I leapt toward a dugout in the dirt wall, landing quietly as I steadied myself for my next move. I glanced at Athen who had managed to sneak to the opposite side of the room. His startling green eyes glowed across the space, no doubt signaling which side we were on.
Cyril was crouched in the entry, patiently waiting for the moment that someone lunged toward him. Once I disrupt the circle the action should begin. A surge of excitement ran through me, and I knew the time had come.
There were about thirty dark demons surrounding the flames. I nodded at Athen and dove into the three demons closest to me, taking them by surprise. I ripped the hood off one and shoved my elbow into his throat. The black mist began to escape from his shell as the demon next to him reached up to grab me, but I used his arm and cracked the third demon standing next to him with it. I completed a roundhouse kick into the remaining demon’s chest, watching him drop. The black mist escaped from all three bodies as I saw Athen soar over the crowd of demons, landing next to the leader — their Master.
“You think you two can destroy this?” the Master demon yelled, pointing at his fellowship with pride.
“I can make the earth move,” his voice growled, “the skies cry, and the oceans crash all by my command.”
His glowing red eyes stared right through Athen. None of the dark demons in the room moved. They were waiting for a signal from their Master.
“Do you really think you can stop me?” he asked, a sardonic laugh surfacing.
“I know we can stop you,” I snarled, my fingers itching to take him out.
“It’s not only me you need to stop.” He grinned. “This building has a heart, a pulse. Only taking us out will do nothing to stop my living creation from thriving, growing. This building has a soul, in fact.”
“A soul?” Athen snapped. “You can’t steal souls from others and expect to recreate a giant one.”
“But I already have. That’s the problem with you white demons. You underestimate the power of our side. In fact, I’ll give you a little proposal. If you let us continue our activities and just move along, I’ll forget this ever happened. I’ll let you out of here as you came in, that is… intact,” the Master continued. “If you’re foolish enough to try to fight, well then I can make no guarantees.”
The Master folded his hands in front of him, narrowed his red eyes at Athen and waited for a response.
”Answer me this. How many souls have you destroyed to create this opening?” Athen questioned.
I could tell he was readying for a fight, stalling to allow us to ready ourselves as well.
“Hundreds,” he drawled. “But that doesn’t count what we took to create the belly of the building.” The Master’s lips turned into a wicked smile, followed by an equally evil laughter.
Athen shook his head, and I felt his anger releasing into the air.
“We won’t be taking you up on your offer,” Athen replied coolly.
The dark demons began stepping toward us, encircling both Athen and me. Cyril was still on the outside of the circle. Arie remained hidden.
“Pity. Let the darkness begin.” The Master started laughing hysterically as all of the lanterns were extinguished, leaving only the light from the fire in the middle of the room as the demons began chanting once more.
“At your command, Asmodeus,” a demon replied, who was standing behind Athen.
Asmodeus? I glanced at his hands and sure enough, one was a claw. How did I miss this? He could easily tap into the realms of the underworld anywhere he went. He wouldn’t need to do something this extraordinary to provide an opening to hell. He was an opening to hell. There was no killing him — not here anyway. My mind flashed to the image I had been missing from the first few premonitions surrounding this place. It was me who the dark demons were targeting, not Arie. This was a trap to get me in here, but why?
I felt a finger slide along my shoulders and turned around to see Bethany grinning at me. So she was one of them.
“Don’t even bother,” I hissed, grabbing her arm. She kicked me in the thigh with a force greater than I expected, and I crashed to the floor. Even though she was only a few years old, I shouldn’t have underestimated her strength.
Athen immediately dove toward me, landing on Bethany and wrestling her to the ground. Ignoring the throbbing in my leg, I hopped up and jumped onto the two dark demons who attempted to stop Athen from attacking Bethany. I slid over to the largest demon and kicked at the smaller one while I wrapped my arm around the large one’s neck, squeezing with all of the strength I had as his body went limp. Athen crushed Bethany’s skull, releasing the familiar black mist into the air. At least now I knew what was mysteriously pulling her to work at the hospital. Being turned a demon would do that. The smaller demon came toward me again, but not before Athen grabbed the demon and broke its back over his knee.
