“Toby,” Katie said again, stepping forward. Her eyes went to his hands. He didn’t have demon hands. “It’s okay. She’s a friend.”
“Mama,” he managed and flung himself into her arms. Katie grunted and caught him, hugging him to her.
“Toby, what’re you doing here?”
“Mama, there are demons everywhere. They opened a portal in the sky and are just flying and flying, hundreds of them!” Toby’s voice rose in panic.
“How did you get here?” she demanded.
“I wanted to protect you. Rhyn and Gabe came to find you, but I knew I could find you faster, so I came with a shapeshifter.”
Katie bit back the words she wanted to say. Toby was too small to protect anyone, and she couldn’t help feeling panic stir again at the thought that now he – and Deidre – were now as vulnerable as she was to the demons. The thought of Rhyn being close made her body warm from the inside out. Maybe, if she could find him …the cry of a demon overhead drew her attention.
“I don’t understand,” she murmured. “I thought Death wouldn’t let the demons into this place.”
“Something’s wrong,” Toby said. “Darkyn did something. He replaced Gabe and Ully and Hannah with demons.”
“Hannah? Is she okay, Toby?”
“Yeah. She’s in Hell. She’s fine.”
“Jesus. Hannah’s in Hell,” Katie mused, doubting her sister was remotely fine. “Explains why Gabe went crazy on me. You said Rhyn and Gabe are here, too?”
“Somewhere. They were coming to find you and make Death give you back to Rhyn.”
The trees overhead rustled, and Toby yanked away, staring. Katie saw shadows but nothing else. Even so, she doubted these were the freaky underworld birds.
“C’mon,” she said, snatching Toby’s hand. “We have to get somewhere safe.”
“Death’s palace. Follow me,” Toby said. He cast another puzzled look at Deidre and ran forward.
Katie followed, trailed closely by Deidre. The sounds of their escape were nothing compared to the sounds of what followed. Katie cast a look over her shoulder and saw several demons had dropped into the jungle and transformed into panther-like forms. She stopped and reached into the pouch slung across her chest.