As I settled under a dozen quilts in the bed where I’d spent my wedding night in his strong arms, I listened to the gale winds howl and rattle the panes like some ominous warning of danger drawing closer. I snuggled deep into my pillow, angry that I hadn’t at least given Thomas a punch in the face. Leaving him with a bloody, broken nose would’ve made me feel better. After all this time waiting for the moment to show him what his betrayal had done to me, I couldn’t lay a scratch on him when the time finally came. What was wrong with me?
In his presence, I felt stifled, restricted somehow, my emotions jumbled, masking my anger. It wasn’t that I forgave him. Because I didn’t. It was pity…and compassion. I pretended his words meant nothing to me, but they did. I didn’t return his sentiment of love, but I could certainly sympathize with his position. He’d guarded me my whole life and had formed an attachment over time. He saw Jude for his flaws, his sins, not the remarkably selfless and loving man that I knew. Without a second thought, Jude had leapt into the arms of that wraithlike soul eater, knowing he would go into the pit of hell and possibly never return…for me.
Jude.
Jude.
Jude.
I burrowed deeper into the pillow, wishing with all my heart that I would see him again, that he would hold me in his arms and love me still. As grief threatened to pull me under, a warmth in my belly reminded me I wasn’t alone. I smiled as I closed my eyes.
Soon, little one. We’ll bring him home soon.
I wasn’t surprised the next morning, while sipping warm tea and watching snow swirl on the cliff, to see George sift onto the hillside and march up to the cottage, lowering his head and pushing into the blustering island wind.
I’d awoken early and dressed before I’d eaten a bite. I hadn’t even tried to connect with Jude across our invisible bond. A premonition that something was coming had me on edge. Armed and ready, I stood as George opened the cottage door, his expression grave. Our gazes locked, and I knew.
“It’s time, isn’t it? Uriel has what we need.”
A sharp nod. He reached out his hand. “It’s time.”
Mira alighted from her perch on the chair onto my shoulder as George took my hand and guided me outside and beyond the wards. He sifted us a shorter distance than I expected, speeding us through the Void at a dizzying pace. We arrived on a rolling hill of Dartmoor beneath the shadow of a boulder I recognized from our last visit here when we had a rather tense gathering with Prince Bamal and his lackeys.
A brutal wind cut across the moor, the sky rolling with white clouds, the sun zipping in and out of view. I wondered if it would be hot in hell, as mythology suggested. I’d been in the Black Forest and Danté’s castle before. The air was damp, tepid, dead. This time I was going where souls were kept and punished. I shivered at the yawning gulf of the unknown opening before me.
Standing in the stone’s shadow were Kat and Uriel, waiting. Uriel stepped forward. He didn’t use the cast of illusion outside the presence of other humans. I didn’t think I’d ever quite get used to the aura of magnificent power and the sheer beauty of his glorious gold-tipped white wings. He spoke to me as if it were commonplace to be having a covert meeting on an abandoned moor right before I went straight to hell. I tried not to giggle to myself as the lyrics of an old drinking song by Drivin’ ’n’ Cryin’ popped into my head.
I’m goin’ straight to hell, just like my momma said.
“You’re smiling. That’s unusual for one in your position,” said Uriel when he reached me.
I waved a hand. “Just thinking of something totally ridiculous for a time like this. Nerves, I guess. But believe it or not, I am happy. Scared shitless, but happy. I’ll be with Jude soon.”
George came up next to us. “Be bloody sure you return, both of you, safe and sound.”
“I will,” I promised with sincerity, refusing to show any doubt.
George sauntered over to Kat while Uriel spoke to me privately. He pulled from his jacket a small hourglass-shaped vial with a cork top. The liquid inside was clear glacier blue. Beautiful, yet not as fascinating as I’d expected.
“Hmph,” I said.
“What is it?”
“I don’t know. I guess I expected something more…heaven-like.”
“Which would be…?”
I shrugged one shoulder. “I don’t know. Glittery stardust or something?”
