Hellfire and Brimstone

by Angela Roquet

  “Lana?” Confused voices called behind me, but I couldn’t be dissuaded or postponed. The noise in my head would come back soon, and I would forget all over again. This had to be done now.

  The strange light lit my way, and the others followed me to the edge of the water where it touched a rocky stretch of soil. I stepped into the sea and felt hands skim over my feet. More reached for me as I ventured out further.

  “What is she doing?” someone asked behind me. Did I even know? Something instructed me from within. I hadn’t heard her at first, layered in with the other voices, but she’d finally found her way to the forefront.

  Listen.

  Naledi invaded my thoughts.

  Give the light to the sea, she whispered.

  And so I did. I thrust my hands into the water and let go. The light wasn’t mine anyway, and I didn’t want it. It hurt, but it didn’t mean to. It didn’t have to. Some forces of nature just weren’t meant to be tamed.

  The light shot out beneath the water, glistening and sparkling as it spread away from me. The sea floor trembled with the weight of it, and the intense power reached out to the sky, calling forth an early dawn. In the distance, a series of small islands broke the surface of the sea, dotting the horizon. They were green and lush. As I watched, a soul crawled up out of the water and onto one of the sandy beaches. And then another. Together they reached down and helped a third join them.

  I smiled at the sight, thinking of my own friends. I remembered them now, as the last of the light left me, and I turned around to face them.

  “What have you done?” Ridwan said, his wings fluttering uneasily. So maybe they weren’t all friends.

  “What should have been done a long time ago,” I said, walking back up the rocky shore. My legs felt heavy, the way they did after a long run through the desert with Bub and the hounds.

  Speaking of my devil, he ran past the others and pulled me into his arms. I could feel his frantic heart beating against my chest, and my own swelled as I recalled how close I had been to losing him. He didn’t say anything as he held me close, and I realized this was the first time I had rendered him completely speechless.

  The hounds were only a few steps behind, and even Coreen rushed to greet me, her muzzle seeking out my hand with an eager whimper. Gabriel nudged her out of the way as he threw his own arms around me, dragging Bub into a group hug with us, and Kevin soon followed suit. Maalik and Jenni seemed content to watch from further up the beach, their wary eyes focused on the new islands in the distance. Ridwan stood with them, watching our public display of affection with equal parts horror, disgust, and confusion.

  “Where’s Naledi?” Jenni asked after we’d disentangled ourselves and headed up to the end of Market Street where it met Factory Bend.

  My heart pinched. “She’s gone. Grim got to her before I could stop him,” I said softly, shame filling me despite how many I’d just resurrected.

  “Then who’s on the throne?” Ridwan demanded to know.

  “No one.”

  “What?” he spluttered. “Well someone has to be on the throne. You’ll have to find an original believer to replace Naledi, immediately.”

  I barked out a laugh, and his wings twitched as if startled.

  “The council took away my ability to see a soul’s aura,” I reminded him. “I couldn’t track down an original believer even if I wanted to. And even if one did happen to fall in our lap, it wouldn’t do any good. The throne is broken.”

  “What?” Jenni cocked her head at me. “What do you mean it’s broken?”

  I turned and glanced across the sea to the new islands. “I mean there’s nothing for anyone to sit on. The power of the throne now resides in the sea. It is the sea.”

  “How are we supposed to distribute the soul matter?” Ridwan was all up in arms.

  “You’re not,” I said. “It will flow into the sea.”

  “That’s preposterous!” He stomped his foot and his wings unfurled and flapped against his back in irritation. I saw Maalik grin from the corner of my eye.

  “You stole my gift and then shut down my unit. What did you think would come of that? There’s nothing more I can do for you, and it’s your own fault.”

  Ridwan took a step toward me, but then he hesitated, as if remembering what I’d done in the park. If he thought I still possessed that power, I’d let him believe it. His reluctance might have also had something to do with Gabriel and Bub flanking me.

  Voices echoed across the water behind us, and we all turned to see what new developments were occurring on the first island. A dozen souls now stood on the beach, laughing and hugging each other. The energy I’d given to the sea was pure, and I knew the souls affected were worthy. If the godless could build their own paradise, maybe there was hope for us all.

