by Elicia Hyder
Before I could get back up, her foot slammed down into the center of my chest with all the weight of Abaddon’s true size—an angel who dwarfed even Reuel.
I strained but couldn’t budge. The rock was crumbling beneath my shoulders, and I could feel the heat burning the back of my scalp.
Then I heard Torman’s voice in my head from earlier. “Send your power through it, you idiot.”
I sent all of my killing power through the sword again, this time tilting the blade up at the demon. The power surged out like a death ray, and Anya barely intercepted it with her hand.
Any other angel would have been dead, but this one only faltered. It was enough to overtake her, and I swept my feet under hers, knocking her to the ground, and pinning her with my knee in her chest.
Then I raised the flaming sword and aimed the sharp edge of the sword at her throat. Fury screamed as the blade connected, and she charged me from behind the gate.
But my blade hadn’t severed the demon’s throat. The blood-stone collar around her neck exploded in a hissing shower of red sparks.
Fury skidded to a stop.
The bulk of Abaddon’s power rose in a black cloud above us as I drove the sword through the cuff around Anya’s right wrist. The demon screeched and snarled as I grabbed her other arm.
I raised the sword to sever the final one. Abaddon was fading. So was Anya.
“Wait!” Fury screamed.
She ran to us and dropped to her knees. Flint came over behind her.
Despite both angels being weakened, I was struggling to keep Anya subdued. “Fury, I have to—”
“Just wait.” She reached behind her neck, and before I could stop her, she unfastened the clasp of her own collar.
“Stop!” I yelled.
But before I could react, she closed the collar around Anya’s neck. Then she grabbed my arm and drove the blade through the wrist cuff.
With Anya gasping and panting under my knee, I grabbed Fury and searched her face. “Are you crazy?”
She put her hands on mine. “I’m OK, Warren! I’m OK!”
I tilted her chin up and inspected the scar tissue around her throat. Then I met her eyes again. “You’re OK?”
“I’m OK. I promise.”
I pulled her to me. “You’re a damn fool, Allison McGrath!”
Laughing through her tears and adrenaline, she shook her head against mine. “I couldn’t let her go, Warren. I’m sorry, I couldn’t let her—”
I kissed her to shut her up.
Anya slapped my thigh. She was gasping beneath the weight of my knee in her chest. “Can you two lovebirds do that shit later? I can’t breathe here.”
I eased off a bit of pressure. “Who are you?”
Anya looked at Fury and pointed at me. “Is this guy for real?”
Her eyes were no longer black. They were both bright emerald.
“She’s back,” Fury said with a smile. She stood and pulled me off her sister. Then she grabbed Anya’s hand and pulled her to her feet.
The girls embraced. Both laughing. Both crying.
“Can I get in on that?” Flint asked, approaching them.
Anya did a double take when she saw his soul. “Dad?”
He shrugged. “Can’t live forever, I guess.”
“Oh, Daddy.” Anya pulled him into their hug, and she cried even harder.
Flint palmed the backs of both their heads. “Shh. Don’t cry for me, girls. I’ve got all I ever wanted.” Then he pulled back and kissed both of their foreheads.
Reuel limped over and stood beside me.
“You all right?” I asked him.
He shook his head. “Too old for this feces.”
I laughed really hard. “Oh god, I can’t wait to tell that one to Nathan.”
Reuel put his hands up. “Akai nan pecum English ini melam.”
“It’s OK. You don’t have to speak English. We’ll translate for you.”
He pointed at Flint, Anya, and Fury, where they were still embracing each other. “Aval un tacin.”
“I know. I’m surprised they’re able to touch him too. But, then again, souls are tangible in our spirit world. Why shouldn’t they be in this one?”
With a grunt, he nodded.
Fury turned toward me and hooked her arm through her sister’s. “Anya, this is Warren. Warren, this is my sister, Anya. For real, this time.”
Anya offered me her hand. “I’ve heard a lot about you, Warren.”
I smiled as I shook it. “In the last few days, I’ve heard a lot about you too.”
Fury laughed. “We have plenty of time to make up for that in the future.”
I remembered Cassiel’s words, and my smile faltered.
“I hate to break up this happy reunion, but we have two more stones to destroy,” Torman said, joining us. “And I don’t know about you, but I’d really like to get out of this place.”
With her hands on her hips, Anya looked around. “We’re still in Nulterra? How long have I been here?”
Fury grimaced. “Four years.”
“Damn! It feels like I just got here.”
“You’ve had Abaddon inside your head. It would affect your memory,” Fury said.
“So how old are we now?”
“Thirty.”
“Man, I feel like I lost a whole decade. I was robbed of my twenties.”
Fury draped her arm around Anya’s neck as we walked. “You didn’t miss much. Turning thirty sucked.”
Flint fell back and walked beside me. “You did it, Warren. You saved my girls.”
I looked up at the looming fortress. “Don’t thank me yet, Flint. We still have to get out of here alive.”
Inside was mayhem. Demons were everywhere. All the riffraff from outside was now inside.
Torman backed us all into a corner near the door we’d come in. “Listen up. This is where things get tricky. We have to get through the castle back to the entrance hall. Abaddon may be dead, but there are plenty of other demons who’d like to see us all thrown into the pit.”
