Free Between the Bleeding Willows (The Demon Hunters Series Book 1) by D.A. Roach Page B

looking at Jet and Sean.
    They shook their heads.
    I had been out there several times, each time different from the others. It was unnerving to be away from the Clan, from the protection of spells…just me, the native creatures, and the demons.
    “Well, it’s pretty wild. The trees and plants look different from what the Human Realm has.
    Different even from what we have in our boundary.”
    “Tell ’em about that snake-like thing.” Anchor gave me a wicked smile, his wild eyes glimmering even for the recollection of a fight.
    “The creatures out there are so unlike anything I have seen before that it’s hard to know if they are friendly or deadly. A few years back, Angeline sensed we had an issue with the entrance to the tunnels. I crossed over a patrol near our grove to investigate and saw one of the tunnel doors was open, so I sent Matty to have a closer look. There did not appear to be anything blocking it. Jax went to check the lock, make sure it wasn’t broken, while Matty approached this old-looking log near the doors, all twisted and weathered-looking. But when Matty got within a foot of it, the log changed into a smooth and black massive snake creature. It rose up, taller than any of the men—and spit its breakfast all over the poor guy. Scared the crap out of him. This monster was also super-fast. It tried to strike us several times, but we took it down with no injuries besides Matty’s being covered in snake puke—which stank for days. We never figured out how it opened the doors, but we made sure they were shut tight before we crossed back to the compound. Anyway, we killed it, chopped it up, and once Angeline determined it was not poisonous, we had a great feast.” I laughed at the memory, but I was not eager to come across one of those again.
    “What happened with the lock?” Anchor asked.
    “We never figured it out. The doors are self-locking from the outside. You give a shove and an iron rod catches in this keep…easy to lock, hard to unlock. The creature used its tail to maneuver around us and with a flick of his tail, flipped the door shut. Jax and I tried to open it but it was locked.”
    “Do you think the creature was in the tunnel?” Jet asked.
    “I don’t know. And even if he was, how could it get those doors open?” I returned.
    “Maybe something else opened that door,” Jet suggested.
    “Maybe. Who knows what we’ll come up against tomorrow.”
    Sean just sat silently listening, planning. Anything could happen tomorrow, and we needed to be ready for it.
    “Ready for patrol?” I asked.
    My team cleared their plates, then walked to the Center where Angeline helped us crossover so I could double check our busiest gate.
     
    ***
     
    Blaylock Grove. A cemetery this old with such a bloody history…no wonder it was an easy location for a gate. Countless people were killed here and dumped in the lagoon. The roots of the willows drank from this water source, and when we opened the gate, the willows seeped blood. In the past, we’d cast spells to cover this up so that humans did not become suspicious, but since it was abandoned years ago, we were able to save our spells for more important purposes.
    I walked the perimeter of the lagoon, Jet searched the path to the road, and Anchor checked the clearing. After a few minutes, we met at the gate.
    “All clear. And I busted up that woody pentagram,” Anchor announced.
    This brought my mind back to Cassidy being held while that asshole licked her blood from his blade. I hadn’t had any time to destroy the pentagram, so I thanked Anchor for taking care of that. With no signs of demons, we crossed back over to the Clan.
    Our team parted ways, and I went to see Cassidy. In the med unit, Lena was busy making new potions to have on hand for the trip tomorrow.
    “Hey, Sis.”
    “Hey.” She didn’t look up, and I didn’t mind. I was still upset at her words from earlier. About planning what to do in case…
    Cassidy’s body lay still