  “Is that Nessa?” Kevin nudged me and nodded down the street.

  The tiny brownie was swearing at the padlock on the sliding door of her donut shop. My watch showed that it was just past four am, but the sky over Limbo City looked like it could be nearing noon. I wondered if this would alter the city’s night and day schedule. And then I decided I didn’t care. That was the council’s problem.

  “Someone’s buying me breakfast,” I said. I linked my hand in Bub’s and dragged him toward the donut shop. Gabriel and Kevin trailed behind us, with the hounds running laps back and forth in between. We looked like hell—clothing ripped, hair askew, blood and dirt smeared everywhere.

  Maalik, Ridwan, and Jenni stayed behind—plenty of strange, new political things to sort out, I was sure. Not my problem. I kept reminding myself.

  Nessa glanced up as our strange party neared her shop. She was so flustered from her struggle with the lock that she didn’t even notice our battle-worn condition. She rolled up the metal door over the front window and hurried inside. “Be with ye in just a moment. Most sincere apologies. I must have overslept this morning.”

  Gabriel scratched his cheek and threw an arm over my shoulder. “Hey, Nes, are you hiring?” She gave him a strange look, though it couldn’t have been any stranger than mine. Gabriel snorted. “I don’t think there has ever been a better time to get out of politics. And the council, well, without the extra soul matter to bicker over, they might as well be wearing prom crowns.”

  Bub blubbered out a startled laugh, the first sound he’d made since saying my name after he’d been resurrected. “A prom crown. That’s brilliant. I should have one sent to Cindy.”

  A dazed expression still clung to his face, but I was sure a little sugary goodness would perk us all up. And then I was going to let Jenni know I’d be taking the rest of the day off. I needed a nap. If she tried to stop me, I’d threaten to let her lie next time a demented god killed her dead. Not that I’d be resurrecting anyone. Ever again.

  The concentrated soul matter that had passed from one throne soul to the next was gone, distributed beneath the sea, and destined to become whatever the souls molded it into. As I watched them gather on the islands to celebrate their new existence, I daydreamed about all the possibilities. The borders of Eternity weren’t going anywhere, and neither were the deities, but Vince had been right to some degree. The souls needed reformation, and they deserved it.

  And that’s what I’d been made for. I knew it now more than ever.

  Chapter 26

  “I think I will be able to, in the end, rise above the clouds and climb the stairs to Heaven, and I will look down on my beautiful life.”

  —Yayoi Kusama

  The very last generation of reapers lined up in front of the stage at the one thousand, three hundred and second Oracle Ball. It was a bittersweet moment, and one that I was glad to be present for, even with the slew of cautious glances coming at me from every angle of the Reapers Inc. rooftop.

  “Smile, love,” Bub whispered through his teeth.

  We were seated at a table near the back, mostly because I wanted to bolt as soon as the ceremony was over. I’d promised Jenni I would make an app
earance, and while I was so over the council’s pomp and circumstance, I was looking forward to getting a peek at the new reaper generation.

  Kevin sat at the table with us. He was stag tonight, his platonic plans to go with Ellen having been thwarted by Ross. The captain of the Nephilim Guard wore his armor to the ball, though he’d left his helmet at the coat check. Ellen had found a slinky, gold, mermaid dress to match—a last minute deal at Athena’s.

  Gabriel and Amy were at the table with us too, Gabriel in his standard white robe and Amy in a flaming red tango number. They were night and day, that pair. But they made it look good.

  “Good evening,” Jenni said into the microphone at the stage podium.

  The council sat in a row behind her, but none of them looked especially thrilled to be there. A rumor was going around that several of them were petitioning for shorter terms, not wanting to waste their precious time now that the positions had been rendered so useless. Meng Po was the only one I cared to see stick around. Parvati and Athena weren’t so bad either, I guess. Maalik…

  The angel had hit every high and low on the spectrum of my tolerance. He’d killed my mentor. And then he’d saved my life. He’d done a dozen other perplexing things in between. Forgiveness felt like too strong of a word. But maybe we were at least even. As long as he stayed out of my way, I’d stay out of his.

