by Ching, G. P.
“That’s better. Looks like our kitten has been declawed.” By her aching wrist, he yanked her forward into his chest, gripping the back of her neck and lifting until her feet dangled above the ground.
She whimpered and struggled against him, but understood the effort was in vain. She had no power against Cord. Lucifer set a trap, and she in her haste and frustration walked right into it.
Cord pressed his face close to hers. “I’m supposed to take you straight back to Lucifer. I wonder if he would notice or care if I made a snack of you first.” He ran his lips up the length of her neck. “A bite of flesh or two probably wouldn’t kill you.”
Abigail swallowed. Eyes shut tight, she braced herself for the strike.
With a deep inhale, he paused, fangs pressed against her skin. “Better not. I wouldn’t be able to stop. The smell of fear coming off you is,” he sniffed her neck again, “delectable.” Abruptly, he glanced at his watch. “Out of time for games.” He tangled his arms and legs around her body in a serpentine fashion.
“What are you doing?” Abigail asked.
“Taking you to Lucifer.”
Abigail’s spine snapped as he twisted into shadow. Her cells yanked apart, swept away by Cord’s sorcery. She again traveled by darkness, just as she had before she’d become mortal. Only, this ride would take her to Hell. Between chastising herself for her stupidity and preparing for the worst, she prayed that this trap had been meant for her and her alone, and that somewhere, somehow, Malini, Jacob, and the others were safe.
Chapter 3
Eden
Malini Gupta arrived in Eden accompanied by the other Soulkeepers. Fresh from her mission to Nod, she twirled inside the jewel-encrusted foyer walls, relieved to be home safely. An unexpected wave of joy overcame her. Despite the loss of her hair and the fact that she was still dressed in the clothes she borrowed from the Hopi medicine woman, Malini laughed under the mural of Adam and Eve. Truth be known, she never thought she would see it again. Her work with Dane had been a suicide mission. Truly, only by the grace of God or maybe Fate had she survived.
The twins, Samantha and Bonnie, blew into the school after her, all red hair and long limbs, the scent of sunshine and honey following in their wake. All Soulkeepers carried the scent, but it was especially comforting to Malini today. Ghost, never far behind Samantha, snagged her by the waist and twirled her through the atrium. He asked in a not-so-subtle way if he could get her alone. Ethan and Dane entered next, also hand in hand, although they left the dancing to the twins. Cheveyo, Grace, and Jacob paused in the doorway.
“You’re beautiful, you know,” Jacob said to Malini. “Even freshly removed from Hell.”
“That’s sweet, but I’d prefer if you didn’t have to see me this way. I hate that he did this to me.” She brushed a hand over her ragged, talon-shorn hair.
“Maybe Abigail can make you an elixir to help you grow it back. There are plants in Eden with all sorts of healing qualities,” he said.
“Nothing short of sorcery is going to fix this overnight. I’m going to have to tell my parents I cut it. They never said I couldn’t, but my mom will probably cry.”
Lillian and Master Lee arrived, prompting Cheveyo to enter the school through the door Jacob still held open. For the first time, the new Soulkeeper saw the foyer through his own eyes. Sure, he’d seen it from inside Dane, but the experience must have felt different inside his own body. With wide eyes, he scanned the jewel-encrusted walls and stared up at the mural of Adam and Eve beneath the apple tree as if he were seeing it for the first time. Lee stepped to his side and began pointing out some of the notable features of the work of art.
Grace approached Malini and motioned toward her chopped hair. “I can even that up for you,” she said. “I’ve cut the twins’ hair since they were small.”
“Thank you, Grace. Yes, please. But first, we need to convene the council. I have to know what I’ve missed, besides my birthday. With the mess Dane made of Nod, I’m betting Lucifer will close ranks. We might have a few weeks to train Cheveyo before he retaliates.”
