CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

Jade pulled away from Beth and shook her head. "No," she said. "He can't be dead. He's not supposed to die." She could feel Death in the air, but that didn't mean that it had to be there for Alex.

"Jade, I can't resurrect him," Spencer said gently. "I'm sorry. There's no connection between us right now. Something blocked it for the time being."

"We need Aideen," Dylan said. "She can fix just about anyone."

"She can't get past the block they threw up around him," Spencer replied. "This was planned. They knew what they were doing. They targeted Alex specifically, probably because he's our leader."

Jade sat beside Alex's corpse. She carefully pulled him into her arms and tried to connect to him.

"He's still so warm," she said. "This can be fixed. He hasn't been dead long at all..."

"Jade, we can't fix him," Cassandra said slowly and deliberately. "I'm sorry. I know this is hard to accept. I don't want to accept it, either, but Spencer is never wrong about things like this."

"No..." Jade whispered. "You're wrong... All of you are wrong... He's not supposed to be dead." She felt tears in her eyes as her soul's memories of her father stirred inside of her.

Don't give into this, Jade scolded herself. You have to be strong. You can't break. Alex needs you.

"Jade," Beth said through her own tears. Her voice cracked with emotion, but she kept going. "I'm sorry, Jade, but he's gone."

Jade looked into Beth's eyes and said, "No, he's not... Not yet, anyway. They blocked people from being able to get through to his energy enough to
resurrect him, but they can't block everyone."

"What do you mean?" Beth asked softly, allowing the slightest bit of hope to touch her heart.

"His energy is in me," Jade replied. "He's my soul's father. They can't block that." She closed her eyes, and although she didn't want to do it because she knew it would leave her vulnerable, Jade allowed her soul to unlock enough that she could feel the right emotions.

Her tears began to flow much quicker as the emotions hit her. "Daddy..." She whispered, letting her soul take control. "You're not supposed to die, Dad..."

Jade began rubbing her hands together to raise energy and placed them over Alex's throat. It took a minute, but his blood began to flow back into his body. Jade focused and the deep gash in Alex's throat began to mend itself. She placed one hand on her throat and the other on his.

"You gave my soul life," she said. "Your air gave me mine. I give you my air now. My breath, your breath..."

Jade focused all of her attention on her breathing. "Breathe, Dad... Breathe," she said.

She took several deep breaths and willed the air to fill Alex's lungs. She connected to his heart and willed it to start pumping blood through his body. Slowly, Jade felt Alex's heart start to beat again.

"I feel him," Dylan said suddenly. "He has a heartbeat! Keep going, Jade. You've got this!"

Jade continued to focus on her own breath. "My breath, your breath," she whispered again. "As I breathe, you breathe..."

Suddenly, Alex gasped as he drew in a very deep breath. Jade continued breathing deeply, now filled with adrenaline because her spell was working.

Slowly, Alex opened his eyes. He stared up at her in confusion. "Jade?" He asked, his voice scratchy and raw.

"Welcome back, Dad," Jade whispered. She allowed herself to sob in his arms as he sat up. Alex held her tightly, which made Jade feel safe again. This time, she didn't push the sensation away.

"You did it," Cassandra said in surprise.

"Of course she did," Beth declared proudly. "That's my best friend, and she can do anything!"

Spencer looked just as impressed as everyone else. "Jade, that took an incredible amount of power," he said. "And it was very brave of you to open yourself up to your soul."

"Well, you all gave up on Alex, so someone had to fix him," Jade replied. Embracing her anger at that fact helped her shift out of soul mode and come back into herself.

"We couldn't have saved him without you," Spencer admitted.

"The world is ending. Spencer was wrong! No one tell Arnie," Dylan joked. "He'll never let him live it down."

"I'm sorry, Alex," Spencer said. "I should have considered that Jade might be able to save you. I would normally never let you go without a fight, but I couldn't feel you. I couldn't even attempt to bring you back."

"It's okay, Spencer," Alex replied. "I think Jade needed to come to that realization on her own."

"I hate to break up the celebration, but we still have a mission to complete," Cassandra said. "We still haven't found the key, and I'd like to get out of these tunnels as soon as possible."

