“Smart and pretty,” one of them said eagerly. “My kind of lady.”
Erin blushed but continued to slap the palms facing her, some of them turned to slap five behind their backs too. They were an odd group, a little disconcerting to look at, but their enthusiasm was contagious. By the time we arrived at the door leading to the hall, they were all chattering happily again. The one at the piano burst into a fast-paced song that had many of them tapping their feet to the music.
My smile over their happiness vanished when Kobal pushed open the door to reveal the hall beyond. He kept me close against his side as we made our way down the hall. The dull wood of the wall emphasized the deep-red carpet beneath my feet.
“Were those things demons too?” Vargas asked. “Or something else entirely.”
“They’re a breed of upper-level demon,” Kobal replied. “After what the humans did, I left the skelleins here to protect the unnatural gateway the best they could, and the hounds are protecting the seals.”
“But something is happening to the hounds,” Erin said.
“Yes.”
“Interesting,” Vargas murmured as he rubbed at his cross.
My fingers went to my necklace; they ran reassuringly over the shells as we stopped at the end of the hall and stood before another wooden door. Kobal rested his hand against the knob as he watched me.
“This is it,” he said.
I thrust my shoulders back, bracing myself for the Hell beyond that door. Glancing behind me, I dimly heard the enthusiastic play of the piano as the skelleins continued their celebration. There would be no music beyond this point, of that I was certain.
Turning the knob, Kobal shoved open the door.
CHAPTER 45
River
I could only stand and stare at what lay before us. The entire drive had been nothing but burnt-out and bombed homes, towns in ruins, cities crumpling, broken bridges and roads, and bones dotting the landscape, but life had been steadily rebuilding in those areas. Plants, animals, and humans had been reclaiming their land. Green grass had begun to flourish. Birds had sung and chirped. Insects had returned, and somehow, life had continued.
But here, here there was nothing but death and melancholy encompassed within four walls that looked as if they were going to fall over at any moment. The walls had been slapped haphazardly up around the hole. There was no door, no way out other than the one I stood in. There also wasn’t much of a roof. I tilted my head back to let the rays of the sun filter over my face, giving me some warmth when all I felt was chilled to the bone.
Staring at the broken boards above me, I knew there had once been a solid roof but it had been shredded and destroyed by something. Gargoyles, I realized when my eyes landed on a distinct, gargoyle shaped hole above me. They’d torn the ceiling apart when they’d been freed from their seal and flown out of the gateway.
My gaze slid back to the haphazard walls, and I wondered how many times the creatures fleeing their seals had torn them apart. How many seals had fallen?
There was no way to know without going into Hell, and the only way to stop them from escaping was to close the gate.
Would Lucifer come here if he discovered I was here?
I realized the answer to that question as it flitted through my mind. He wouldn’t come here. He had no faith in me being able to close this hideous hole and was counting on me having to go to him. I knew what he sought from me too: Kobal.
Kill two birds with one stone.
I’d been trying not to look, but my eyes were drawn to the pit before me. The top of the hole was at least ten feet by ten feet wide and was a gaping maw of blackness. I’d expected flames or something to be shooting out the top of the hole but it remained free of any spurting fire. From where I stood, I could see something that looked like a trail leading down the inside of the hole, one that had been carved into the rock walls winding away into nothing. Though nothing threatening loomed from the pit, the longer I stared at it, the more I felt as if all of the air was being sucked from the room.
“I pictured bigger,” Erin murmured.
“It was, at one point. I was able to close it more than halfway, but I’m unable to close it any further,” Kobal replied.
“I don’t understand how the skelleins can keep anything from going in or coming out of that,” Hawk said.
“They’re a lot more vicious than they look. They may not be able to contain what is coming out of the seals or the fallen angels, but they’ll massacre a fair amount of the lower-level demons and any higher-level who dare to try to escape,” Bale said. “They’ll also stop most of them from trying to get back in.”
I couldn’t tear my gaze away from the gateway. The blackness of it, the nothingness of this hole made me feel as if my heart pumped ice through my veins with every lumbering beat. My hand pressed against my mouth as despair welled up to the point of tears.
Bleak and brutal, everything vile and wrong with the world sprawled out before us. I could feel the weight of the souls that had been entrapped there, feel their wretchedness as if it were my own. I bit back a wail as my heart swelled within my chest and my shoulders hunched in on themselves.
“River?” Kobal asked softly.
Kobal seized my cheeks and tilted my head up. His face swam before my eyes as I briefly saw two of him. “Easy,” he murmured, his thumbs brushing over my cheeks. “Focus on me. Breathe.”
I realized he was blurring before me because tears were pouring down my face and I couldn’t get them to stop. Choking sobs tore at my heart and twisted my stomach into a knot. He pulled me against his chest and enveloped me in a hug. My fingers dug into his back as I gasped for air and tried to ease the anguish rattling my body.
Lifting me, he carried me toward the door and flung it open. He walked with me back into the hall. His hands ran over my hair, soothing me as he knelt and settled me into his lap.
“Hush, Mah Kush-la, you’ll never see it again,” he whispered.
“What’s wrong with her?” Erin asked.