Grace shook her head and opened her mouth to respond. She didn’t have a chance. Lillian, who’d been eavesdropping, stepped to Grace’s side and whispered, “Malini, I know you are the strongest of all of us, but I need to insist that you take a moment to recuperate. Shower, rest, have something to eat. The council can wait. It isn’t healthy for anyone to see you lingering like this.” She eyed her tattered clothing and raised an eyebrow. “You’re their leader.”
Malini looked down at herself. She had to admit she didn’t look or feel like a leader in her current condition.
“You’re right, Lillian. Would you mind sending a gnome up to my room with a plate, and then let Abigail and Gideon know we’re back? We’ll convene in an hour.”
“Excellent.”
With a deep breath, she took Jacob’s hand. Like always, he’d meandered to her side, a moon sucked into her gravitational pull. No one said a word as she led him down the hall to the west wing of Eden, to the apartments reserved for the girls. Most often, Malini stayed in Paris, in the house with her parents, so the room designated as hers got little use. Still, it was assigned to her for just this type of occasion.
“I’m not allowed,” Jacob said, stopping at the door to the west wing stairwell.
“I’m giving you special permission,” she said, a small smile bending the corner of her mouth. “I can’t be alone right now. You’re necessary for my mental health.”
He nodded once and opened the door for her. Together, they stepped into a world of words. While the boy’s side, the east wing, was covered in murals painted by past Soulkeepers, the girl’s contained poetry. Every inch of the walls boasted beautifully rendered letters in multiple languages.
Jacob paused to read one.
“Come for respite
from a world beyond hope
whose death you hold back with shaking hands
and bloodied knuckles.
Come to remember
dreams of becoming wife and mother
or maybe something more.
Come to forget
there is no time for dreaming
until the Earth is healed
or the sword slips from your hand.”
“Depressing, huh?” Malini said, staring at the wall.
“Are they all like that?”
“Pretty much.”
She gestured with her head for him to follow her to the second floor. Down the hall, hers was the last room on the left, strangely sparse and impersonal for her tastes. She’d have to remember to decorate. She grabbed a change of clothes from the drawer, jeans and a sleeveless white blouse.
“Will this be appropriate for Paris? I wasn’t paying attention when we arrived in the alley. We moved inside so quickly. What day did you say it was again?”
“October fifth.” Jacob hooked his pinky into hers. “You should borrow a jacket from one of the other girls.”
“I’ll have to remember to keep one here for emergencies.”
“You missed your birthday,” he added in a rush.
Malini stared at him for a beat, trying to decide how she should react to that news. She’d heard it before, but it was just now sinking in. “What did you get me?” Malini asked, deciding to focus on the positive.
“Your family took us out to dinner, and I gave you, I mean Bonnie-you, a scarf.”
As grateful as she was for Bonnie impersonating her while she was in Nod, the thought gave her the creeps. It wasn’t fair to dwell on the awkwardness, considering Bonnie had kept the wheels on her life while she was away, but the thought of the twin using her identity made her shiver. “A scarf?” She giggled. “Did I like it?”
“Very much. It was red.”
“Lovely.” Malini bobbed her head repeatedly.
“Would you like your real present?”
“Not a scarf?”
“Nope.”
She extended one brown hand and fl
exed her fingers repeatedly. Jacob reached into his pocket and retrieved a small, embroidered silk bag. Dangling it over her palm, he waited until she reached for it, then pulled it away.
“Very funny, Jacob. Give.”
Obediently, he dropped it into her hand. She pulled apart the drawstring top and dug her fingers inside until they hooked on a flat, round object. A vintage silver locket—a plain heart on a silver chain.
“It’s beautiful.”
“To match your bracelet. Plus, look inside.”
She cracked open the heart. On one side was a picture of her and Jacob dancing in the dining room.
“Bonnie took it at the party before you left for Nod.”
“The other side is blank.” Malini ran her fingers over the etching in the silver.
“A space for our future.”
A warm smile lit her eyes from within. She tossed her arms around his neck and held him until Sage showed up with a hummus plate and a disapproving eye. Jacob insisted she eat her fill. Then, she grabbed her clothes and headed for the shower, leaving Jacob sitting on her bed.