“Nice work,” I whispered.
Asmodeus stood where we left him, clapping. He had no intention of fighting. He had something more planned, and I was pretty certain I was part of it.
Athen jumped over the pile of bodies we left and perched himself against the dirt wall, inviting demons to follow him.
Cyril plunged into the crowd of dark demons closest to him, and the cries of pain began echoing through the air. He was ripping them to shreds. There may not be any stopping Asmodeus before he retreats back to the nine hells, but we still have a shot at toppling this place and everything it stands for.
A rumbling began shaking the makeshift walls and ceiling. I glanced at Asmodeus who had begun kneeling. He was leaving. Going back to the underworld. Dirt began falling from the ceiling as the vibrations became stronger. Tiny pieces of rock fell from the walls. Our time to finish what we came for was diminishing.
Arie came soaring into the room, landing next to Cyril helping to take out demon after demon. I had my sights set on the back room. Scanning my surroundings, I saw only about twelve remaining demons that needed to be taken out. Athen and everyone could handle it.
I needed to get to that back room before the place crumbled away.
Asmodeus’ laughter began rolling through the air, as I ran toward the back of the room.
Flinging the door open, I was awestruck at what lay before me. The most intense blues and greens were boiling out of a hole in the center of the room. The steam, mixed with the continuous bubbling and gurgling, was enough to attest to the extreme temperature of the opening. Anyone who was forced into it would immediately melt, leaving only the soul to be absorbed. If it wasn’t so frightening, it might actually be beautiful.
“Pretty amazing isn’t it?” Asmodeus’ voice crawled over me. “See the two tables?”
I pulled my gaze away from the mixture and saw the concrete tables, with brown, leather straps. I heard the door close behind me. He had me trapped.
“It’s a shame. The beings you and your friends are killing were meant for this ritual in here. Now, I’m going to have to go find more to turn. See, you’re actually destroying more lives by trying to help,” he replied, stepping into the room. “Would you like to know what the grand finale is going to be?”
I shook my head, wiping the sweat from my forehead that the heat from the opening to hell created. It was almost suffocating.
“Hmm. Well, I’m going to tell you anyway.” He grinned, rubbing his hands together in delight. “You and your white demon friends — or I guess you call them family— can always find one another as long as one of you remains in your current form. Isn’t that correct?”
I didn’t answer.
“My idea is quite marvelous. I’m going to destroy you all at once so you can’t find one another. Granted your soul won’t be accepted into hell like the others, but at least your souls will be unleashed onto earth, left to wander vacantly once more. Doesn’t that sound fun?”
He started laughing so hard tears began flooding down his cheeks.
“Your precious soul mate, Athen? Gone. Left to walk the world without you. Possibly even f
inding another to partner with. But does it matter to you? No, because you wouldn’t remember him anyway. Isn’t that how it works for you white demons? You can restart, but only if one of your family members is left to Awaken you? The Awakening process or some such nonsense? So all of you will be wandering aimlessly, thinking you’re humans and having no place to go. It will be fun to watch.”
I stared at Asmodeus and tipped my head to one side. Was there a way to escape?
“Athen, get the others and get out of here. It’s a trap for us all,” I channeled.
“I’m not leaving you,” Athen’s words came back softly.
“Athen, do it. It’s the only chance of keeping us together. If I’m Taken you can perform the Awakening on me. You’ll get me back, eventually.”
Asmodeus took a step toward me, but I couldn’t manage a step back from him, not with the gaping hole. I needed to make sure I got my family out of here first. I shut my mind off from Athen. I couldn’t afford to have him tap into what I was seeing in here, especially since he wasn’t listening to me.
“You are the most wretched creature I’ve encountered,” I snarled to Asmodeus.