Kobal didn’t answer; I didn’t think he knew. I didn’t know, but my tears were finally easing and the sorrow in my chest was lessening. I inhaled a tremulous breath. My teeth settled against the mark I’d left on his neck last night. Acting on instinct, I bit down on it, opening it once more. A sigh of pleasure escaped me when I felt the renewal of the connection between us.
Drops of his blood fell upon my tongue. The fiery, coppery taste of it was comforting and familiar. His hands entangled in my hair, and my eyes closed as he turned me toward the wall, sheltering me from the others. I pulled him closer as the last of my tears fell on his shirt.
Reluctantly, I released my bite on his flesh and leaned away from him. His hands smoothed my hair away from my face as his gaze searched mine. “What happened?” he demanded.
“I could feel them, all of them. The souls. The misery. The pain.” I shuddered and rested my hand over my heart. “It was all right here, within me, so close and real.”
“She feeds on the pulse of life,” Bale said.
“I know that,” Kobal replied brusquely.
“She’ll draw on the energy and emotions coming from Hell too.”
“Oh,” I breathed in realization.
A muscle in Kobal’s jaw twitched. “We’re leaving,” he declared.
He kissed my nose and went to rise, but I grabbed hold of him, pulling him back. “No, we can’t.”
“You can’t go back in there.”
“I can. I wasn’t expecting the raw emotions before. I’ll be better prepared for it now.”
“No—”
“We can’t turn back, not when we’ve come so far. I won’t allow it.”
“I won’t allow you to suffer.”
“We all must suffer in life. We all must know grief and loss. The only alternative is death.”
As his hands tightened on my cheeks, the agonized look on his face tore me apart, but we couldn’t turn back now. “Not this much, not for you,�
� he said.
“It has to be me.”
“No.”
“Don’t make me blast your ass,” I said with a small smile. He didn’t look at all amused as his face remained remorseless and his eyes unyielding. “I can do this.”
He kept hold of my arms as he helped me to my feet. “If it happens again, I’m dragging you out of here whether you like it or not.”
I couldn’t argue with him. My bones felt like they’d shatter when my feet hit the floor. Taking deep breaths, I braced myself for the emotional barrage about to hit me once again. Hawk, Erin, and Vargas all watched me with mixed expressions of concern and uncertainty.
I kept hold of Kobal’s hand as I walked forward, drawing on his strength. Bale stood by the door, her green eyes uncertain. On the other side of her, Corson looked as if he were tempted to drag me away from here too. I subtly shook my head at him, knowing he would only flare Kobal’s desire to pull me away if he spoke up against me returning to the gateway too.
Corson rested his hand on the door handle; I nodded for him to open it. A muscle twitched in his cheek, but he shoved the door open. My legs quivered when I walked through the door again and down the steps. My body felt like spun glass, but I managed to keep it from breaking apart.
“Staying!” I grated through my teeth.
Kobal’s hand squeezed mine, his energy flow calming me further. I couldn’t rely on him to hold my hand all the way through this though. Unfolding my fingers from his, I released him and tried to take another step forward. I found I couldn’t move.
Okay, fine, simply stand here and don’t turn into a sobbing mess. It’s still an improvement.
Closing my eyes, I took another deep breath before opening them once more. From here, I realized there were caves or at least tunnels within the pit too. They branched off to somewhere within the gloomy bowels before us. I’d seen pictures of the Grand Canyon, and though this pit was nowhere near as large, there was something about it that reminded me of the world wonder minus all the beauty and wonder. I tried again to move forward, but my feet remained locked to the scorched earth beneath me.
“You really don’t think Lucifer will come for us?” Erin inquired.
“No, he’ll continue to try to bring down the seals,” Kobal replied.
“Won’t he try to stop River in case she can close the gateway?” Hawk asked.
“He… he doesn’t believe I can,” I said from between my chattering teeth.
Kobal rested his hand on my hip. “Why do you say that?”
“Because it’s… what he believes. He’d be here now if he believed otherwise.” It was true and we both knew it.
“They’d be on our turf up here,” Bale said. “Where you humans can also help to fight them.”
“Plus the skelleins. They’re an easygoing, fun-loving sort most of them time. Just don’t piss them off. They’ll tear the flesh from your bones then,” Corson said.
“Yeah, kind of got that,” Hawk muttered.
I focused on the conversation as a way to drown out the sorrow from the pit pounding against me.
“Lucifer will wait for us to go to him. It’s been years since we’ve been inside so even if we have more demons with us, and River, they’ll still have the advantage of whatever nasty surprises they have in store for us,” Bale said. “You humans will be able to avoid going inside. None of you would survive in there for long.”
“Will I?” I croaked out.
Kobal’s fingers dug into my waist as he stepped closer to me. The feel of his flesh against mine helped to further ease the emotions battering against me. I sought out his life force, allowing it to envelope me.
“We’re hoping so,” Corson said.
“What if I’m not?”
“We’ll worry about you entering only if you’re unable to close the gate,” Kobal replied. “And if not, we will figure it out then.”