He didn’t have to say a word. She knew he’d wait for her … always.
* * * * *
Malini tried to avoid her reflection in the mirror as Grace snipped the edges of her bangs with the tips of her scissors.
“I think it makes you look irrepressible and chic. This haircut isn’t for the cowardly.” Grace smiled. The back and sides of Malini’s shiny black hair were clipped short and ended in a sharp line at the base of her skull, but the top was longer with spiky bangs that played across her forehead. A perfect pixie cut.
“My parents will hate it,” Malini murmured, running her hand through her super-short tresses. She lifted the hair at the roots, as if she could make it longer by force of will and a few good tugs. Although she wasn’t the type to get too caught up in her own looks and made it a habit not to judge others on theirs, a confusing concoction of emotions flooded her when she thought about the loss of her hair. The feelings weren’t about vanity; they were about anger. Fury. Rage. Lucifer and his Watchers had made her cut her hair. With evil intent, they’d forced this on her, to humiliate her.
Malini rotated in her chair in front of the mirror, trying to get a good look at the back of her head. The cut was sophisticated, strong. But did she feel that way or was this style simply a disguise? She watched Grace in the mirror.
Always a mother first, Grace dusted pieces of hair from the sheet she’d wrapped around Malini’s neck, then removed it altogether. The older woman’s red curls bounced on her shoulders as she folded the drape and began to clean up the bathroom. The sweeping sound lulled Malini into a peaceful contemplation.
When the room was spic and span, Grace finally met Malini’s eyes in the mirror. She paused. “Hair grows back. What you took from Lucifer is permanent. You and Dane killed hundreds of Watchers in Nod. Your hair will grow, but he can’t force more angels to fall.”
Malini nodded, but tears pricked the corner of her eyes.
“You’re young for this, too young to experience this kind of loss and abuse. Seventeen is brutally young. Grown men come back from less with PTSD.”
Blinking rapidly, Malini shifted her gaze to her lap.
“Even a Healer has feelings. It’s okay to let them out. No good ever came from keeping them bottled up.”
Tears spilled over her lower lids, and Grace pulled her into a tight embrace. Through a torrent of long, gasping sobs, the older woman held her and rubbed large, slow circles over her back. Face buried in Grace’s floral cotton shirt, Malini let it all go. The fear. The humiliation. The agony. The hopelessness. Nod had almost destroyed her.
“Lucifer is strong and evil through and through. He can knock you down, but he only wins if you can’t get back up again.”
Malini stopped crying. Grace was right. Not only was she alive, but she’d dealt the devil a serious blow. She couldn’t stop now. She vowed to forget why she’d cut her hair and instead focus on the result. She was stronger. And, in some ways, she was wiser.
A knock drew their attention to the door. “Come in,” Malini said.
Lillian entered with Gideon close behind her. Had someone died? Her expression was morose, pale, and Gideon huddled into her side as if they’d been comforting each other. His face was streaked with tears.
Malini popped out of her chair. “What’s happened?”
“It’s Abigail…” Lillian’s voice broke. “She’s gone.”
Gideon chose that moment to extend his hand. In it was a note with large scrawled writing. “I found this in our room.”
For a moment, Malini’s mind couldn’t process Lillian’s words. Gone? Where would she go?
“And this.” Gideon held out one of Warwick’s blue stones.
Malini took the note from his hand and read it twice, positioning the paper so Grace could do the same over her shoulder.
“She left Eden? To help me? I don’t understand.” Malini’s voice rose in pitch with the panic that seized her heart.
“Archibald said she asked for the boat and definitely left Eden,” Lillian said. “I wanted to talk to you first before I sent out a search party.”
Turning toward Grace, Malini paced a few steps, gripping the note as she read it again and again. “This doesn’t make sense. Why would she leave Eden?”
“She wouldn’t have gone unless she thought you were in danger,” Gideon said.
“But all of the Soulkeepers were already with me. She knew I was taken care of.”
Lillian closed her eyes and pinched the bridge of her nose. “Where is the sister stone?”
