Beside her, I could feel Bale’s inquisitive and pitying gaze on me. I had no idea how to avoid this questioning and Bale knew it. “I do,” I admitted.
“What is going on with him?”
“Lilitu’s blood has helped him heal,” I replied.
Her hand flew to her mouth. “That can happen?”
“Yes, sometimes.”
“Will he be okay?”
“Time will tell.”
It may not have been the entire truth, but I hadn’t lied to her either. The idea of possibly having to lie to my Chosen made my fangs prick. The discontent of the hounds, the most loyal creatures in the world, could be felt as they stirred beneath my skin. They would not take the chance of losing her, but they couldn’t understand the tenuous position I now found myself in with her.
If I killed Hawk before he completed the transformation, she’d hate me forever. If I told her the truth, she may choose to accept eternal life and possible damnation with me, or she could reject it and embrace her inevitable death. I didn’t know which was worse.
I could make Hawk’s death look like an accident, a result of his injuries. I glanced at the young soldier in the mirror. He had no idea what awaited him. It may be a mercy to end his life before he realized what had happened to him. But could I look River in the face again after if I killed him? Could I sleep beside her, be within her, knowing what I had done and how much she would hate me if she knew the truth?
The simple and only answer was no. I’d only grow to hate myself over time and it would never be the same between us again.
The realization made me take hold of her hand. She stared at me, her fingers winding around mine as she rested her head on my shoulder. “Should we tell him?” she inquired.
“Maybe later. For now, let him heal some more first.”
***
Kobal
The setting sun lit the building in the center of the clearing in hues of red and orange that made it almost impossible to read the sign hanging over the gothic, double front door. I shook my head at the building, one that hadn’t been there the last time I’d come through this area. The skelleins had been busy since I’d last seen them and I’d be willing to bet money that the group of skelleins on the other side of the gateway, the one in Europe, had erected something on their side too.
The last time I’d been here, nearly five years ago, the area had still been littered with rubble from the explosion the humans had caused when they tore through the veil separating their world from ours. The remains of those humans who had been killed in the original explosion, and those slaughtered by the first wave of confused and infuriated demons who had spilled forth, had still been here. I saw no sign of their remains now as green grass had grown forth to overtake the charred patch of broken and bloody land that had been here not so long ago.
At one time, the remains of the winding government laboratory that had once sat here had still been rising into the day. Now, any sign of it was gone and there were actually patches of flowers in the beds in front of the building. Not only had they been busy building, but the skelleins had also been planting fucking flowers.
If I had one guess, I would bet this wasn’t a home either, but something far more in line with the drink-loving, unpredictable, inquisitive natures of the skelleins.
“What is that?” River asked when she lifted her head from my shoulder.
“This is it,” I told her.
She glanced at me, her eyes wide. “This is the gateway to Hell?”
“The building is new, but the gateway is in there.”
Waiting for River.
Taking a deep breath, I shoved the door open so forcefully the metal hinges screeched as the door bent backward.
“Kobal…”
Her words trailed off when I turned toward her and thrust out my hand. The sensation of her skin sliding over mine eased some of the pressure building within me, but I was volatile enough to set fire to the world right now.
“Don’t let go of my hand,” I commanded gruffly.
“I won’t,” she vowed.
The promise did nothing to pacify me or the hounds. They disliked her being here as much as I did. I pulled her flush against my side, snarling at one of the humans when they approached. “Get back!”
The young man held his hands in the air and hastily took a few steps away. River wrapped her free hand around my arm. “Kobal, don’t. You knew this was coming. It will be okay.”
I had known it was coming, but I hadn’t expected for it to be this difficult to walk her in there myself. “There will be some creatures inside who will seem shocking to you, but they won’t harm you. They are the other guardians of the gates, besides myself and the hounds.”
“If they’re guardians, won’t they be eager to defend it?” she asked.
“Not against me.”
“What exactly is in there?”
“I’m not entirely sure how to describe them. They’re more something you have to see to believe.”
She pulled her lower lip between her teeth and bit into it. “Sounds intriguing.”
“That’s one way to describe it.” I turned to face the others as they cautiously approached us. “Corson and Bale will come inside with us along with Erin and Vargas. The rest of you are to stay here with Verin, Morax, and Shax watching over you. We’ll be back out shortly.”
“I’d like to go,” Hawk said and took a step forward.
“Your injury—” River started.
“It will be fine,” he replied briskly. He focused his gaze on me. “I want to go. I can be of use.”
River tightened her grasp on my arm. “You said it wouldn’t be dangerous inside.”
I didn’t know if he should be in there, but if he was changing…
Then he might have more right to be in there than any of the other humans, and he could be of more use than the rest of them. Or he could be a bigger threat. If that was so, there were beings in there who would happily take him down and also take the problem off my hands.
“Fine,” I relented.
“What about the other demons and soldiers, the ones you said would be meeting us here?” River asked as we walked toward the building.