“Thank you.” He dropped his head in a grateful gesture.
“Arie, get Cyril and your brother out of here. Athen’s not listening to me. If you don’t get everyone out of here, we’ll all be Taken. And you know what that entails,” I channeled to her, not taking my eyes off Asmodeus.
“Oh, Ana,” she responded. “I’ll do my best. I love you. We all love you. We’ll be waiting for the moment to bring you back.”
I could always count on Arie to act rationally.
I held back the tears and stared directly into Asmodeus’ hate filled eyes.
“Tell Athen I love him more than anything and I’ll be waiting. Tell him to never give up,” I channeled to her as a lump formed in the back of my throat that I forced down.
“Cyril’s attempting to get him down the tunnel. It’s not going to be easy, but we’ll manage,” she replied.
“Thank you,” I channeled back and then closed my mind off to my family. I wouldn’t allow them to see how it ended. How I was Taken.
“What did I ever do to you?” I whispered.
“It’s not to me. I’m doing this for a friend,” he replied.
“Who?”
“A true friend never divulges that information.” He shook his head and folded his arms in front of him. “It feels like your family took out my stockpile of demons out there. Guess it’s time to invite them all in.”
I had to stall.
“What if I came to your side? Would that change your plan at all?” I asked. I knew it wouldn’t, regardless of what he said, but every second counted.
“Ana, that’s quite a fascinating thought. I never even entertained that you might consider that as an option. It might change the game a bit, indeed.”
I nodded at him. “I’d be interested in exploring that option.”
“You look distressed, my dear,” he uttered, beckoning me to come toward him. “How about we let your family witness it? How does that sound?”
Please let them be gone.
I nodded and he wrapped his arm around my shoulders, his claw digging into my flesh as he opened the door to expose an empty room. Somehow Arie and Cyril got Athen out.
“You fool,” he exclaimed, crushing my shoulders. “This is quite disagreeable.”
His eyes were blazing with hatred, confirming he had no intention of letting my family go. But at least now he would only be taking me. My final hope was to close up the opening to Hell before I was Taken. And the only way to do that was to drag Asmodeus in there with me. Easier said than done.
Asmodeus was filled with anger. His claw began glowing red to match his eyes. He slammed the door and began dragging me to the nearest concrete table. I kicked and screamed with every step he took toward finalizing my fate. He threw me on the hard, cold surface as I struggled against his strength. As he secured the first leather strap around my wrist, I thrashed my body with all my might. As he leaned over me to catch my other wrist, I wrapped my legs around his neck and squeezed as I tightly as I could.
The door crashed off its hinges and flew into the blue-green opening. Sparks rose into the air as the wood instantly dissolved. Athen stood in the doorway, the fury controlling his every movement. His green eyes flashed with an intensity that would destroy anything in his way. Gliding over to the table, he unfastened the leather strap around my wrist. The veins in his forearms were throbbing with every move he made. I had never seen him this angry. Then again, I’d never been in this precarious a situation before.
Asmodeus shrieked and grabbed at Athen who dodged his grasp. My thigh muscles were weakening, but I knew I couldn’t release him, not yet. Athen gripped Asmodeus’ wrist and twisted his arm behind him. Asmodeus cried out in agony, but his clawed hand was still active and found its way into my side, burning my flesh. I hollered in pain as Athen ripped Asmodeus off of me and slammed him into the dirt wall.
Athen’s eyes caught mine briefly, and I followed his gaze to the opening. Asmodeus began charging Athen and I jumped on Asmodeus’ back as Athen rammed into his front, crashing us to the ground. I tumbled off Asmodeus’ back as Athen’s force continued to drive Asmodeus toward the gaping hole. Sweat rolled off me as I waited near the hole, preparing to help plunge Asmodeus back into the underworld. He was grinding his heels into the earth, but Athen’s strength continued to push him toward the hole. As I watched Athen’s strength drive one of the strongest immortals back to the underworld, I realized just how strong love can be. It can work miracles.
