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worst part of fighting unhurt, shielded inside Ben's fire.   He stopped walking and stood with his hands out, waiting for me to take them.
    I walked up so I could be directly in front of him, looking first at his face and then at his outstretched palms.   I worked first on reining in my anger and frustration, both with him and the horrible losses our people had already suffered while I was tied up with the demon-Spike, knowing that letting my emotions overcome me now could affect what I tried to do with the elements.
    "Take my hands, Jayne.   We need to be linked."
    I put my palms on his and waited for him to close his fingers over mine, expecting him to.
    But he did nothing.   His fingers remained straight and seemingly uninterested in mine.
    It made my heart squeeze painfully in my chest.   It felt like rejection to be remaining so un-linked when it would have been so easy for him to hold onto me.
    "Close your eyes and visualize sending these demons back to where they came from.   Use your elements together.   Link them with mine.   Focus on who to keep with us.   We cannot send the wrong ones to the Underworld or they will be left there."
    My gaze darted around me, taking in all the figures I saw there, fighting the good fight.   Ivar, Dardennes, Tim, Finn, several other green elves I didn't know by name but did by sight ... and Spike.   Demon or not, I wasn't ready for him to go back to the Underworld if there was a chance the real Spike would end up going too.   I nodded my head.   "I'm ready."

CHAPTER SIX

    I CLOSED MY EYES AND envisioned the Earth element coming up from below my feet, running through the nearby ley lines to amplify its energy.   It filled me completely, making me feel whole in a way I never did without it.
    Water was next, weaving in with The Green, bringing a roar of sheer power that filled my ears and made my heart soar along its waves.   There was nothing like being caught up in the elements like this; I felt immortal ... invincible.
    A jolt came into my hands, bringing with it a swirling heat that crackled and growled with its intensity.   Ben was with me, bringing the strength of Fire and Wind to add to what I was already allowing to swirl around us like a tornado.   Darkness descended, tempered by the flames that licked at our bodies, casting shadows across my eyelids that looked like dancing phantoms.
    I let my elements tangle together with Ben's, creating a spinning tunnel of earth-shattering forces that made the ground tremble beneath our feet.   Everything should have been drowned out, my eardrums overwhelmed by the peaks and waves of sound, but his voice came to me as a whisper, cutting through the angry rumbling growls of our energy-monster, so that eventually it was the only thing I could hear.
    "We must send the demons back to where they've come from."
    "Tell me what to do."   I breathed in and out, calming the nerves that were threatening to override my peace.   I had to trust Ben to help me, even if I didn't know if I could trust him otherwise.
    "Imagine our friends in your mind," he said.   "Keep them grounded.   And picture the darkness in those from the Underworld."   Ben's voice was hypnotic, calming me, making me feel as if I were falling into a trance.   It continued, almost soothing now.   "Send them back to where they belong.   They are not of this realm.   They have no place here with you and me.   Only those who are with us in spirit must be allowed to remain in the Here and Now."
    I focused, visualizing my friends and Ben anchored to the ground with tree roots, like Maggie had taught me.   Not just the fae here were my mind's eye, but also those around the compound - elves and succubi and incubi, ogres and dwarves, gray elves and silver elves, witches.   And I pictured a dark cloud or aura surrounding all those who would do us harm.   They were marked with a darkness that matched the blight on their souls.   The elements turned with my visions