My gaze flickered down to her. Her face had paled, her full mouth was compressed into a thin line, and a sheen of sweat beaded her forehead, but her step didn’t falter as she continued toward the building. “They should be here soon, if they were able to make it this far,” I told her.
“Good. I want to get this over with.”
And I wanted to keep her from this for as long as possible. “I know.”
I tore my gaze away from her as we reached the front of the wooden steps.
CHAPTER 43
River
I stared at the large, wooden building before us. Weathered, gray shingles made up the siding. My head tilted back to take in the white sign hanging from the chains above us as we climbed the steps to the porch. In need of oiling, the chains creaked in the slight breeze drifting over us as the sign swayed back and forth.
The Last Stop, had been sprawled across the sign in black paint.
How fitting, I thought and squeezed Kobal’s hand.
I could feel the power vibrating beneath his skin, feel his discontent as the markings on his arm rippled. The hounds were seeking to get free to protect me, perhaps take me from here, but he kept them leashed. I couldn’t imagine the strain he endured to make his own body obey his will.
We’ll get through this.
Kobal pushed open one of the large wooden doors to reveal the shadowed hall within. The smell of alcohol and mildew drifted out to greet us. I lifted my hand to my nose to block the stale scents but stopped myself when the loud ting of piano music resounded through the air. The upbeat melody brought to mind the movies of dance halls in the twenties I’d seen as a child. Beneath the music, I detected a steady stream of chatter and laughter.
“Is this a bar?” Vargas blurted.
“The last stop of
the night,” Hawk said and slapped his forehead.
“The skelleins built a bar around the gateway to Hell,” Bale snorted.
“Are you really surprised by that?” Corson inquired.
“No,” Kobal said.
“Not at all,” Bale replied.
“What is a skellein?” Erin asked.
“You’re about to find out,” Corson answered. “But they are one of the two sub-guardians of the gates.”
“What are the guardians of the gates?”
“I am the main guardian, but we were all created to make sure only those who are granted permission are allowed to enter and exit Hell. I control the gateways, the skelleins decide who is worthy of going, and the hounds guard them against anyone who would try to attack me or who breaks the rules. Then Lucifer found his own way into Hell and changed it all, and humans further changed it,” Kobal explained. “Before Lucifer arrived, some demons were actually allowed to pass back and forth through the gates. The guardians all worked together to make sure all the laws were obeyed when a demon was in the human realm.”
“Amazing,” Erin murmured.
“How did the skelleins decide who was worthy of going?” Hawk asked.
“They have tests that must be passed. Anyone brave enough to approach the skelleins in the first place, already passed the first step. Most demons avoid them,” Kobal continued.
“That’s encouraging,” Vargas muttered and glanced toward the inside of the bar.
“It will be fine,” Corson replied. “Kobal is the king, after all.”
“As fellow gatekeepers, the skelleins have almost always been on their own,” Kobal replied. He glanced down at me. “They may not have been born of the Fires of Creation like myself and the hounds, but they share a bond with us. It’s not as close, but it is there. They’re also not fond of orders.”
I smiled at him even though I had no idea what to make of this. Kobal kept the door open for me to step inside. Flickering torches hung in the bronzed sconces lining the walls of the stairs leading up before me. The maroon carpet on the steps was threadbare in some spots and in desperate need of a cleaning, but I could still make out blue and gold swirls running through it. Another set of stairs led down to a lower floor, but no torches lit the way and I couldn’t see much through the shadows darkening the bottom of the steps.
Kobal locked his arm securely around my waist before resting his hand on the wooden rail. The piano music died away for a few seconds as we climbed the staircase before someone began to pound enthusiastically on the keys again.
Arriving at the top of the stairs, I froze with my foot in midair. My heart slammed against my ribs as my stunned brain tried to process what it was seeing.
It couldn’t be, but it was.
My foot hit the floor as the others stepped off the stairs behind us. Before me, a horseshoe shaped bar took up almost the entire floor. At least a dozen tables were scattered around in what I could only call the restaurant area. However, I didn’t think these creatures did much eating, at least not of food. Pieces of wood, jigsaw puzzles, boxes, and other assorted things were scattered across the tables and the surface of the bar. I was pretty sure I saw a Rubik’s Cube in the back.
All of the tables were occupied, but most of the patrons were gathered around the bar with mugs full of beer sitting before them. They all turned, as one, toward us the second the piano stopped playing. Silence descended over the bar, and my breathing sounded labored in my ears while I struggled to process what I was seeing.
I jumped and nearly screamed when a cuckoo clock in the corner went off. My eyes were drawn to it as the bird slid out and yelled cuckoo seven times before disappearing. Silence once more descended, but this time I could make out the tick of the seconds on the clock.
“Holy shit,” Vargas muttered.
In the dim glow of the torches surrounding the bar, over a hundred or so skulls stared at us, shining like a mirror reflecting a flash. There were no eyes in their empty sockets, yet I felt as if every one of their gazes burned into us.
Some of them wore hats, some wore ties, and others had flowers or necklaces draped around their necks, but they didn’t wear pants or shirts or dresses. Going by the different accessories they sported, I could guess at which ones were male and which were female, but there was no other way to tell the difference.
