Thanks for all your messages demanding more! I will continue to write this story between my updates on The Dream Weaver/Traveler series. Hope you like the latest installment. Thanks for reading.

"Jake!" I wanted to punch him. "What the hell are you still doing here?"

"I—" He paused, pursed his lips and took a deep breath. "Truth is, I couldn't leave you. Not to face..." He looked around at the black gunk covering the ground next to me. "Well, whatever the hell that thing was. No amount of heaven would let me forgive myself if that thing killed you."

Guilt caught in my throat. Jake was a good guy, maybe one of the best I'd ever known. He'd given up heaven to make sure I'd be safe and here I was yelling at him. My eyes burned, and I tried to swallow.

God, I wish I'd stayed home tonight. Then none of this would have happened. Jake not only paid once for my mistake—but twice. Right now I felt like the worst person that ever existed.

"Sorry— You should never have been here..." I gestured to the barren surroundings of the underworld. I pushed myself to my feet and winced at the pain radiating from the burnt section of my leg. "And here you are, dealing with my garbage."

Before sheathing my sword, I wiped the flat side of the blade against the black goo on my leg and watched it evaporate. Unfortunately, it did nothing for the blistering acid burn the goo had already made. Geez, isn't this the day that keeps on giving.

"Oh God, that looks bad." Jake stared at my leg as I limped toward him.

Of course, he'd be worried about me, even after everything. I glanced at the ground and wiped my eyes.

"Come on," I said, turning to face the way we'd come. I kept my eyes on the path, hoping he hadn't seen the tears brewing.

"What's the plan now? You know—for me?"

The plan? Good point, we needed a plan. It wasn't like there was a necromancer manual or anything, but maybe there was something in the notes and journals my father left me. I wouldn't know. I still hadn't gotten past the first few pages. Every time I started, the memory of him would overtake me, and I'd put them back in the box. Currently, they were under my bed collecting dust.

"I guess I'll have to face the demon in my dorm room," I mumbled and zipped my hoodie.

"No offense, but I think I've had my fill of demons for a lifetime." He started to laugh. "A lifetime... That's funny, especially now, huh?"

"You're taking this well."

Jake shrugged and slipped his arm under my shoulder, letting me use him as a crutch. "I always feel better after a good joke. Don't you?"

I nodded. "And here I thought I was supposed to look after you." I limped forward and gritted my teeth trying to take my mind off the pain.

He chuckled, and I looked up to see him smile. "And how's that working for ya?" he asked, nudging me with his elbow.

"Well—pretty crappy actually."

He repositioned his arm around me. "For me too," he said in a more serious tone.

Typically, I would have balked at a comment like that, but he had every right. He'd still be alive if he'd never met me.

"Hey come on. Quit beating yourself up." He gave my shoulder a squeeze. "Don't give me that look. I can see it all over your face. Besides, it's not going to change anything. Why don't you," he paused to help me around a boulder, "tell me about this demon of yours."

He's in denial. That's the only explanation he's still even talking to me. I coughed and then frowned.

"There's no real demon, like the garm or Seth. Just a box of papers and notes I haven't been able to bring myself to read."

We were already at the base of the mountain and could see our exit point. It seemed like we'd been here for hours, but the astral plane distorted time. In reality, we'd probably only been gone a few minutes.

"Why not?" he asked, interrupting my thoughts.

"They were my father's. He died a couple of years ago." I paused a moment to give my leg a rest and looked up in the distance.

"Sorry to hear that..."

I shrugged. After my dad had died, I heard that a lot. It was almost as if those words had lost their meaning to me now. I limped forward a few steps and looked over my shoulder. "It's been awhile, and I know I shouldn't still be dwelling on it but—"

"You were close," Jake said as if he knew what I was going to say next.

"Yeah, we were."

"Was he a necromancer too?"

I glanced up from the path and looked around. Something felt off on the plane. Not looking where I was going, I tripped on a rock, and Jake winced, pulling his hand out of his pocket to help steady me.

