Part 27 (2/2)

'How do you know?' Punk asked.

His gaze shot to Punk. 'I just know!' He couldn't explain that he'd heard her, felt her, still felt her right at this spot.

He looked up. The others a.s.sembled around him, their faces covered in dirt, sweat, some bloodied from the battle.

'Anyone scratched or bitten by the demons? Any paralysis? Rafe, you and Mandy do a count and check for injuries.'

'And what are you going to do?' Dalton asked.

Derek was already on his feet. He reached into his pack and took out a flare, marking the spot where she disappeared. 'Let's head back to base.'

'What do you mean you're going in after her?' Lou asked, a concerned frown on his face.

As soon as Derek had returned to base, he took the launch to the s.h.i.+p, packed up his explosives, and headed back to the beach, where Lou stood waiting for him.

'I'm going to get Gina.'

'How?'

'I'm blowing the portal.'

'Again, how?'

Derek placed the items he'd need into a bag and zipped it up, tossing it over his shoulder, then reloaded his weapons, packing extra ammo. 'Explosives. I'm blowing it down and then I'm going in after her.'

Lou clasped his hands behind his back. 'Alone.'

'Yeah.'

'How do you even know you can explode the hole and reveal anything? We've tried it before.'

'I just know it'll work.'

'Becoming psychic like me?'

His gaze shot to Lou's. 'Gina and I are connected. I know where she is.'

Lou studied him for a few seconds, then said, 'Take some of the others with you.'

'No. I'm not compromising anyone else on the team. It's me and me alone.'

'How are you going to face all those demons by yourself?'

Hearing Lou say it, it sounded like a no-win situation. He was still going. 'I'll figure it out. You know me, Lou. I always win.'

'I can't afford to lose you, Derek.'

And he couldn't afford to lose Gina. 'You're not going to. I'm coming back, and I'm bringing Gina with me.'

Lou let out a forceful sigh, then stepped back. 'I have never stood in your way, and I'm not going to start now.'

'You think I'm making a mistake.'

'I didn't say that.'

'You didn't have to.' He started to turn away, then paused. 'I'll find her. And I'm coming back.'

'You'd better. The Realm needs you. So do I.'

He nodded and headed back to the spot where Gina had disappeared.

Moving fast, he dug a well in the spot, then took a brick of explosive, poked a hole in it, and gently slid the blasting cap in, squeezing the brick to close it back up. Then he carefully laid it in the hole and unwound the wire back to the remote.

He muttered a fervent prayer this would work. Theory was great, but all the stuff he'd worked out in his head didn't mean squat if he ended up with just a hole in the ground and no way to get to Gina.

The sun had risen, beating down through the open spots in the trees, sweat pooling in his eyes. He swiped it away and continued working, using instinct as a guide.

Getting to their portals this way had never worked before. But this time it had had to. to.

He positioned himself behind a wall of thick trees and pushed the b.u.t.ton.

The explosion wasn't noisy, but the ground shook like an earthquake. Mounds of dirt flew up like a geyser, then outward toward him, soil flying in all directions. Derek crouched down, covering his head from the scattered debris.

He waited a few seconds while the air cleared of the remnants of smoke and dirt, then moved over to the hole.

Sweet. Just as he'd planned, the opening left behind after the explosion was huge, a rounded-out sh.e.l.l that looked as if a ma.s.sive excavation crew had just come in and dug it out.

Grabbing his shovel and gear, he slid down the steep slope. He walked the perimeter, stomping the ground to feel for anything that might signal an entry into their tunnels.

Nothing. s.h.i.+t.

This had to work. If he had to dig with his hands until he reached her, he was going to find Gina. He dug in and started shoveling, scooping up dirt and tossing it over his shoulder.

But then he felt it. A rumbling under his feet, like an earthquake. He wobbled, struggling to maintain his balance. A strange energy surrounded him as the earth shook.

He knew what was happening. He dropped the shovel and grabbed his gear, trying to maintain his balance.

The ground opened up underneath him like a chute and he went sliding under.

Chapter Twenty.

I t was like an instantaneous trip to the coldest zone in the universe, an icy chill filling Derek's body as he zoomed through nothing but wintry darkness. Dizziness rolled his stomach as he fell, but mercifully the fall was short and he landed feet first into a pile ofsomething sticky. t was like an instantaneous trip to the coldest zone in the universe, an icy chill filling Derek's body as he zoomed through nothing but wintry darkness. Dizziness rolled his stomach as he fell, but mercifully the fall was short and he landed feet first into a pile ofsomething sticky.

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