by HP Mallory
“What is it?” I asked.
“It’s a soul,” she explained. “Uriel gave me the necklace long ago, and told me never to take it off. That some day its use would be known to me.” Tears welled in her eyes then, but she furiously blinked them away. “And I guess that day has come.”
The floating door opened, and a swirling vortex filled my vision.
“You have to be quick, Lily,” Jenny explained. “If you don’t make it back within an hour, the door will close, and you’ll be trapped between your mother’s world and this one. Do you understand?”
I wasn’t sure I really understood but I nodded and stepped over the threshold of the door.
###
Pain rippled through my body, and I felt overwhelmed by a surge of heat that burned deep inside my belly. I crumpled over with a hand pressed to my stomach. My vision blurred. Black spots danced all around until they morphed into shapeless blobs.
I heaved and sputtered, squeezing my eyes shut until the nausea dissipated…
Birds twittered like my arrival was the first sign of spring after a long winter.
I was warmed by the sun, but the wind was just cold enough to require a sweater. I opened my eyes and looked at the vibrant colors of the world around me. The sun sat high in a beautiful cerulean sky that was painted with fluffy white clouds.
It was the perfect day. I turned and walked up the path that led to the front door of my home. A home I hadn’t visited since… since I’d died.
The reflection in the window revealed a woman I recognized all too well.
My mother.
And just like that, nothing mattered anymore. Gone was the beauty I’d coveted in the Underground City. Gone was the worry about never fitting in, both in life and afterlife. Gone was the nervousness about whether Tallis really loved me or Sorcha. Gone was the concern over the connection between Asterion and me.
Now all that mattered was her. My mother.
I looked down at myself and was momentarily amazed to see a… different body. It was my old body, overweight and short. I stood there in an oversized cardigan and khaki pants with white sneakers and, as I brought my hands up to my head, I could feel a headband holding back my bangs. I stood there as the Lily I’d been before I died.
The Lily she knew.
My feet didn’t even feel like mine as they propelled me forward. Before I knew what I was doing, my knuckles rapped on the door, as if of their own accord. And my heart hammered in my chest. I could barely breathe.
My mother answered.
Her hair was whiter than I remembered, and the dark circles beneath her eyes had never been there before. I looked at the stunned expression on her face as she recognized me. I didn’t say anything right away and neither did she. We both just stood there as my mother tried to comprehend how this was possible—how her long dead daughter was now standing in front of her.
“L-lily?” Her voice barely made it out of her mouth.
“Mom.”
Tears flooded my eyes and poured down my face.
“But… how?” she started.
I shook my head, interrupting her. I couldn’t explain how or why. I didn’t have the time.
She pulled me into the house and wrapped her arms around me until I struggled to breathe. I didn’t care if I never tasted air again, so long as she didn’t let go.
“I missed you so much,” I whispered.
###
TALLIS
Jenny returned without Lily, and me heart sank.
“Where is she?” I demanded.
“Having a family reunion, Tallis. Don’t worry. If she does as I instructed, then she will be fine. It’s the rest of you I’m worried about.”
“Why?” Asterion asked.
“Because it’s just a matter of time before Alaire arrives. He’s been making it his business to keep an eye on Lily,” she answered as she hit an alarm on the wall, and steel panels replaced the tattered wood slabs that made up the hovel. Bars appeared on the windows, and Jenny’s associates appeared in armor with weapons of their own.
“How much time do we have?” I asked.
“Alaire’s men are close. I sensed them as soon as they got on the river. Be ready,” she responded.
“He has Lemures,” Asterion warned. Jenny looked over at me and I nodded me head.
“I’ll keep Lily safe. Just buy us some time,” Jenny said as I watched her disappear into her office again and braced meself for a fight. The swords strapped to me chest were like an extension of me own body, as bit a part of me as me arm or leg.
The Minotaur accepted a weapon from Elizaveta. He looked quite comfortable with a battle hammer clutched in his fist. I looked on with approval and stepped over to a window to peer outside.
“We’ve got a problem,” I said.
