---
Lily shifted back into human form first, breathing harder than before but steady. Mira followed her example a moment later, though her eyes lingered crimson-bright for a little longer before settling. The twins did not need to change. Neither did Auri. Bat Bat returned to human shape with blood on her mouth and all the pride of a little demon who believed she had personally improved military history.
"That," she said, "was excellent."
No one disagreed.
Sekhmet lifted his hand.
The Void Land opened.
Darkness folded outward in the center of the warehouse like reality itself had been cut and pulled apart. The air changed at once. Colder. Deeper. Wrong in the familiar hidden way only his people knew properly now.
Bat Bat stared every time he did this in a new place. She still had not learned how to pretend otherwise.
Mira looked at the gate, then at the stacks of goods around them. "You are taking everything."
"Yes."