Asmodeus arms reached for us as the blue-green flames swallowed his legs, inch by inch as Athen continued pushing. His yells and screams shattered the cement tables while his body sucked back into the underworld, closing up the gate to hell.
Athen ran over to me and grabbed me, lifting me up into his arms.
“You came for me,” I cried, looking into his eyes.
“I would never leave you, baby. No matter how many family members are tackling me,” his eyes sparkling and filled with love, as he held me tight. I pressed my cheek into his chest, taking a deep breath in, cherishing everything about this moment. For once I was grateful that he didn’t listen to me. I was thankful I wasn’t Taken, but instead cradled in Athen’s arms to fight another day.
“What did you do with Cyril and Arie?” I asked, afraid to find out how he got around them.
He was silent. Maybe it was better if I didn’t know for now.
The ground began shaking and the dirt walls began crumbling piece by piece.
“Come on, my angel. I’ve got to get you out of here,” he whispered, as he ducked through the first doorway.
The ground began shaking more violently with every passing minute while he ran through the empty room and through the tunnel, gripping me tightly.
I looked behind us and saw the dirt walls collapsing in every direction as Athen soared through the last tunnel. He busted us through the last doorway, dumping us into the park where Cyril and Arie were waiting. They were both kneeling on the ground just outside of the entrance. She was beaming from ear to ear as she watched her brother emerge from the ground, holding me tightly.
“You got her out!” Arie exclaimed, jumping up.
“Way to keep him contained,” I joked, as tears streamed down Arie’s face.
“There was no stopping him,” Cyril boomed. “Just how I’d be with my girl.” He hugged Arie tightly.
Athen set me down on the ground that was now covered in snow, but held onto my hand while I attempted to dust myself off with the other, but I was covered in far too much dirt.
“Ana closed up the opening and ensured Asmodeus went with it.” Athen was beaming.
I smiled at him and shook my head.
“Is that what all the rumbling was about?” Arie asked.
I nodded. “Yes, but it was Athen who did it.”
“Well, whatever. Thi
s place can start functioning as a place to help people again,” Athen replied, not letting me go.
“What a concept.” I rolled my eyes. “You know there’s still a chance that Charlotte and everyone that was still in the hospital might make it.”
“Only time will tell,” Arie whispered.
Silence and snowflakes filled the air. I looked around at my family and was grateful for their love and for still being here with them.
“Well, thank you for letting him go in after me. I think I sometimes underestimate what all he can handle.” I smiled, looking into Athen’s green eyes.
“Hey now,” he laughed, squeezing me.
“Besides, that’s why we were out here. To clean up whatever mess he might have left inside there.” Cyril couldn’t miss the opportunity to take a jab. “He was just lucky we didn’t have to do an Awakening on both of you.”
“Nice one,” I replied, grinning.
“I can see why it is so difficult for mortals to distinguish right from wrong sometimes. I had no idea that Bethany was actually a demon when I was a mortal. I totally missed it.” I shook my head.
“Yeah, that’s pretty telling,” Arie agreed. “It just goes to show why it is so vital that we do what we do. Someone’s gotta help the mortals make the right decisions.”
“Well, at least we try,” Athen replied. “They always have the final say.”
“Still we gotta do what we can do before we get old.” Arie laughed, squeezing Cyril.
“True. We’re only young once,” Cyril teased.
“Yeah, that lasts for like eternity.” I rolled my eyes and couldn’t help but feel the same way. This win was particularly invigorating.
“It feels nice to crush the wicked,” I replied. “Now let’s celebrate Christmas!”
Chapter 8
Three Months Later
“See? If we were mortals we couldn’t have a picnic in the dead of winter in the mountains!” Athen laughed, tossing more logs on the fire. He had just come in from splitting a stack to last while we were here and I was trying to warm up from our late lunch out in the middle of a snowstorm —me and my infatuation with snow!
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