“What is it?”Asterion asked.
“I see more than soldiers an’ Lemures out there. Alaire sent demons as well. Big ones.”
“How big?”
“Big.” I grasped me weapon firmly in hand and waited for them to approach. A Juggernaut took the lead and bashed its head into the steel door that barricaded the entrance. “Can he get in?” I asked.
Elizaveta gave a curt nod. “Yes. It is possible if they are strong enough or their magic is greater than the reinforcements on the door.” She paused to look through the window at the huge brute. “He looks strong enough.”
“Aye.”
The Minotaur braced himself against the door to keep it from rocking off the hinges, but the hulking creature was too strong. The Juggernaut barreled through the door, causing it to bounce across the floor. Sparks danced as the door came to a stop against the wall. The Minotaur swung his hammer, but the Juggernaut was faster than he looked and dodged the attack. Lemures crept through the opening and moved along the wall.
The bull-man recovered from the missed hit and bashed his hammer into the Juggernaut’s leg. I attacked with me sword, slashing towards a demon on me left until the man lost his balance. Elizaveta and the others battled against the Lemures. Whatever Lily was doing, I hoped and prayed it was worth it.
I knew all of us would nae walk away from this fight.
###
BILL
“Stookie angel!”
“What?!” Duuuude, what in the actual fuck was going on outside the door?! There was all sorts of screaming and the sounds of metal hitting metal and loud, thunderous crashes.
Conan shouting my name from the other room didn’t do much to lower my stress levels. I reached into the pocket of my pants and pulled out a fudge bar I’d been saving since we left the apartment. When my nerves got the best of me, it was time for a snack.
“Where is Lily?” the brute bellowed as he opened the door that led into the room where I was keepin’ a look out over the Lils.
“She ain’t here, that’s for sure. The door’s doing some weird shit though!” The moment I finished my sentence, the hot she-demon burst into the room again. She dropped a dagger onto the floor and approached the door that ate Lily. Well, I don’t think it really ate her, but that’s what it looked like from my point a view a few minutes ago. “What’s goin on, Hot Pants?”
Her gaze shot over to the corner of the room, and one of those lemurs walked out of the shadows. Its clicking noises grew louder, and Jenny dove for her dagger.
“Watch the door!” she yelled.
“Where are your damn manners, yo?” I responded and sighed out real long and dramatic like. “I better be recompensed with sexual favors later.”
I moved in front of the door and used a bit of my angel power to create a barrier of light around it so the lemur couldn’t get to the door. My attention was torn between the door and the demon chick as she fought against the fugly shadow creature. She looked real damn good doing it.
And that was when the shit really dawned on me. What did I mean by that? I mean we did this. We brought these things to Jenny’s fucked up Toy Store and endangered the life she’d built here with all these o
ther hot bitches.
I felt ashamed and... sorry. Real sorry. Emotions were taking all kinds of shits inside me, but fear won when the lemur slashed out and shoved a dark, pointed barb through Jenny’s belly.
I heard myself cry out but it was like I couldn’t even recognize my own voice. It just happened so fucking fast! She was there, beating the shit outta the ugly thing and then… she wasn’t.
Red light surrounded Jenny’s dagger, and she buried it in the creature’s sternum before yanking it down. A shit ton of nasty bugs spilled out of its middle and scattered across the floor real gross like as it yelled out in pain. The bugs turned to ash and dusted the wood beneath my feet. I ran over, catching the she-demon before she hit the ground. Blood poured from her lips and the wound in her stomach.
My angel power couldn’t heal a demon.
Jenny smiled down at her dagger. “Another gift from Uriel.”
If Uriel entrusted one of his weapons to Jenny, that meant the angel cared for her a lot. Maybe even loved her maybe, though I weren’t exactly sure how that would be the case, considering she was a demon. I helped ease her to the ground and held my hand over the wound in her stomach.
“You know I can’t heal you,” I said real soft like.
She smiled and it seemed like it hurt her. “I know.”
“What can I do for you?”
