A shadowy hand stretched away from the wall, the darkness condensing before my eyes. At the sight, I bolted towards the group.
“Take my arm,” Oliver said. I wrapped my hand around his upper arm, noticing that the others had already done the same.
Down the passageway, the earth trembled as the man in the suit came into view.
He took in the four of us, and his features hardened. “Gabrielle!” His voice shook the walls of the catacombs. “You shall not leave!”
Next to me Oliver cursed.
“What are we doing?” I asked, eyeing the devil and shifting my weight. Maybe my friends weren’t real; maybe this was a ploy. Although, considering the devil’s pissed off expression, I had to admit that it seemed a little too convincing.
“Going home. Just give me a sec.” Oliver pinched his eyes shut, and then, thankfully, the gruesome scenery vanished.
***
I glanced around me, the wind ruffling my hair. I stood in a field of green rolling hills, which fell away to water. A line of large stone men with long noses sat perched along the edge of the island, overlooking the water below the cliffs, the island’s sentinels.
In the distance I could hear the crashing surf, but other than that, all was tranquil. Only here, the sun had just set. We’d arrived on an island, but not the right one.
“Easter Island?” Leanne said. “You took us to freaking Easter Island?”
“You should be thanking me. I just saved all our asses.”
Arms wrapped around my torso, and behind me I felt Andre’s breath tickle my neck. “I thought I had lost you,” he whispered into my ear. There was a surprising amount of pain to his voice.
“What’s going on?” I whispered. I had so many questions I didn’t know which to ask first.
“We followed you by ley line. After you left, the circle collapsed.”
I turned in his arms. “You came for me?”
He brushed my hair back from my face. “Of course. I wasn’t going to let you slip through my arms a second time. Where you go, I follow.”
I leaned in and kissed him. His lips moved against mine desperately. Through the thin material that separated our bodies, I could feel his body trembling. My unshakable vampire had come undone.
“Yo hoes, Satan’s coming to town, and if we’re still here when he arrives, we don’t stand much of a chance.” Oliver tugged Leanne over to us. “Grab my arm.”
Andre and I broke apart only enough to grab Oliver’s arm. Across from me Leanne gave me a warm smile, her eyes bright. My own pooled with tears. I needed to know how she was here when she’d also been in the cathedral. I’d held her body in my arms. She hadn’t been a figment of my imagination. But that explanation would have to wait.
From above us a roar split open the heavens. The clouds spun and gathered.
“Adios asshole,” Oliver said, and then we were gone.
***
“Damnit Oliver, this is not the Isle of Man,” Leanne said.
“Listen, I’m a bit rusty with ley lines, but I’m working on it.”
We stood inside a cave. Buddhist artwork lined the walls. Outside the cave entrance, the land held no life. Under the light of the night sky, the stark reds, browns and grays of the soil stretched out, forming a valley bordered by cliffs of the same color. It was a beautiful, desolate place.
“Where are we?” I asked.
Andre came up next to me. “Somewhere in Nepal I think. This looks like a cave that Buddhist monks might’ve once used for meditation.”
“C’mon Sabertooth, Andre,” Oliver said, tugging on our arms. “Let’s keep moving.”
Leanne, Andre, and I all latched onto Oliver’s arm, and our surroundings dissolved away.
The air thickened, and the red-browns turned into verdant greens. Trees seemed to grow from the stone buildings surrounding us. A thick film of moss covered those stone surfaces the trees had missed. Man and Mother Nature seemed to be united here. This was an enchanted place—but it wasn’t the Isle of Man.
None of us let go of Oliver’s arm.
“Angkor Wat,” Andre murmured, glancing around at the night-darkened place.
The sky howled, and the jungle ferns shook.
“Whoops,” Oliver said. “We’re still not there yet.”
The scenery faded away, replaced by a familiar stone circle.
“Grab Leanne and run!” Andre shouted, picking up Oliver. I didn’t need any more encouragement. I snatched up Leanne, who couldn’t move as fast as Andre and I could, and sprinted for the edges of the circle.
On the outskirts of the circle the Politia clustered. My eyes found Caleb out of the crowd. He looked at me then glanced away.
Along with the Politia stood other men and women, together forming a substantial crowd. They began clapping when they saw us.
I passed the standing stones, and began pushing my way through the crowd.
“Put me down,” Leanne said breathlessly.
“No.” It wasn’t lost on me how much like Andre I sounded at that moment.
“I need to help close the stone circle so that the devil can’t follow us.”