“You do realize we don’t live in the clouds.”
“Of course I do. Pffft. Don’t be ridiculous.”
Uriel smiled. When he did, my stomach fluttered. It had nothing to do with any infatuation-like feelings on my part. It was simply the fact he was stunning in every way. When he smiled, a girl’s natural inclination was to lose her composure.
“This elixir will protect you from the veil. However, it has no power against the evil you will encounter there.”
“Understood. Thank you.” I took the vial with a sigh. “Is there enough that I can give some to Jude when I reach him?”
Stoic and serene, he answered with a directness I admired. “No. This potion does not restore memory. We will address Jude’s ailments upon your return. Let us focus on step one first.”
“Right. What about Mira?”
He studied the hawk on my shoulder, then stroked her head. “I’m not sure what effect the veil will have on an animal, even a divinely born one. Best give her a little as well.”
“Okay. Good.” I inhaled a deep breath and let it out. “I suppose that’s it, then.”
He placed a hand on my shoulder. A wave of power—all golden, bright and exceedingly dangerous—jolted through my frame. His signature was off the charts.
“The power lies in you, Vessel of Light. You hold all you need for defense within you.”
His electric-blue gaze dropped to my belly. He moved his hand to rest over my womb. I sucked in a sharp breath.
“You also carry a precious gift within you.”
Mira clicked her beak together in agitation near my ear.
“How did you know?”
“I sense the child.” His perfect brow pinched into a frown, then he removed his hand. “I am not sure why or how.”
I diverted his attention to something else. “What happens after the veil?”
“When you cross Lethe’s veil, you will find yourself among listless souls and demons who have wandered into her realm.”
“How will I know if I’ve strayed out of her realm while looking for Jude?”
“Black rivers border each dominion.” Rivers. Of course. The reason these creatures morphed from monsters into underworld waterways in Greek mythology.
A rumble of thunder in the distance drew our attention. Heavy, billowing clouds rolled in from the south, darkening the vast green moor to gray. When Uriel turned back to me, his eyes had darkened with the storm. Strange. His expression hardened; the arches of his wings drew tighter against his back.
“What is it?”
“Just a reminder.”
I frowned and glanced at the oncoming storm. “A reminder?”
“We are entering the Age of Gray. The Flamma of Light and Dark will clash in battle on earth, bringing with them a storm like never before.”
“On the night of the Blood Moon. That’s when it will begin.”
A deep nod. The wind before the storm blew his golden-blond hair across his forehead. Even so, nothing marred his appearance or aura of perfect power. “What the prophecy doesn’t mention is that not all Flamma will remain true to their cause. The war will be long. Light will become dark. Dark will become light. And there is no prophecy foretelling who will win in the end. If the end should ever come.”
Uriel took a step back and gestured to the others. “No time to waste. Call the one you have struck a bargain with to take you to Lethe.”
“How did you know I struck—oh, never mind. All-seeing archangel. I get it.”
He chuckled as we ambled toward the others. “Not all-seeing, I’m afraid. That would be a gift ind
eed.”
When we joined Kat and George, who whispered with heads bowed together, I reached inside my pocket for the raven feather and lightly blew on the plume.
With a crackling snap, the well-dressed, heavily pierced, one-handed demon appeared in front of us.
Kat swung the black coat she held over her shoulder and crossed her arms. “You did not make a deal with him.”
Dommiel crossed his arms too, mirroring her stance, and rolled his eyes.
“Yes. I did.” I stood alongside Dommiel.
“He can’t be trusted,” said Kat.
“I’ve made an eternal blood oath with him. He can and will be trusted.”
The demon hunter, the saint and the archangel all stared in disbelief.
“Eternal?” George moved out of the shadow of the boulder, the dim light catching the edges of his chestnut hair, casting him in a golden halo. “You would put your faith and our fate in the likes of him?”
Dommiel puffed out his chest and scoffed. “Dude. What the fuck?”