She yanked the locket from around her neck and shoved it in my other hand. “Guard… Lily. Make sure she gets… back in time. After she… crosses over, make sure the door destroys itself… otherwise, you’ll have to do it.”
“I got it,” I said and just looked down at her, hoping she weren’t in too much pain. It weren’t like the demoness and I were close friends or nothing, so it weren’t like I was gonna cry. But I was sad all the same. “Thanks for everythin’ you did for us, Jenny. You’re aces in my book.”
Jenny smiled and nodded and I could see there was more on her mind. She tried to inhale but started coughing up a fit instead. I wasn’t sure if she was gonna die right then and there but she managed to summon up whatever strength she still had left.
“If she gets… lost on the other side, then... the soul in the locket... will return. No matter what, the… door must be destroyed. The locket should… go to Lily.”
I held her hand and watched her take one last strained breath before her body went limp in a pool of blood.
TEN
TALLIS
The Juggernaut kicked a hole into the wall as he came for me head.
Dark spots danced behind me eyelids, and I leapt out of the way of a second attack. A demon forced his way into the door, and Elizaveta tossed a handful of white powder into the creature’s face. It bellowed its rage toward the ceiling and cast a spell that sent the female hurling towards the wall. I made sure she wasn’t hurt too badly and rammed me shoulder beneath the Juggernaut’s chin. Blood sprayed across the floor, and I dropped me sword.
It skittered across the wood and landed near the far wall where a Lemure had pierced one of Jenny’s associates through the chest with its barb. Her eyes glazed over with an eerie shade of grey as green pus oozed from her mouth and nose. She dropped to the floor and convulsed before her bones became too stiff to move. They cracked loudly as she contorted herself in an unnatural way. I could not believe me eyes.
“Are you seeing this?” the Minotaur asked with a wide-eyed expression.
“Aye. Ah think it would be best if we hurried.”
The bull-man nodded and tossed me his hammer, and I used it to keep the strange creature at bay as he occupied the Juggernaut. The others managed to force the demons back through the door.
“Which ones should we go after next?” he asked with a sigh.
“Ah thought ye knew everythin’,” I replied with a bit of humor in me voice. The Minotaur was not so bad once I got used to him.
“You thought wrong.”
I pointed to the Juggernaut. “How do ye ‘spose we get rid o’ that big fucker with the arms the size o’ me legs?”
The Minotaur grumbled under his breath and ducked between the Juggernaut’s legs. He tore open the creature’s shirt and cheered loudly. “I knew it!”
“Mind fillin’ me in on whatever has ye so excited?”
The bull-man made it over to me side once more. “Do you trust me?”
“Nae.”
He rolled his eyes and shoved me shoulder. “Let the Juggernaut hit you. When you get tossed across the room, I want you to grab your sword and throw it to me. I’ll be behind him.”
“Why?” I frowned.
“Just do as I say, will you? We might make it out of here alive.”
“I dinnae like doin’ anythin’ blind.”
He glared at me. “Have I led you astray even once since we met?” There was sincerity in the Minotaur’s eyes, so I relented.
“Ahright. Just give me the signal.”
“No signal.” He reared his leg back and landed a swift kick to the Juggernaut’s todger. I winced for a moment, hoping the bull-man was joking about there being no signal, but the cheeky fucker jumped out of the way. The Juggernaut hit me like a freight train, and I went flying through the air once again. I banged me head against the ground as I landed, but me fingers grazed the hilt of me sword.
I gripped it and wobbled to me feet before I threw it through the air like a spear. The Minotaur caught it and holding it high above his head, he brought the blade down and used it to sever the creature’s head from its shoulders.
Next, he whooped so loud, it hurt me ears, and I smacked him in the head—not hard. “Next time a bit o’ warnin’ might do!”
“We didn’t have time. I told you that.”
“Aye, an’ that ain’t changin’ anytime soon by the looks o’ it.” I jutted me chin towards the door and we watched more demons fight to get inside. Before I could attack, one of the Lemures grabbed me by the shoulder with its gangly fingers. Its touch was ice-cold, sinking into me body as if I had been drowning in a frozen lake.