"Right," Alex replied. "We've got work to do, kids... And Cassandra." He smiled at her, making sure to avoid grouping her in with the rest of his "kids." Alex knew Cassandra's only real fear was claustrophobia. He admired how calm she had managed to remain while in the underground tunnels, but he knew it was better to get her out of there as soon as possible. 

"Alright," Dylan said as if he didn't have a single care in the world. "Which way do we go?"

~*~

"We keep hitting dead ends," Arnie whined as they hit another one. "I feel like no matter what we do, we end up going in circles."

"You're right," Cierra replied with a frown. "We passed this spot three times already."

"How can you tell?" Randy asked. "It all looks the same to me."

"There are subtle markers if you pay close attention," Cierra replied. "I recognize this rock formation in the corner."

"What are we doing wrong?" Arnie asked.

"Nothing. It's the tunnels... It's almost like the tunnels know we're here, and they are shifting to keep us from finding our way."

"How does that work?" Randy asked.

"I get it," Melissa and Jesse said at the same time. They laughed. Both of them understood changing the physical appearance of things that should not be so simple to change.

"Magick is complex," Cierra replied. "Whoever built these tunnels around the tomb constructed a magickal maze. I don't fully understand how this is scientifically possible, but I think the matter is able to shift itself in response to our heat signatures and-"

"Cierra's trying to make magick all sciencey again," Arnie said with a frown. "My brain hurts. Please stop."

"We've got to find the key fast," Aideen said, trying to force them to focus again while also sparing Arnie from having too much science forced on him. "They're conjuring the energy as we speak. I feel it in the air."

"So, theoretically, if the bad guys open the apocalypse in a box while we're still in here, what happens to us?" Melissa asked.

"That's a good question," Arnie admitted.

"We get trapped in here with the demons, probably," Aideen guessed. 

"That sounds about right," Cierra agreed.

"And we die a horrible death, or get driven insane and become demons ourselves," Jesse added.

"Hey, some of us already are part demon," Aideen reminded him with a laugh.

"And some of us are already insane," Jesse replied with a grin.

"So, a horrible and premature death or becoming some kind of demon are the only possible outcomes? Super," Melissa said. "That's exactly what I needed to hear. Why do I ask questions that I don't want the answers to?"

"Come on, Missa," Arnie said soothingly. "We've got this." He slipped his hand into hers, giving both of them the strength they needed to be brave.

~*~

Things had taken a turn. Renee could feel the threat growing by the second. She could feel that the warlocks were all slowly meeting their ends. They were losing, and Renee knew they could not afford to lose. They had a mission, and if they failed, the cult would either kill them or take away Renee's rank and knock her back to the status of an ordinary cult kid. That would be a fate worse than death.

"We have to hurry," Renee said anxiously. "The warlocks are dropping like flies. Someone's here, and they're fighting back... And killing our loser allies."

"I'm going as fast as I can," Keither replied. He was gathering the energy that would summon the key to him.

"Well, work faster," Renee snapped.

Keither rolled his eyes. Thankfully, even with the candlelight, Renee didn't catch this act of disrespect.

She began pacing, wondering what their chances of success were. To access the key, they only needed one of the warlocks to survive. Renee didn't care if the others were slaughtered, as there was no love lost between the warlocks and the Devil Worshippers, but one in particular was vital to their plan.

Keither cursed as his first attempt at the spell failed. "I must have mispronounced the Latin," he said.

"You're such a useless idiot!" Renee snapped. "Even Moira can read Latin correctly."

"Well, Moira isn't here," Keither pointed out. "You'll have to settle for me since your baby sister betrayed us."

"She'll get hers. Zachariah will slaughter her for this."

"He might slaughter us. We lost the kid. Zachariah wants him raised by evil so he'll be loyal to us. If we don't get our hands on him-"

"I know, Keither! You can shut up now." She snatched the spell away from him. "Screw it! I'll do it myself," she decided.

Renee cut her left palm and used her blood to draw a Leviathan Cross on her hand. "Dark Father, Hear my plea!" She shouted, raising her bloody hand into the air. As blood trickled down and swirled around her wrist, she felt dark power flowing through her.

She began to recite the spell in Latin, pronouncing it far better than Keither had. "Give me the power!" She shouted after the spell was completed.

