“What developments?” I asked quickly. “What’s been going on down there?”

“Well, our recruitment efforts went better than I ever could’ve expected,” he said. “I found that Vee woman. She’s a real interesting character, I’ll tell you what. Anyway, despite living as a hermit for years, she knows more about the underworld than just about anyone I’ve ever met. She was able to point us in the direction of a shit ton of small hidden villages and communes.”

He chuckled darkly. “Turns out, I’m not the only one who’s finally had it with getting kicked around by Gavriel. A lot of the people we talked to agreed to help us, and the ones who didn’t are at least supportive enough of our cause or scared of the dark lord enough not to go blabbing to him. Probably a good call on their part. He might appreciate the warning, but it wouldn’t stop him from shooting the messenger—literally.”

“That’s great.” Kingston spoke into the phone as his gaze flew up to meet mine across the small circle we’d formed. Excitement flashed in his green eyes. “And you think you can get people ready to fight in just a few days?”

“Ready as in prepared? Fuck, no. Ready as in willing? Hell, yes.” Then Michael paused, the silence stretching on long enough that I glanced at the phone’s screen, worried the signal had been lost. “But that’s not why I called.”