“Tell us what to do,” I said.
He looked at Anya. “You no longer have Abaddon’s spirit, but they don’t have to know that. If you play your part correctly, you can command this entire palace.” He took a step toward her. “And we need you to command this entire palace.”
Anya nodded. “Be the ultimate bitch? I can totally do that.”
“Runs in the family, huh?” I asked Fury.
She elbowed me in the ribs.
“I need everyone to be a lot more serious,” Torman said.
I bit down on the insides of my lips.
“Abaddon would love nothing more than to have an Angel of Death in his inner circle.”
“He tried to recruit me earlier,” I said.
“You need to pretend that he succeeded. And you need to scare the absolute shit out of everyone with that sword. Got it?”
I raised the sword. “Got it.”
“Reuel, you need to carry the girl.” He looked at Fury. “And you need to pretend to be almost dead.”
“What about me?” Flint asked.
“We must get Warren near the containment chamber, so he can rescue the human girl and get close enough to destroy the sanctonite stone.” He pointed at Flint. “You and I will be the reason he goes up there.”
“You want me to pretend like I’m putting you and Flint in those pods?” I asked.
“That’s exactly what I want you to do. It’s a big deal around here when demons are brought into the inner circle. Each of them are expected to add fuel to our fires.”
A chill rippled my spine.
“Once you start blasting the stone, you’ll have to act fast. The demons will react quickly, and it will be challenging to get through them to free the young human girl and get out alive.”
“I can help him take Flint up to the chamber,” Anya said. “Who are we saving?”
“A child. One who was stolen from her home outside the Nulterra Gat
e. I refuse to leave her behind.”
Anya looked at Fury. “You’re right. I like him.”
Fury smiled.
“Any questions?” Torman asked.
We all looked around at each other. “Where will you be? Aren’t all the Angels of Knowledge supposed to be in prison?”
He took a deep breath. “That will all be part of this ceremony. I’ll go with you to the mouth of the pit. You’ll be taking my place in the inner circle.”
“They would execute you?” Fury asked.
Torman nodded. “They would cast me into the pit.” He quickly looked up at me. “Please don’t execute me.”
“I’ll think about it.”
“What’s our exit strategy? How will we get out?” Anya asked.
“We will have to fight our way out.” Torman quickly looked around. “And by we, I mean all of you. I’m a thinker, not a fighter.”
Typical.
He looked up at me. “That death-torch thing you pulled outside would be handy. Think you can do it again?”
“I’ll do my best.”
“Are we ready?” he asked.
I took a deep breath. “As ready as we’re going to be.”
My sword blazing, Anya and I walked side-by-side through the halls of the castle. Flint trudged behind us, faking the same trance-like style we’d seen from the other souls. And Reuel followed him, with Fury looking mostly dead in his arms.
Torman walked in front of my flaming sword, mostly so he could lead the way back to the entrance hall.
The demons scurried out of our way as Anya did a lot of impressive snarling and glaring. When we reached the steps leading up to the mouth of the pit, my throat tightened. Hannah’s capsule was about to reach the bottom of the cylinder.
Torman led us up the steps all the way to the top. Anya turned toward the crowd, gestured toward me, then raised her fists in victory. The demons cheered.
I looked down. All the way down. There was a wide gap—wide enough for a grown man to fall—between the cylinder and the floor. The gap was much wider at the bottom than between the platform where I stood and the top of the cylinder. On the other side of the hole, burning lava bubbled and churned.
“Hold out your hand toward the cylinder,” Torman muttered, trying not to move his lips.
Anya aimed her hand at the device.
“You have to pull another capsule out of it,” Torman said.
“What capsule?” Anya whispered back.
“Focus.”
Her fingers tensed, and slowly, a clear membrane began to rise out of the middle.
“Good job,” I muttered.
Torman’s angry eyes flashed toward me. “Shut up. You’re a demon, not a cheerleader.”
I bit down on the insides of my lips again.
The capsule fully formed on the side of the cylinder. Torman took a deep breath. He was visibly sweating. “Now put me inside it, but don’t forget to get me back out.”
I grabbed hold of his arm. When I did, the demons below cheered again. The capsule opened. “Once I’m inside, they’ll cheer again. That’s your chance to fire the stone. Then destroy it and get me out of there.”
“Got it.”
Torman grabbed both my arms. “I mean it, Archangel. We had a deal.”
“But I’m a demon, not a savior, right?”
His eyes flared. Then he began to fight me for real. I shoved him into the capsule, and it closed over top of him. The demons went wild as Torman fought against his new cell.
I aimed my hands at the massive stone above us, releasing all the firepower I had in me. The cheers below faded to confused whispers, then escalated to shouting and arguing.
Anya tried to calm them, but as the stone changed from purple to red to orange, the demons became enraged. They began to charge the steps. Reuel returned Fury to her feet to get ready to fight.
The stone turned yellow.
Keeping my hands in place, I backed to the edge of the landing. The demons were right behind me.
The stone turned blue.
