FINAL GATE (#3 GHOST PORTAL series)

ELEVEN

"She's alive, she's trapped? And there's no escape," Avery gulped, his saliva grating down his throat as if it were lined with daggers, "but alive. And there's... other ways?"

Ada squinted at him. "What do you mean? Other ways to do what?"

"Other ways to figure out what's going on down there. If she can't get out, she can't get out... I'm not sure I believe you, but for now, I'll have to accept that. But can I... talk to her?" Avery's fingers were jittery at the notion of potentially hearing Jessamine's voice again. Her real voice; not the one drenched in darkness, appealing and sexy as it had been. He missed her, the real Jessamine, her dulcet tones and arching eyebrows and the scowls she was so prone to giving him—before she transformed into his biggest nightmare, his worst enemy.

Well, he'd only be able to listen to her, in this case, but it'd be their only alternative.

"You want to talk to Jessamine?" Ada was the one scowling now, and it didn't have the same effect on Avery as Jessamine's eyes did. "Amidst all this, and with what we discovered, you want to speak to her? Our realm is the priority, Avery, not hers. I'm sorry, but we don't have time to track her down and chit-chat with her about the state of her demonic dimension and if it's worth saving the demons within it."

"But you're saying it's possible, right?" Avery puffed up his chest. "Ghosts can manifest in our world, even if they can't talk or touch; so can those in the demon realm do something similar?"

"Avery, you're not listening to me." Ada shook her head. "This is not the time or place to—"

"—yeah, you don't give a shit about the demonic dimension and those inside it, I get that." He raised a bunched fist at her. "But did you stop to think what would happen if those who might invade their dimension got out into ours? Once they're done with demons, do you think they'll kick back and relax, or figure out how to sneak into our world and contribute to its destruction?"

Ada's jaw dropped, then popped into place. "I... no, I hadn't thought of that." She appeared to melt off her frame as realization hit her. "Demons were bad, but anything horrifying enough to be locked in their realm... no, no I don't want to imagine what'd happen if they got into our world. That's a terrifying notion indeed."

"So, as I was saying," Avery lowered his fist, unclenching it, "is there a way to talk to Jessamine? We need to determine what the situation is down there. Up there? Over there?" He shook himself. "Anyway, she needs to be aware of what's going on here, too, so she can prepare. I'm not implying she should save the demons, but... she might have to set up some barrages to prevent anything else from getting out of there. Or any of our monsters from getting in her realm."

"Well..." Ada's hands were twitchy as she spun to the house. "Demons can't manifest, and the demonic dimension has different rules from Limbo, as far as I've been told. But," she whipped around, brows reaching upward, "they can target someone and speak to them through the door. They did it with Jessamine, to draw her to them, and if I'm correct, they did it to you, too, when you entered their territory?"

Avery nodded, recalling the ominous whispers that, though he couldn't comprehend much of them, yanked him towards the door, compelling him to open it. "But I broke that connection. I betrayed the demons in there, I lied to them. So the door might not let me use it to communicate?"

"Jessamine had a tether to the realm. She was the emissary, the vessel. You..." Ada winced. "Yes, you may have turned the door and the realm against you, but not Jessamine. She's in there, and I'd assume she's alive, for sure. So though you're no longer connected to the place, that doesn't mean no one can hear you on the other side. It's still possible."