The Warlock’s Demonic Gateway was a spell that created two portals, one at the caster’s current location and another at a predetermined destination. Once both were established, the Warlock could move freely between them, and anyone granted permission could use the portals as well.
Evenson’s personal assessment of the spell was simple.
What the hell is the point?
Unless another gateway had already been established at the destination to create a connection, the distance the spell could cover was painfully limited. Evenson had complained about this more than once. At short range, a Mage could simply Blink and be done with it.
Why did a Warlock have to summon two entire portals?
It was like bringing a moving truck to carry a backpack.
To be fair, Warlocks had a major advantage when it came to opening permanent gateways across enormous distances, even between worlds. But for temporary spatial movement over short distances, Mages had them thoroughly beaten.
Unfortunately, Evenson only knew one way to teleport.
So he’d make do.
The moment he stepped through his gateway, he saw Ghost Rider crawling out of Claire’s portal like something out of a horror movie, fingers clawing desperately at the ground as he tried to pull himself free.
Evenson didn’t bother saying a word.
He strode over and grabbed the Rider by the back of his neck.
Ghost Rider immediately felt his escape come to an abrupt halt. He twisted his head around and found himself staring directly into Evenson’s ominously smiling face.
His hands suddenly started scraping at the ground even faster.
Dirt flew everywhere.
He nearly outpaced a Husky tearing apart someone’s living room.
"Hmph."
Evenson tightened his grip.
"You think you can hide until the very end, you sneaky bastard?"
He planted his left hand on Ghost Rider’s head.
Fel energy poured into him.
Green first. Obviously.
The sensation was familiar.
So was the power.
Ghost Rider’s entire body began to convulse as Fel energy invaded him. The Hellfire surrounding his body fought back, desperately resisting the corruption under his own deliberate control.
It wasn’t enough.
Within moments, the Rider had been transformed into a walking green field.
His entire body locked up.
Evenson simply picked him up and carried him through the gateway.
The instant he crossed over, the portal Claire had originally opened, and Ghost Rider had later taken control of, collapsed.
Without an energy source to sustain it, the gateway disappeared.
Boom!
Evenson dropped Ghost Rider onto the ground and immediately strode toward Claire.
"Are you okay? Did he hurt you? Are you injured?"
As he spoke, his hands were already checking her over.
Claire puffed out her chest proudly.
"Relax. Do you even know who I am? He couldn’t hurt me."
She didn’t object to Evenson’s frantic inspection at first. She assumed he was simply worried and wanted to make sure she hadn’t been injured.
Then she realized his hands had been wandering for rather longer than necessary.
"Okay, are you done yet? Hmph!"
She drove her foot straight into his toes.
"Urgh!"
Evenson immediately pulled his hands back, his face twisting in pain.
There were limits to everything.
Apparently, he’d just discovered one of them firsthand.
Claire turned her head away and puffed out her cheeks, refusing to look at him.
Evenson limped over to the motionless Ghost Rider instead.
He extended both hands.
Just as before, the Hellfire that had been completely saturated with Fel energy was drawn out of Johnny Blaze’s body and absorbed by Evenson.
With the flames gone, Ghost Rider’s transformation ended.
The blazing skeleton vanished.
Johnny Blaze returned.
"I’ve got to say..."
Melinda approached Evenson.
"If you’re here looking for sympathy, save it. I don’t think you’re the type to get scared that easily."
Melinda’s face twitched.
Her fists clenched.
For one brief moment, she seriously considered punching that irritating mouth.
She restrained herself.
"This is how you absorbed Ghost Rider’s power?" she asked. "Is this where the power you gave me came from?"
"Yep."
Evenson answered casually.
Melinda glanced at the exhausted Johnny lying on the ground.
"Then transfer what you just absorbed into me. Right now."
After undergoing the first stage of her enhancement, Melinda had learned that her physical abilities could rival Captain America’s.
It had filled her with confidence.
Then came her first real operation.
When she and the team attacked Cal and his men, a wall of gunfire had pinned her behind a vehicle, leaving her unable to move.
For someone as proud as Melinda, that experience had been difficult to swallow.
Then she’d watched Ghost Rider charge straight into the enemy formation.
Bullets and blades couldn’t stop him.
Men disappeared beneath his overwhelming power.
And when he climbed behind the controls of that enormous quarry machine and proceeded to flatten the opposition with it, Melinda had been left genuinely stunned.
What made it worse was knowing that she was supposed to receive that kind of power herself.
She wanted it.
And after seeing what Ghost Rider could do, she wanted it sooner.
"You’ll get it," Evenson said. "Just not now."
He turned toward her.
"Power has to be introduced gradually. That’s why I decided to give it to you in stages."
He flexed his toes experimentally, still feeling the aftermath of Claire’s kick.
His own recent experience was making the lesson particularly convincing.
Melinda’s expression fell slightly.
"Fine."
Then she looked down at Johnny.
"I finally decided to forgive him, and now we’ve got another grudge."
"Don’t worry."
Evenson gave a cold smile.
"I’ve already thought of a way to deal with him."
He turned and headed toward the aircraft.
Nearby, Nadia held Danny tightly against her chest.
The ordeal had nearly broken her. She had spent too long believing she might never see her child again, and now she refused to let him go.
Moru stood beside her.
"Evenson," he said.
"Tell us where your temple is. We’ll take the boy there."
Moru had been surprisingly cooperative this time.
He hadn’t insisted on joining the assault.
He had enough self-awareness to understand that while his individual combat ability might exceed that of some members of the team, he had nowhere near their level of training when it came to covert infiltration and hostage rescue.
When Evenson spoke to him, Moru actually froze for a moment.
He hadn’t expected the black mage to honor their agreement so readily.
Still, he gave them the location.
He desperately wanted to return to his brothers.
The temple might have been austere and depressing, but it was still better than sitting around here feeling useless.
The aircraft changed course immediately.
Their destination was the headquarters of the mysterious church where Chen Moru was based.
There was, however, one rather unusual addition to their passenger list.
A long steel chain had been fastened to the aircraft’s tail.
Johnny Blaze, frozen solid and bound by both hands, hung from it and whipped helplessly in the wind.
Five hours later, they reached the temple.
The surrounding land was barren and desolate.
Exposed yellow-brown earth stretched in every direction, broken only by sparse patches of low vegetation. There were no grand buildings, towering statues, or magnificent halls.
The so-called temple looked more like a cave carved into a mound of packed earth.
Judging by the place alone, the church really did seem committed to a life of austerity.
At least they weren’t wasting their time on pointless extravagance.
Evenson stepped off the aircraft.
The instant his feet touched the temple grounds, he stopped.
Something was wrong.
His breathing suddenly felt strangely labored.
A thin sheen of sweat appeared across his forehead.
He frowned.
"I feel... a little uncomfortable."
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