I raised a hand, palm out, to silence Dommiel. True, he was a demon. One of the enemy. But he’d helped us in the past and had shown no signs of being untrustworthy. I’d learned in my short stint as a Vessel that the world was colored in myriad shades of gray rather than divided in resolute lines of black and white. Thomas was a prime example.
“My faith lies with my heart, which tells me to follow the right path toward the Light.” I clenched my fist against my heart. “Everything in my being tells me to go to Jude, to save him. If that means taking steps that are slightly unorthodox for the almighty Dominus Daemonum, like swearing a blood oath with Dommiel, then so be it.”
“Gen,” said Kat, interrupting my tirade and pointing at my body.
My underlight glowed jewel-bright, my VS humming furiously through my veins, charging the air with stormy emotion.
George exchanged a knowing glance with Uriel. I hated it when they did that, sharing secrets with a look. But this was no secret. With every day that passed, I drew closer to my full awakening.
Uriel flared his magnificent wings, the tips catching the sunlight, sparkling like stardust in the darkest night. “And so our Vessel must ‘walk through darkness’ to find her way to the Light. She knows her path, George. We will not interfere.”
The prophecy. I’d not considered these obscure lines, thinking they had something to do with the eclipse. But no, the prophecy was already unfolding, even with every step I’d take into the underworld.
Kat lunged forward and gripped me in the tightest hug, the black coat she was holding bunched between us. “Be careful. Go kick some demon ass. And bring Jude back.”
I squeezed her back. “I will.” I fought the tears welling inside, pretending I was fearless when I was scared out of my skin. “I promise.”
“I brought this for you.” She whipped out the coat that wasn’t a coat at all, but a long, sleek cloak with a hood. The material was fine but not shimmery, falling against my skin like silk. “This will hide that fair skin of yours and keep you under cover.”
I’d already dressed in full black leather, according to her recommendation. Not for fashion, mind you, but because it was thick and could withstand an attack with claws or blades better than denim or cotton. And here I thought she always wore leather just because it made her look bad-ass.
“Thanks,” I said with a smile as she hooked the cloak at my neck and adjusted the harness of my sword at my back so the hilt stuck out behind my neck at the perfect angle.
George said nothing. His earnest expression—a blend of determination, frustration and admiration—was all I needed.
“Remember,” said Uriel, his voice rumbling with restrained power, “you cannot save all the lost souls you will encounter, no matter that your human heart wants to do so. Your mission is clear—find Jude and bring him home. If you lose your way, trust your companion to be your guide.”
Mira chirped in agreement next to my ear. I gave him a steady nod. “Yes. I understand.”
“Take care, Vessel of Light. You carry many precious lives in your capable hands.”
He spoke of the fate of the world, should I not return, but also of Jude and our child.
Wrangling my nerves before they splintered into a million pieces, I turned to Dommiel and held out my hand.
“Okay. I’m ready. Let’s go to hell.”
With a bored expression of indifference, he took my hand. “I thought you’d never ask.”
“Hang on, Mira,” I whispered to her at my shoulder. She clicked her beak and dug her talons in tighter. I was glad of the extra padding I’d sewn into the right shoulder.
We sifted in the midst of the Black Forest as I’d expected. Endless, starless night stretched above us. The damp chill seeped through leather to my skin. The eerie naked trees stood lifeless, like sentinels of a dead land, its inhabitants nothing but ghosts and memories and nightmares. But I knew better. This dark woodland spread through the vast levels of hell, connecting one prince’s realm to the next. And I knew whose realm we were in. I recognized this trail, this spot where we stood. Thomas had brought me here. We were in the realm of Damas, the prince who eluded us all but who seemed to be working behind the scenes at all times.
“This way,” said Dommiel, his words echoing in the thick mist. “Stay close.”
“Not a problem,” I replied, my words a rippling echo in this place. There was no telling if and when something might pop out and we’d have to make a run for it.
Dommiel, normally calm and cool, was antsy, glancing over his shoulder too often.
“Would you stop that? You’re making me nervous.”
