Right at that moment, Dax’s lifemate, Riley, was with him. The plants in the rain forest responded instantly to the presence of Riley, a renewal that was incredible to see. She moved through the blackened remains of the forest where the terrible battle had taken place with a grace and soothing calm that Adalasia could see and almost feel that the plant life responded to. She seemed able to coax reluctant growth back just by talking softly as she moved around beneath the scarred trees. Without the bodies of the hellhounds or giant scorpions to tell the supernatural tale of a battle with demons, the rain forest, under Riley’s direction, was already returning.
Adalasia rocked herself gently, trying to watch Riley in order to keep her gaze from continually straying to Sandu’s lifeless body. Siv’s body suddenly jerked and was there, coughing, weak, pale beyond belief. Immediately, Nicu held his wrist to his chosen brother to give him the blood that would aid him after such a fight for Sandu’s life. Adalasia bit back her questions. She could see Siv was in bad shape, which meant the fight had been hard.
Benedek shed his body and entered Sandu’s. Adalasia was astonished at how fast they could get beyond ego and rid themselves of all things physical to become healing spirit. Danutdaxton moved into position beside Nicu as Petru emerged, every bit as weak and pale as Siv. He was coughing as well, trying to clear his throat. Wheezing even. Dax immediately offered him his wrist.
The moment Siv closed the twin holes in Nicu’s wrist, Nicu shed his body and entered Sandu’s in order to help fight the poisons in Sandu’s body. Everything in Adalasia wanted to go with the two men, to be with them to help her lifemate, but she breathed away the terrible need. She had to rely on their expertise. They were ancients, and they knew what they were doing.
No one was treating this as if it were an easy task. She knew the situation was dire just by their silence and the tension in the air.
“He is in the shadow realm,” Siv announced, his voice grim. “But he was pulled into a trap of some kind. We kept him from the gates, but the demon, Nera, had a poisonous brew that took him to the shadow realm, into the Cave of Fire. The fires of hell.”
Adalasia frowned. “That makes no sense. Why would Sandu be relegated to hell? I am not even certain he believes in hell. Wouldn’t one have to believe in it before they can be sent there? And he’s lived an honorable life.”
“Not actual hell,” Siv countered. He shrugged his broad shoulders. “I do not want to get into a philosophical discussion of what is or isn’t, only that I know Sandu was dragged into the shadow realm. He isn’t dead. He is partly in that world and was taken to the Cave of Fire. Maybe I should have said the illusion of hell.”
Danutdaxton crouched in the grass in front of her when Petru had politely closed the laceration on his wrist. “This is no small task, Adalasia, to enter the Cave of Fire, illusion or not.”
Petru scrubbed his hand over his face. “You will have to have great resolve if we are to bring him back to us, Adalasia.”
“Why would Nera do this? What could she hope to achieve?”
“You are bound to your lifemate,” Siv pointed out. “You are willing to follow him into the shadow realm. The moment you enter that realm, they will know. You are fully alive, and every demon will be aware of you. Sandu can move around in that world because he is both alive and dead, and they will not detect him so easily. We cannot know his state of mind. He may be confused and even unaware of what has happened to him. The moment you enter the shadow realm, you will be in tremendous danger.”
Adalasia tightened her hold around her stomach. “I have trained from the time I was a mere toddler to fight demons.”
Petru shook his head. “We do not want you to have to use those skills, Adalasia. We hope that all of us, bound together, will be enough to drag him out of that realm without a fight. The faster we do it, with the least amount of conflict, the better chance we have of success. This is an elaborate trap that was set.”
“How is it that Nera knew I was coming here? She set this before we even got here,” Adalasia pointed out. “We hadn’t yet met up with Danutdaxton.”
There was a long silence while they all tried to puzzle out how Nera had gotten ahead of them. They’d been in France, gone to Brazil and now were in Peru. Nera hadn’t been in Brazil, but she had set a trap in Peru.