A dark shadow appeared in front of her. It lingered for a moment before wrapping around her. Renee enjoyed the rush of power as it settled inside of her.

"It's time to summon the key," she said.

"So, am I just supposed to sit here and chill while you go all High Priestess of Evil, or what?" Keither asked.

"You're lucky I like having an audience for my best moments, Keither," Renee replied. "Otherwise, I'd have killed you by now. You serve no other purpose."

"Right," Keither replied. "I guess I'll just watch then... Go on, cuz. Evil away!"

Renee smiled and said, "I intend to. Pay attention, Keither. It won't be long now."

~*~

"How the hell do we find this tomb?" Jade asked aloud. "We've looked everywhere."

"Mama!" A little boy suddenly shouted, startling everyone.

Jade stared in shock as her son came running toward her. "J-Joey?" She asked softly as too many emotions threatened to overwhelm her.

It could be a trick, she thought. Maybe this is just a cruel joke the Universe decided to play on me. Maybe the cult is messing with me. Maybe I finally snapped... He can't be here. It makes no sense.

Joey hugged her leg tightly. Feeling her son, she finally understood that he was real. Jade bent down and picked him up. She held him as tight as she could without smothering him.

"Jade? What's going on?" Beth asked in confusion. "Who's that little boy?"

"And did he just call you Mama?" Dylan added.

"Mama, I help," Joey said.

"Help how, baby?" Jade asked him, still half terrified that he would vanish at any moment. Her voice was soft and shaking. She tried to pull herself together.

"I know easy way," Joey replied.

"What do you mean, Baby?" Jade asked.

"To room, Mama. I know easy way to room."

"Do you mean to the tomb?" She asked in surprise.

"Uh-huh!" Joey replied. "Put down! I take!"

Jade stared at her son in awe for a moment. She knew he was telling the truth. "Guys, I don't have time to explain this right now, but this is my son, Joey," she said awkwardly, wondering if they would all judge her for having a child when she was still so young. "Joey, these are my friends. Can you help us all find the tomb?"

"Uh-huh," Joey replied as Jade reluctantly released him and gently set him down. He closed his eyes and rubbed his hands together before using them to make circles in the air. To the obvious shock of everyone except Jade, a door appeared and opened.

"Come," Joey said. He practically dragged Jade inside the door. The others followed behind her. When everyone had stepped inside, they saw that there was another door on the other end of the empty room.

"Where are we?" Spencer asked.

"My world," Joey said. "This hall take us any place." He pulled Jade toward the other door. "Open, Mama."

Jade opened the door and, to her shock, she was standing in front of what had to be the tomb. There were screaming angels etched into the door, and the energy that came from inside was pure darkness.

Renee glared at them from just outside of the door. "How the hell are you here?" She demanded. "Hey, it's the brat!" She added as she noticed him. She immediately tried to grab Joey.

Jade felt herself hit an instant rage. She glared at Renee and telekinetically flung the Devil Worshipper who'd dared to try to touch her son against the wall of the tomb.

To everyone's shock, Renee's body immediately turned intangible and vanished into the tomb. Her final scream abruptly cut off, leaving behind only an echo in the tunnel.

"Oh my Gods," Alex whispered.

"Holy Hell!" Keither screamed. "I'm sorry!" He said. "Save the day, be heroes... I'm just gonna go..." He was about to run when Dylan grabbed him.

"What were you trying to do?" Dylan demanded.

"We summoned the key... Renee did the spell. We just needed to wait... We know who the key is," Keither replied.

"So it is a person!" Beth said.

"What do you know? Cierra was right again," Alex said with a smile.

"Who is it?" Jade demanded.

"Guys!" Aideen shouted as she and the others joined them. "How did you get here?"

"Long story," Jade replied. She turned toward Keither. "Now, you were just about to tell us who the key is?"

"That won't be necessary," a voice said from the shadows.

Keither's body suddenly went very stiff and his eyes stopped focusing. "Pity," the voice said as Keither's lifeless corpse fell to the ground. "He was so handsome, but so clueless. I'll tell you who the key is... It's me."

A figure emerged from the shadows and came toward them. Aideen's eyes went wide with horror as she recognized the person that had spoken.

"My Gods," Aideen whispered. "Margo?"