Their teeth clacked together as chatter rose up between them. There was no skin or lips to pull into a smile, but their jaws tilted in such a way they appeared to be grinning at us. Their skeletal frames resembled a human’s or perhaps a demon’s, as Kobal and many of the others didn’t look all that much different than us body-wise. Most of them were about four and a half feet tall. Some were smaller, some were taller, but they were all around the same height.
“Kobal! It’s Kobal!” some of them cried eagerly.
“He’s returned,” others murmured.
“We thought he’d given up.”
“Humans, he’s brought humans!”
“Why would he bring humans?”
“What can it mean?”
“Do you think one of them could be who they were looking for?”
My head bounced around as I tried to follow the rapid-fire conversations from the skeletons filling the bar. My gaze latched onto the bony feet of the ones sitting on the stools before me as I realized almost all of them had their toes hooked around the bottom of the stools.
“Which one would it be?” one asked eagerly.
“He’s holding her hand.”
All of them fixated on our hands at once before those empty eye sockets rose to me. I tried to step back, but Bale was behind me, blocking the way.
“She’s easy on the eyes,” someone approved.
I almost pinched myself to see if I’d fallen asleep, but I knew this was completely real.
“I’ve never been more disturbed in my life,” Erin murmured.
I had to agree with her. I had no idea what to make of this. The bar was so normal, so a part of our world, yet entirely a part of theirs. One of the skelleins, wearing a tie and top hat, lifted his full mug of beer and downed the contents in one gulp. My head tilted to the side as I breathlessly waited for the liquid to start pouring out from between the bones of the skeleton-like figure, but not a single ounce slid free. Nor did I see the liquid making its way through his body, though I could clearly see the female skeleton sitting on the other side of him.
“Ay dios mio,” Vargas muttered and kissed the cross on his necklace when the skeleton placed his empty mug on the bar.
Another skeleton, wearing a wide-brimmed hat with a big daisy in the center of it and a ruby ring on her right hand, made her way down the inside of the horseshoe bar. What I assumed was a female skellein, lifted the empty mug from the bar, filled it at the tap and returned it.
“What are they?” I murmured.
“Skelleins,” Kobal replied.
“Yes, but are they magic or something?”
“They’re not skeletons as you know them. It’s simply the way they evolved in Hell.”
It was a freaky way, and I couldn’t get over it as they continued to watch us. “We’ve come for the gateway,” Kobal said to them.
“You know what must be done,” another said as it rubbed its bony hands together eagerly.
As I processed his words, I swallowed heavily picturing the “what must be done” as something horrific.
Kobal’s muscles bunched, and he threw his shoulders back. “As your king, I don’t obey those rules.”
“You don’t,” another replied. Again, all of those black eye sockets focused on me and I could feel the weight of their empty stares. “The humans will have to though.”
I could hear Kobal’s teeth grinding together before he spoke. “You will allow us entrance to the gateway.”
“We will allow the demons in your presence entrance, as they have all passed the tests and gone through the gateway before. However, you know any newcomer must pass the test in order to
be granted entrance. It is the law. Only those who are meant to pass through the gates shall. The hounds can turn them away after if they choose.”
I glanced at the markings on Kobal’s body. The hounds could turn us away? I’d never been more confused in my life.
“The hounds have already accepted them and granted them entrance. You’ll let them pass or I’ll unleash the hounds,” Kobal warned.
As one, all of the skelleins rose around the room. Whatever smiles there had been vanished in an instant and a wave of menace washed from them. They may look as flimsy as a skeleton, but I sensed the power emanating from them. If those bones decided to charge us, I had a feeling their sharp little fingers could tear the flesh from our body in seconds.
Kobal braced his legs further apart when he stepped protectively in front of me. His lips pulled back in a sneer to reveal all four of his fangs as they lengthened in preparation for a fight.
“Easy, Kobal,” Corson counseled. “They’re on our side in this.”
“What must be done to enter?” I blurted. “I can do it!”
“No,” Kobal said.
“She’s willing,” one of them said eagerly.
“I will do it for her,” Kobal said.
“Not allowed!” a bunch of them chorused.
“You already have entry. They must pass the test on their own!” others cried.
I felt like a bouncing ball as I tried to follow the voices erupting from everywhere at once.
“Wait!” I yelled to be heard over the growing cacophony filling the room. “Tell me what I have to do first!”
“You’re not doing it,” Kobal stated.
“What is it?”
“You must answer a simple riddle,” a skellein with a cane replied as he twirled it in the air before bouncing its tip off the ground.
“Yes, yes a riddle,” others said eagerly and finished off their drinks. The empty mugs were quickly refilled by the skellein with the daisy hat.
“Just a simple riddle or four if the others care to join you,” the one who had been speaking with Kobal said with a smile.
I had an extremely bad feeling about this. “I’m not very good at riddles,” I admitted.
“Oh no!” some of them yelled.
Carved (The Road to Hell Series, Book 2) Page 30
