“Because she knew you’d come,” Daisy said. “She clearly wants to protect you.”
“Of all the foolish, reckless, irresponsible things.” He thrust his hands into his hair.
“There has to be another way in,” Jasper said, eyeing the height of the gate in front of them.
Des blew out his breath, trying to regroup. “There’s a tree at the back, near the clock tower. I think we can get over the gate that way. Jasper, with me. Daisy, I need you to wait here in case Everard comes.” He started running, not checking behind him to be sure they were following orders. By the time he reached the back of the university, the bells were chiming a quarter till.
He was relieved to see Jasper right behind him. “You go first,” he said. “I’m too heavy.”
“On it.” Jasper shimmied up the tree easily, followed by one of the other Iron Swords.
“Go and open the gate as quickly as you can,” Des called.
“Where are you going?”
“To check on Kobal.” With the other two guards already on the other side of the gate, Des climbed up the tree as fast as he could and crouched low as he walked along a thick branch over the fence. It was only a moment later that he heard the groan of a limb breaking, but by then, he was hanging below the branch and dropping to the ground.
Des’s thoughts were racing as he hurried to the grotto, every fiber in him wishing he could check on Aurelie first. But something told him that whatever was happening to Kobal would inform every other decision he made from here on out.
To his surprise, the demon was lying on its side, breathing heavily, pressed to the back of the grotto. It tried to rouse itself when it saw Des, but immediately fell back again with a whimper. It was weakened, near death. He should have felt immense relief. And yet, he didn’t.
“Des!”
He whirled around to see Jasper behind him, gripping a wound in his arm.
“What the hell happened?”
“It’s bad. Demons at the gate. A dozen or more. They look like the one we killed here the other night. No word from Yew or the Iron Swords.”
Des’s stomach felt like it was in free fall, like the world was opening up beneath him. “Where’s Daisy?”
“She’s fighting with the others. We need you.”
Swearing, Des broke into a run behind Jasper. “Your wound?”
“Not from a demon, thank goodness,” Jasper said. “One of your Iron Swords threw me out of the way. I cut my arm on someone else’s blade.”
“Did you warn the others about the venom?”
Jasper nodded as they reached the gates.
It was utter chaos. There were demons everywhere, snarling and snapping at the guards, lashing out with their venom-tipped claws. To his relief, Daisy appeared unharmed and was fightingback-to-back with one of the Iron Swords. But as he pushed through the gate to get to her, a demon flew at him, knocking him aside and making a break for the open door.
Des caught its heel with his dagger, but as with the demon he and Aurelie had killed in the well, this one hardly seemed injured. “Decapitate them!” he bellowed as he pushed to his feet. “Cut off their heads!”
But before anyone could heed his command, the demons broke for the open gate in unison, nearly trampling Des as he dove out of their path onto campus.
The wind was knocked from his lungs as he hit the ground. He struggled for air, trying to get the other guards’ attention, still unable to draw breath. Fortunately, Daisy saw what was happening and spread the order.
“Everard must have gotten here before us,” she said as she helped him to his feet. “Did you find his thrall?”
Des nodded, managing a feeble wheeze. “Impaired but alive.”
“Then Gareth was wrong about thralls?”
He shook his head. “I don’t know.” If the intel was wrong, Des would never forgive himself. Commander Yew should be back here by now, assuming he’d arrived at Everard’s townhouse and found him gone. He could only hope they had rescued Dr. Blake in time.
As they raced across the campus toward the tower, his thoughts turned once again to Aurelie. She must have realized this was a trap by now. She wouldn’t finish the portal, couldn’t possibly fail to see how dire this had become. To his surprise, the door to the basement workshop was open, but the moment Des began to descend the steps, a demon flew at him, its claws missing him by inches.