Bladesmith. It whispered in me head.
The bull-man shoved me sword into me hand, and I plunged the blade into the creature’s chest, but it barely moved a muscle. “Ah dinnae know how much longer we can keep this oop!”
“We got a problem, Conan!” the angel yelled from the other room. “Jenny ain’t breathin’ no more!”
Jenny was dead?
No. It was impossible. She was demon. She could not die. “What ye blatherin’ aboot?!”
“One of them lemurs got her,” the angel responded. “I’m real sorry, Tido.”
The bull-man met me gaze and gave me a nod of sympathy. It was not enough for I had known Jenny a very long time and she was one of the very few I considered me friends. Her loss was something I would feel for a very long time and I would mourn her if ever we saw ourselves out of this hell.
“She was a good woman,” I said softly.
Then I accepted it for what it was and continued to fight. We had come so far, it couldn’t end here.
“How much longer does Lily have?” I yelled to the angel. “There are too many o’ Alaire’s men!”
“She’s gotta half-hour tops!”
I heard the fear in the angel’s voice, and it pushed me to fight even harder. Sweat stung me eyes, as I came back to back with the Minotaur. He pushed demons toward me, and I cut off their heads with me sword. I sent more his way, and he punched his fist through their chests. Bodies dropped by our feet, and the smell of decay filled the hovel. I didn’t know how many of Jenny’s associates were left. It felt as though it was just the two of us in an endless battle against a constant stream of enemies.
“Does this mean we’re friends now?” The Minotaur asked.
“Friends?” I repeated.
“Yeah, you aren’t being a jealous bastard anymore, or so it seems?”
“Ye didnae jist call me that!” I elbowed the Minotaur in the ribs and glared over me shoulder. “Next time, I’m goin’ to cut off yer bollocks ‘an shove the
m down yer gullet.”
“But you trust me, right?”
“Aye. Ah troost ye.”
###
LILY
“I was expecting you,” my mother said.
“Wait… you were?” I asked, shocked.
She guided me over to the small table in the dining room where I’d experienced some of my happiest memories and recovered from my greatest heartbreaks. My mother’s solution to everything was a long talk and cup of warm tea. And on the table before me sat two steaming cups of Earl Grey with honey and lemon. Earl Grey was her favorite.
It took me by surprise how it was the little things I missed the most.
“I don’t have long,” I started. “Maybe thirty minutes or so.”
“I know,” she replied. “Something happened to me when you died, Lily.”
“Something happened? What do you mean?”
“I started having dreams about demons and angels, scary creatures, and dungeons… a city that looked like hell.”
“You did?” I asked, surprised and confused, all the same.
She nodded. “It took me a while to figure out that I was seeing things through your eyes. I could see into the afterlife, Lily.” She paused for a moment. “Of course I didn’t reach such a conclusion on my own but I started seeing a psychic maybe weekly and she was the one who realized what was really happening to me.”
“You always told me our family was special, but you have no idea just how right you were. God, Mom, there’s so much I have to tell you!” I didn’t even know where to start. And I was already running out of time.
“Was I right, Lily? Was I seeing the afterlife through your eyes?”
I nodded. “Yes.”
“Then you went to…”
I shook my head and held up my hand. I didn’t want to worry her. “No, I didn’t go to hell, Mom. Let’s just say… the afterlife is complicated and it isn’t at all like what you might think it is.”
The sadness returned to my mother’s eyes, and I wished things had been different. “It took me a long time to accept your death, Lily,” she started as she shook her head. “All the facts said it was an accident, but when I went back there—to see for myself, you know—there was a sense of… I felt darkness. Like someone had reached out and toyed with the fabric of the universe to make sure you didn’t make it out of that wreck alive.” She looked at me then and smiled and it was a sad expression. “Of course, I couldn’t prove it. If I’d even tried, everyone would have thought I’d gone mad, but I knew the truth. I knew someone or something killed my baby girl.”