I took a deep breath and let it out. "My dad? Yeah, he was. The ability runs in our family, with one catch. There's only one necromancer in our family at a time."

Jake had a confused look on his face like he didn't quite understand. "There's no one else?"

"Woo-hoo for me." I pretended to wave a tiny flag. "Not only did I lose my dad, but when he passed, I also got the wonderful burden of all this." I fanned my hand out to the expanse in front of us. "What's not to love?"

My hands started to itch, and the glow that came off my sword got brighter. A dark presence crept over the plane and made every alarm bell in my head go off.

"I don't know what you're talking about. This is every girl's dream vacation spot," he said. When he glanced back at me his smile faded. "What's wrong?"

"Something's giving off a weird vibe." I took a few steps forward and realized Jake wasn't next to me but looking off in the distance. "Jake! Not kidding, weird in this place, isn't a good thing."

"Right. Got it."

He jogged catching up in three broad steps. I could tell the presence on the plane was getting closer. I quickened my pace and limped faster toward the gateway home. Beads of sweat dotted my forehead with my effort.

Jake shivered and rubbed his arms. "Are the hairs on the back of your neck standing up too?"

Distant laughter echoed across the plane. I could almost hear a sneer in the thing's cackle as it approached—laughing at us.

Jake's aqua eyes went wide. "What the hell is that?"

"I don't think I'm sticking around to find out."

I gritted my teeth together and tried to ignore the fierce pain that shot through my leg every time I extended it.

Jake shot a look over his shoulder, then glanced back at me struggling to keep up, forget trying to outrun the thing behind us. He held out a hand stopping me in my tracks, then leaned in and threw me over his shoulder.

"Hey! What are you doing?"

He adjusted his grip on my legs and kept running. "Keeping one of us alive."

That's so not funny. I lifted my head as I tossed back and forth with Jake's stride, and surveyed the terrain behind us. A dark, smokey veil covered most of the valley and looked like it would soon overtake us.

Another eerie chuckled broke the realm's silence.

"Little Tessa, running away from a fight?" Seth's voice boomed around us. "Tsk-tsk, so disappointing."

Seth. I felt my anger rise through me. But now wasn't the time to face him—not when I had Jake with me, or when I could barely walk.

His figure rose from the blackness, and he raised his hands with curled fingers. Then he slammed his palms through the fog, and several hellhounds pulled from the dense veil of cloud.

Oh shit. I banged on Jake's back with my fists. "Run!" I squealed. "Oh God, they're getting closer."

"Going...as fast as...I can," he said, struggling for breath.

The biggest hound pulled ahead of the pack and gained ground by the second. The thing was the size of a small horse and seemed to have the speed of one too.

"Jake!" I screamed.

The beast's foul stench filled the air, and its hairless hide made it creepy to watch. I grabbed my spatha and awkwardly held it in my left hand. The hound was only twenty feet away.

Fifteen.

Ten.

"Jake!"

The hound launched into the air, baring its teeth. I held my breath and swung the blade. The steel clipped its nose and it fell to the ground. Blood flung from its wound as it shook its head. The thing looked up to find me, snarled and dug its paws into the ground in pursuit once more.

The keys on my bracelet vibrated against my wrist. I held up my arm, blew on the charms and one turned emerald green.

"Hang on!" Jake yelled.

I could feel his feet push off the ground as I watched the beast leap. Its paws landed where we had been only seconds before. My view turned skyward, and my body slid against Jake's as we drove through the gate head first.

Cradled in Jake's arms we landed with a thud, expelling any air I might have had in my lungs. Not losing a moment, I touched the gate keys to my lips, and the light of emerald green key ceased to glow, locking the gate.

Even in astral form, my cheeks felt hot with the realization that Jake's lips were only inches from mine, and he was lying on top of me with his arms wrapped around me.

Then the flashing red light of a police car and the rattle of an ambulance gurney turned our attention back to the real world. The physical one I knew I wasn't prepared to face.

Thanks so much for reading!  I'm looking forward to writing more for everyone. Stay tuned...maybe add my book to your library. Cheers!