“Lucifer took it from me when he stripped me in Nod—Oh no!” Malini crossed her arms and squeezed, fighting the black hole of dread that had formed at the center of her chest.
Gideon glanced at Lillian. “We think Lucifer used your stone to contact Abigail and make her believe you were in trouble. It’s the only explanation. Maybe she thought all of you were in trouble. Only an urgent plea would have caused her to leave Eden.” He slapped the doorframe. “She never even told me goodbye.”
“Of course she didn’t, Gideon,” Lillian retorted. “She knew you’d never let her out of Eden, even to save us. You would have held her down, if that’s what it took, and you’d be justified. Abigail knew better.”
Malini shoved between them and out into the hallway. “It doesn’t matter why she left,” she snapped. “We have to find her. I’ll go myself, with Jacob. Nobody knows her better than we do.”
Gideon grabbed her elbow. “I’ll go too.”
“No, Gideon. You need to stay here. Lucifer will try to use you. I can’t have you vulnerable.”
He backed away, crossing his muscled arms over his chest as if she’d bruised his ego. Malini didn’t have time to comfort him. She moved toward the door, praying they’d find Abigail before it was too late.
Chapter 4
Lost
Traveling by shadow in a human body was a tenuous venture. Abigail was sure Cord would never have risked it with another human being, not one he wanted to keep alive anyway. Her fragile flesh was stretched and flattened. By the time Cord stopped and released her, the pain was almost unbearable, and she was sure important body parts were bruised or broken. She folded in half from the discomfort, catching herself on her knees.
Breathe. Just breathe. Eyes closed, she tried to pull herself together. She had to keep her wits about her if she was going to get herself out of this mess. The air filled her lungs and, as it did, awareness of her surroundings came piece by piece.
She opened her eyes. Beneath her feet was not brimstone but a newly finished hardwood floor, and the smell in her nostrils was not sulfur but the latex odor of fresh paint. Slowly, she straightened her spine. In front of her, a wall of windows gave a spectacular view of a city next to a large body of water. She was in a high-rise, but where? Architecturally diverse buildings rose beyond the glass, familiar buildings. She wasn’t in Hell; she was in Chica
go. The body of water at the edge of the city was Lake Michigan.
Turning, she had a moment to take in the meticulously designed room before she noticed him. All blond curls and gleaming white teeth, the Lord of Illusions draped one arm over the back of the leather sofa he was sitting on, the other rested casually in his lap.
“Welcome, Abigail, so glad you could join us.” Lucifer’s quiet voice and hint of a smile seemed innocuous enough, but Abigail knew better. A quiet Lucifer was a deadly Lucifer.
“You. You lured me here.” She bit her lip to the point of pain.
“Yes. An easy enough illusion.”
“Where is Malini?”
“Burnt to a crisp at the center of Nod.” He poked his tongue into his cheek. “There’s nothing my Watchers like more than a fire pit, especially one fueled by Healer flesh.”
Abigail clutched her stomach. “You’re lying.” Jacob said Malini made it safely to Arizona after her mission to Nod. But what if, this time, Lucifer was telling the truth? What if the phone call to Jacob, just like the projection through the stone, was all an elaborate illusion to lure all of them to their deaths? Lucifer was capable of as much. He was capable of anything.
“Am I?” Lucifer asked by way of response.
“What do you want from me?” No sense playing his game. If she asked him more questions, she couldn’t trust his answers.
He crossed the room in a heartbeat, his face reddening with anger. “What do I want? What do I want, Abigail?” The stench of rotting flesh rolled off his breath and filled her nostrils. “I want the Watchers I lost back. I want you back. But since I can’t have either of those things, I’m going to take what you won’t give. I’m going to steal your soul.”
She tried to step away from his tirade, but he wouldn’t allow it. He grabbed her elbow and held her firmly.
“You can’t have my soul. My soul is God’s now.” Instinctively, she touched the cross around her neck with her free hand. It was a wedding gift from Malini and Jacob, one she never took off. For her, it was a symbol of her redemption, a promise she had given her life to receive.