  His brother, on the other hand, could take a long walk off a short pier at the lake of fire in Hell. He could take Holly Spirit with him. And Cindy Morningstar could go dunk her head in a vat of holy water.

  The new reapers in front of the stage glanced across the rooftop, taking in the strange variety of guests as Jenni announced them. There were nine in all, and a nervous energy surrounded them. As the very last generation of reapers, it looked like we were going to need a reformation of our own soon. I had a feeling that Warren’s soul gauntlet would come into play—though I wouldn’t be taking the next prototype out for a test run. He still wasn’t speaking to me.

  “Eliza Lockwood,” Jenni announced, pausing as her eyes met mine. I blinked at her in confusion. “With the highest score on the L&L exam and superior marks in soul relations, you’ll be serving your apprenticeship alongside Kevin Kraus under Lana Harvey.”

  The room flooded with applause, but I was too stunned to join in. Ellen was still under my guidance, and now I had a second apprentice? What was Jenni trying to do to me?

  I forced the tension out of my shoulders and tried to smile as the new girl approached our table. Her short tuffs of hair made me think of Josie, but her dark skin and honey-colored eyes were all Naledi. My throat tightened.

  “Pleased to meet you,” Eliza said. Her robe was too long in the sleeves, so she tugged one up to reach out and shake my hand.

  “Likewise,” I said, actually meaning it.

  Maybe this wouldn’t be so bad. After all, Kevin had come a long way in a short time. That meant I was good at this mentoring gig, right? Maybe I was still riding the residual high of being alive after almost certain death, but I was going to take this move of Jenni’s as compliment instead of punishment.

  The rest of the reapers in front of the stage found their mentors, and then I zoned out for a while as Jenni rattled off a vague explanation for the new islands and announced the council’s changed status. She’d already practiced it on me too many times to count.

  The details were still coming together, but it had at least been decided that a soul from the Isles of Eternity, as they were being called, would join the council at some point in the near future. A factory soul would be coming on board too, along with a nephilim and a reaper, bringing the total number on the new council to thirteen, with Jenni serving as mediator. It seemed like a good start to me.

  As soon as Jenni finished with the boring formalities of the evening, I let Bub drag me out on the dance floor. The band fired up, playing some funky jazz number, and we bounced around under the glow of lanterns until we broke a sweat and the crystal bands in my hair slid around, loosening my pinned curls.

  Bub pulled me in close when a slow song began, begging for one more dance. The lights dimmed, and silver sequins on his vest and the bust of my dress sparkled in the dark, making us glow like a nightlight on the rooftop. I pressed my cheek to his and closed my eyes, enjoying the moment and forgetting the rest of the world spinning around us.

  A short while later, we danced again, only this time it was on the deck of the ship. Kevin had arranged an after party for our nearest and dearest. He coiled string lights around the railings and up the masts, and several ice-packed coolers had been loaded with Ambrosia Ale. A radio on the forecastle had been tuned to the Fallen Frequency station in Hell, and rock ballads crooned out over the ship and harbor, mixing with excited voices and laughter, and the occasional bark of a hellhound or helljack.

  I stood at the back of the poop deck, gazing across the sea at the flickering lights on the beaches in the distance. I wondered how the new souls were doing. I hadn’t had much of a chance to visit with them yet, as Jenni and the council wanted to establish some ground rules first. Blah-ditty, blah. I rolled my eyes thinking of their ridiculousness.

  “Kevin’s about to make a toast, love.” Bub slipped up beside me and held out a bottle of Ambrosia Ale. I took it from him, slipping my free hand in his, and followed him down to the main deck where everyone waited.

  My newest apprentice had discarded her ill-fitting robe, revealing a green, off-the-shoulder sweater dress. A pair of phoenix feather earrings hung from her lobes, and I was willing to bet my skeleton coin they’d come from Ellen, who sat next to Eliza on the edge of the forecastle deck. Ross dug through a cooler and loaded his arms with a few bottles before flying back up to join them just as Gabriel spotted me and turned down the radio. He nudged Kevin.