“Do you have any idea what will happen to me if anyone finds out I brought you down here?”
“No,” I answered honestly. He didn’t reply. “What will happen?”
He faced forward and moved faster. “You don’t want to know.”
As crazy as it sounds, I hadn’t thought about what it would mean for him. So wrapped up in my own selfish needs, I hadn’t even stopped to wonder what demons might do to a traitor, for that was what he’d be considered for helping the Vessel of Light sneak into hell. I stepped faster to keep pace.
He led us along the same familiar path I’d trod about a month ago. Adrenaline pumped fast, quickening my gait even more.
“There is a place up ahead,” said Dommiel. “I know that Damas has a sacred place near here. He’s made some sort of bargain with Lethe to protect it. She will come when an intruder crosses there.”
“I know.”
He stopped in his tracks, his expression sharpened.
“Does this place have a tall, black monolith?” I asked.
He nodded.
“That’s where Jude was taken.”
Dommiel shook his head. “I don’t know how he thought he’d get in and out safely in the first place.” He walked on with me silently behind him.
I wasn’t sure either, but I knew Thomas had set him up. I balled my fists and swallowed the old anger wanting to rise to the surface. I needed to be calm and focused.
He stopped at the oak-like guardians, their craggy branches laced over the path—a twisted crown to mark the entrance.
“This is where I should leave you. I don’t want Lethe expecting payment of me.”
“Of course not.”
I pulled the hourglass vial from my pants pocket, uncorked it and dropped a little in the cup of my hand. “Drink, Mira.” I held it up for her, and she did without hesitation. She understood its importance, which told me once more that she was no ordinary bird. I drank off the rest. Cold fire poured down my throat and licked through my veins, igniting my VS. My skin tingled and burned bright. Even Mira gave off an effervescent glow. “Wow.”
“I’ll say,” said Dommiel.
I tucked the vial back into my pocket. “We’re ready.”
“So it appears,” he said with a lopsided smile, the three studs in his bottom lip curling upward. “Follow this path into
the clearing ahead.”
“Right,” I said, needing no instructions. I was only a few yards from my destination. I took a step, then held my hand out to the demon who’d risked much to help me. “Thank you, Dommiel. I won’t forget this.”
He took my hand in a firm grip. “For what it’s worth, I hope you make it out. Even with your hunter, bastard that he is.”
“Thanks,” I replied with a smile and a squeeze of his hand before releasing. That was as close to a fond farewell as I would ever get from him.
Then he stunned me with a genuine, “Good luck, Vessel.” And he meant it. He walked back up the path several yards, then sifted away, a swirl of ashy earth spinning in his wake.
“Okay, then.” I wound my way along the path, rounding the bend toward the clearing drowned in ethereal blue mist. “Here we go, Mira.” She made a tiny squeak.
“Yeah. I’m nervous too.” I pulled her from my shoulder and tucked her into my jacket, zipping it and leaving space for her head to peek out between the sliding flaps of my cloak. She wiggled her tail feathers, tickling my ribs. “Just be still. I know what I’m doing.” I hope.
I walked into the circle closer to the stone monolith. The yellow parchment holding the centuries-old prophecy was no longer pinned to the stone. The demon prince, Damas, must’ve heard we’d been here. I’m not sure why he’d move it now. We’d gotten the information we needed. Perhaps there were others still looking for it, like his brothers. Then why did he ever keep it here in the open, even if it was protected by Lethe, where demons could find it? It made no sense. But I didn’t have time to examine the inner workings of Damas. Not right now.
The air vibrated. A tremor shook the ring of bare trees, branches scraping. “Come on, you bitch,” I mumbled, my words dying as sound drained from the atmosphere, the telltale sign of a soul eater’s presence.
A flutter of movement at the center of the stone, a fragment of tattered gray billowing outward, the tails of her cloak preceding the ghastly body of Lethe. The hag with ratty hair and obsidian eyes floated into the clearing, her skeletal arms opening wide for my embrace.
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