I took off running, then leapt toward the cylinder and planted my foot upon its rim. I pushed off, catapulting myself up, and I drove the flaming sword into the center of the stone.
Light exploded in every direction, followed by another shockwave that blasted the unsuspecting demons off the steps. The cylinder stopped spinning, right before Hannah’s capsule reached the bottom.
I jerked the sword free from the dead stone, dropping back onto the platform beside Anya. But there was no time for celebration. The demons were racing up the stairs again.
Stepping in front of Fury and Reuel, I sent an explosion of death through the sword into the demons. Light fractured through their bodies, splintering like broken glass before blowing them apart.
Demons began to scatter and flee when they saw we wouldn’t be stopped. Reuel, Fury, Anya, and Flint followed me as I cleared the path down the stairs. When we reached the bottom, Anya and Reuel battled the few remaining demons.
“Fury!” I yelled, crossing the floor to the cylinder. She ran to catch up with me as I approached the hole in the floor. Even standing on the edge, I was still a good twelve to fifteen feet from the cylinder.
The steam rising from below burned my face.
“Warren, you can’t make that jump,” Fury said, grabbing onto my arm.
“I have to try.”
Her fingers dug into my skin. I turned and kissed her, long and hard. Then I pulled away and smiled. “For luck.”
After checking around me for anymore threats, I sheathed my sword on my back. Then I backed all the way to the main door. Taking a deep breath, I stared at my goal ahead. The cylinder had curved groves where I could grab and get a foothold…I just had to get there.
I took off running, and when I reached the edge, I flung myself over the gap. When I opened my eyes—I hadn’t even realized I’d closed them—I was clinging to the side of the cylinder beside Hannah’s capsule.
Fury screamed with delight on the floor. “I’m not done yet,” I said, straining as I lowered myself closer to Hannah.
Inside, the girl’s soul was entranced. Her eyes were coated with a white film, and she wasn’t moving.
I grabbed my sword and slit open the membrane. I’d just gotten the sword back into the scabbard before the girl began to slip out. I caught her, barely, by the arm.
“Reuel, help!” Fury yelled.
Fortunately for that moment, the girl was small. Which, while it made the task easier, it sickened me even more.
Reuel came to the side of the gap, then he used his power to grab hold of Hannah. He strained as he lifted her safely over the gap, then Fury grabbed her. The two of them fell to the floor.
I looked up. Torman stared down at me from near the top. He banged uselessly on the membrane, his mouth flapping wildly.
“What are you going to do about him?” Reuel asked.
I sighed and started to climb.
“You’re going after a demon?” Flint asked.
I strained to reach the next groove. “If I don’t keep my word, what makes me any better than the rest of them?”
“Allison McGrath,” I heard Flint say with a stern voice, “if you don’t cherish that man, I’ll haunt you for the rest of your days.”
I laughed, and my hand slipped.
My companions below gasped.
Quickly recovering my grip, I continued to climb. But with the intense heat rising out of the pit, my whole body was beginning to sweat.
I thought of the recruits on the Claymore tower just a few days before. At least they had a safety harness.
God, how much had changed since then.
“Reuel, I need you up top!” I yelled down when I reached the bottom of Torman’s capsule.
I climbed past him, every muscle in my body screaming, and when I got to the top, I waited for Reuel to reach the platform. He was still almost twenty feet above us. “I’ll slit open the top, then help him climb the rest of the wa
y. Can you grab him when we get closer?”
Reuel held up both thumbs.
Above the capsule, I held on with one hand as I wiped the other on my jeans. Then I grasped the groove with the dry hand and reached for my sword with the other. I slit the top open, and Torman stuck his head out, gasping for air like he needed it to live.
“You came back for me,” he said, wild-eyed with astonishment.
“I said I would, didn’t I?”
“But I didn’t actually believe you.”
“Well, that’s the difference between you and me.” Straining, I hoisted him out of the capsule. “You have to climb. When you’re close enough, Reuel can help you the rest of the way.”
“I can’t do this,” he whimpered.
“You have too. I didn’t come all this way for nothing, and there’s no other way down except through that hole.”
Torman looked down.
“Eyes up, Torman. Focus on where you want to go.”
“This would be so much easier if we could fly,” he said, reaching for the next groove in the cylinder.
“Why can’t we fly?” I asked, knowing it was better to keep him distracted…and I really wanted to know.
“It’s the gravity of the bedrock.” All the muscles pulled in his face as he reached for another groove. “It’s so dense, it actually keeps us grounded.”
“If gravity’s that strong, why does nothing else seem to be affected?”
“Who says that’s true?” He looked at me, and his foot slipped.
I grabbed the back of his collar and held him against the wall. “OK,” I said. “No more talking. Pay attention. We’re almost there.”
Reuel held onto the rail of the platform with one hand and stretched to grab Torman’s arm. Torman tried to reach him but could only graze his fingertips. When Torman reached again, I pushed his shoulder the extra inch.
Reuel grabbed him.
And I lost my grip completely.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
They say because it’s not as dependent on oxygen, the last part of the brain to die is the same part that stores autobiographical memories. This is why so many people report seeing their lives “flash before their eyes” during near-death experiences.
