I smirked. “I know that feeling too well,” I said softly.

“When in doubt head back to him.” Tegan narrowed those pale green eyes on me. “She goes back to you, doesn’t she? That’s what that line means.”

“Yes.” I sighed and rubbed my chest to try and relieve the pressure. “I want to tell you everything that happens, as it already has for me, but alas, I cannot.”

“There are too many of us who understand that.”

I glanced up just as Myrtle sat beside me on the bench. She reached out and patted my knee, it was such a motherly show of affection and one I had never grown up with. Lilith knew nothing of love and affection, that was where she’d lost me all those centuries ago. Eithne had been the first to show me affection, even if it was subtle so my father wouldn’t notice. Then she was the one who helped me to Earth, to where I found life and love in not only my soulmate but in other people and the realm itself.

“Everest?” When I looked up to him, Bentley cocked his head to the side. “You don’t know if she makes it back, do you?”

I shook my head. “I do not.”

Auryn cringed. Saber, her name must remain Saber for now. “We have to assume she will. We have to.”

Braison ran his hands over his puppy’s fur. “Which means we have to be ready to break that damn spell on the tome when she gets back⁠—”

“DEMONS!” Bentley shouted and sprinted to the front door.

The Coven, and their pets, did not hesitate to follow. Only Saber, Braison, and Malik held back and only because the sun still shined on the world. They wanted to join the others who were already out the front door, I saw the desperation in their eyes, however they understood why they held back. We could not betray Sam, not without great cause.

“Everest?” Saber snapped her fingers in the air. “Go. They may need you.”

I nodded and pushed to my feet. By the time I made it out the front door The Coven was gone, with the last flicker of Tegan’s portal fading away. It didn’t matter. I did not require her transportation services. I just closed my eyes and let my magic find the shadows where demons were playing.

When I opened my eyes, I frowned. The Coven was nowhere in sight, yet demons were. They crawled along the sides of Chicago’s skyscrapers like cockroaches. Red eyes sparkled from beneath the surface of the Chicago River. None of them had attacked the hundreds of innocent, ignorant humans going about their day on this Saturday afternoon. The sun still sat high in the sky, but the storm moving in from the east over Lake Michigan was going to give them a power boost and lots of coverage. Soon.