CHAPTER 46
Kobal
It took me another half an hour, but I finally convinced River to concede to leaving the gateway for the day. Black shadows encircled her eyes, making them shine brightly. The way her shoulders hunched and her hand remained limp in mine reminded me of an eighty-year-old woman, not a vibrant, powerful, twenty-two-year-old.
The music died the minute we stepped into the bar again. All laughter faded away as the skelleins turned toward us. The fact the drink and party-loving gatekeepers had built a bar didn’t surprise me. That they had distinguished themselves from each other was something I never would have expected to see. I’d known the skelleins for over a millennium, and not once had they tried to differentiate their sexes or personalities from each other. Thirteen years on Earth had changed that.
Their eyeless gazes latched onto River. “It is her,” they said as one.
The one who had first approached us descended from his barstool. His cane clicked across the floor as he walked. I may have worked closely with the skelleins for over a thousand years, but I’d never learned any of their names. They’d never attempted to change that.
The skellein tilted his head to peer up at River. “Do not fret, World Walker.” River’s head lifted, her hand clenched on mine at his words. “It will get easier for you.”
“Why did you call me that?” she whispered.
“Because it’s what you are. You can walk the three worlds like no other living creature can, but the worlds are not balanced the same as the mortal realm. For you to become accustomed to another plane takes time, but you will grow to handle it.”
“We don’t have time.”
“We will have to find it for you somehow, my queen,” the skellein replied.
The skellein turned toward me and though his face held no expression, I felt sorrow from the creature, something else I never would have expected from a skellein. I’d only ever known them to experience two things, fun and mayhem.
“It must have been difficult for you to bring her here,” he murmured to me. I remained silent as I studied the man before me. There was far more to the skelleins than I’d ever realized. The skellein rested his hand on River’s arm. “We have faith in you, World Walker.”
“Back off of her,” I growled at him. “We have no idea what is going to happen. Don’t pin all of your hopes on her.”
A flicker in River’s eyes was the only indication she gave to her uneasiness over his words. She glanced at me. “No pressure,” I told her.
The small smile she gave me caused some of my tension to ease. Wrapping my hand around her head, I pulled her against my chest and kissed the top of her head.
“Three worlds?” Hawk inquired.
I didn’t bother to try to prevent the skellein’s answer. These three were as loyal to River as she was to them. It was time they knew what they were protecting.
“The demon part of her will eventually allow her to enter Hell, but as part angel, she could walk into Heaven as well,” the skellein answered.
Erin inhaled sharply behind me. Hawk and Vargas shot River assessing looks.
“The only time the gates to Heaven have opened to allow something that wasn’t a soul through, was when they threw Lucifer and the other fallen angels out. Those gates will likely never open again,” I told the three of them.
They still looked as if they had no idea what to make of any of this, but Erin and Vargas managed to nod while Hawk had an aha expression on his face. “That’s why the ghosts were so adamant about you talking to the angels for them,” Hawk said.
“Ugh, ghosts,” the skelleins groaned as one, and River actually chuckled.
“But if the gates to Heaven did open, she would be able to venture in. It would also be an adjustment period for her.” The skellein with the cane squeezed River’s arm. “Of course, she would have to figure out a way to get there and I don’t see any wings.” He leaned forward to peer around her back.
“No wings,” River croaked. “How long will it take me to adjust to being so close to Hell?”
“That remains to be seen.”<
br />
“There are too many relying on me. It has to be soon.”
“And you must be alive to be relied on,” I grated.
“You are strong, vibrant. When you come back tomorrow, it will not be as bad, and the next day it will be even better. Before you know it, you will grow accustomed to it and you’ll be able to withstand it with ease,” the skellein replied with authority.
River didn’t look convinced when she glanced up at me.
“We’re leaving,” I said.
The skellein stepped aside, allowing us to pass by him and down the stairs. The sun still hung in the sky when I pushed open the door and ushered River into its light. She tilted her chin up, closing her eyes as she absorbed the warmth of its rays. The shadows under her eyes lessened as she absorbed the life flowing around her.
Turning to Vargas, Hawk, and Erin, I held out my arm to stop them before they could walk down the steps. “You tell no one else what you learned about her in there, or what I will do to you will make losing a pound of flesh feel like fun.”
“Not a word,” Hawk vowed.
“If I hear one murmur about what she is, I’ll kill all three of you.”
“Kobal!” River protested.
“I’m still not sure what she is or how it’s possible,” Erin replied, “but no one will ever know what I learned. What about the skelleins, will they tell someone?”
“They’re the keepers of riddles and secrets. Nothing they know or see is ever revealed. Plus, they are Hell-born demons that have been helping to keep Lucifer imprisoned for six thousand years. They see Lucifer’s entrance into Hell as a failure on their part, one they’ve been trying to put to rights ever since,” Corson replied. “They’ll never reveal what they know about her.”
“I see,” Hawk murmured and rubbed at the stubble lining his chin and cheeks.
I kept my arm around River as I hurried her down the steps and away from the curious stares of the humans who had remained in the clearing. Shax jogged over to us and jerked his head to a small copse of trees. “I set your things up over here.” He ran an assessing gaze over River. “Are you okay?”
Carved (The Road to Hell Series, Book 2) Page 32