  “There she is,” Kevin said, raising his bottle of ale in greeting. “Our fearless leader.”

  I chuckled at his words, but no one else seemed to take him as ironically as I did. Eyes full of respect and awe and gratitude turned to take me in, and I realized there were far more guests present than Kevin had led me to believe were coming. Way more.

  Apollo and Anubis caught my attention as they climbed up the ramp and filtered into the crowd on the deck. And Meng Po, Jack, and Jai Ling sat together atop the hatch platform. I spotted Jenni, Asmodeus, Adrianna—there were at least fifty more people I hadn’t expected to see.

  “I think that’s everyone now,” Kevin said, breaking my startled trance. “We’re all gathered here tonight not just to celebrate the new generation of reapers or another trip around the sun with the mortals, but to honor the one who made this night and every night after possible. Lana Harvey, my mentor and dear friend, who has saved my life—and many lives on this ship tonight—”

  “Here, here!” shouted Asmodeus. Apollo lifted his bottle of ale at me in silent gratitude, and Jai Ling patted her hand to her heart. Even Jenni nodded at me.

  “—so tonight,” Kevin continued, “we also celebrate Lana, for her bravery and friendship, for slaying the grimmest of reapers, and for bringing a little more peace and justice to this strange world of ours. She’s done more for Eternity than most will ever know.”

  Everyone cheered and lifted their beverages in my direction. I lifted mine in return and gave them an awkward smile as I took a drink.

  The praise felt strange, as if maybe it wasn’t enough. Or maybe it was too much. I couldn’t decide.

  Oh, that which I had endured. That which I had conquered. Yet, if things had turned out differently, even in the slightest, it could have been Saul or Vince standing here in my place. Josie or Coreen. Possibly even Grim, in some skewed version.

  I was nothing special. But I guess that’s how these things worked. Maybe heroes were sometimes clumsy and unwilling, and maybe villains could be well-intentioned. It’s all in the angle from which one looks. All in how we choose to remember the events that shape our world.

  A thousand years from now, I might be remembered as a
grand hero with my own likeness molded in bronze in the center of some park. Or my name could be whispered in the shadows, an infamous figure that marked the beginning of a great depression or the collapse of Eternity’s infrastructure. Then again, I might not be remembered at all.

  Bub winked at me from across the deck of the ship, and I decided maybe that wouldn’t be so bad. Eternity could find a new hero. It was in no short supply of fresh faces. Maybe a soul would take up the helm next.

  Or maybe even you.

  ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

  It’s kind of weird and bittersweet saying goodbye to Lana and Limbo City. I began writing this series in 2007, and the first book, Graveyard Shift, was published in October of 2009. Seven years later, here we are at book seven. Lana would have never made it this far, or me for that matter, if not for the wonderful readers who have supported me through the years, sending encouraging emails to express their enthusiasm for the series and leaving reviews online. You guys are truly the best, and I hope that you’ll follow me into the brave new worlds I’ll be exploring next.

  Many, many thanks to Professor George Shelley, for keeping Lana grammatically in check and for the wonderful, bookish conversations over coffee. I’m so glad that we’ve stayed in touch, and I sincerely miss your comp class. Learning is easy when you have clever instructors who are passionate about what they teach.

  Another mountain of gratitude goes to the Four Horsemen of the Bookocalpyse: Kory M. Shrum, Monica La Porta, and Katie Pendleton. Thank you so much for catching my typos (even when I’m super late with my manuscripts) and for your friendship and your expertise in this crazy new publishing world. It seems less chaotic with our four heads put together. ♥

  Extra appreciation shout-outs to: Andrea Cook for the epic Twitter countdowns, Jill Wade for the industry insight coffee dates at the bookstore, Bruce Brodnax for the great typo catches and fun email conversations, Robin Phillips for your friendship and for always coming to my Sedalia signings, my mom and dad for watching my little minion during those signings…