by Ivy Asher
The guys share a look.
“So it’s not our gate and it’s not yours,” Delta says.
“Come on, we need to check the other one,” Echo announces, and then everyone spins and races for the safe zone just outside of the portal’s wards so we can shift again.
Just as we get there, Alder reaches out a hand, and I immediately place mine in his and then reach out to Delta, just in case her protective mates try to leave her behind. I know we’re goin’ to a different portal, but I haven’t heard anythin’ about it or the Guardians there, and I have no idea where it is.
I don’t get time to ask any questions before Alder pops us away from the familiar humid Georgia air. In the next blink, we’re gone from home, and we’re standin’ on a hill that’s just big enough to see trees with different colored leaves dotted everywhere below. I spot a clearin’ with old headstones sprinkled around the grass, a brick groundskeeper buildin’ off to the side of the graves, and I can even see a town in the distance, past another line of trees.
It would be pretty. Would be, if the sky wasn’t stained with a blood-red haze. If the town wasn’t on fire, fillin’ the air with smoke and screams. And if three bodies weren’t cut to shreds outside the groundskeeper buildin’, broken and bleedin’ all over the short grass.
We’re too late.
Delta’s demons shift in a millisecond after we do, and I hear the growls of frustration and pain as they take in what I just did. Devastation wafts through the group, and we all pause, not sure what to do first. It looks as though the town has been attacked, and the graveyard is quiet—eerily so.
“The Guardians?” Delta asks with a hard gulp, her gray eyes locked on the dead bodies of the three male demons below.
“Yeah,” Echo says thickly, his voice hollow as he stares down at them. I wonder if they were friends or if he just sees himself and his Guardians when he looks at them.
I have to divert my eyes from the broken figures outside the brick buildin’. Their bodies...it wasn’t a nice death. They’re torn and bloody, with horrible expressions on their faces that prove how violent and painful their end was.
“Where are the new Guardians?” Delta asks, her voice filled with shock and sorrow. “Shouldn’t the Hellgate have called the next in their bloodline to come and protect it right after these three were killed?”
Alder clears his throat. “It doesn’t always work like that...if there is a next in the bloodline to call, it would have, but the Guardians here didn’t have any next of kin left. They were the last of their bloodline. They never took mates to carry on their line. They’ve been hiring Outer Ringers to help them for decades now to help sustain the increasing power suck. This portal is completely unprotected now.”
Delta and I share an oh, shit look.
“So what do we do?” I ask, panic in my tone at his words.
How can we have a gate with no Guardians to protect it? How will we keep everyone safe if we can’t keep the demons with no respect for balance inside Hell?
Rafferty takes charge, his hand comin’ up to form a wicked lookin’ blade made entirely of ice. “We need to split up,” he says, his gaze hooked on the town in the distance where screams and loud booms are still fillin’ the air. He hands the ice sword off to Delta, and then quickly makes more for Crux, Echo, and then Flint, passin’ them off without a word as they take them.
“What’s the plan?” Flint says, all business, his skin rock hard and matchin’ the dark glint in his eyes as he clutches the weapon.
“Some of us need to go into the town to protect the humans. We have no idea what kind of demons broke through, how many, or what kind of havoc they’re spreading,” the blue demon says, his lips flattenin’ into a thin line.
“I’ll go,” Jerif immediately volunteers, and Delta shoots a worried look at him.
“Me too,” Flint offers, and I give his hand a nervous squeeze. This all just got very, very real, and it scares the piss out of me.
Rafferty nods and looks to Crux and Echo. “Your powers can be useful in the fight as well. You okay with going?”
“We’ll handle it,” Echo assures him, just as his shadow tattoos start to drip off his skin and collect around his body in an ominous vapor.
“I’ll turn all those fuckers inside out,” Crux growls.
“Good,” Rafferty says before his eyes go to Alder. “While they’re doing that, we need to get this portal closed and try to stabilize the Hellgate so that no more demons can break through. We have to assume there aren’t any Guardians coming forward, so it’s up to us.”
My lavender demon rolls his shoulders back like he’s readyin’ himself for a fight, and then his eyes fall on my sister and me. “Delta, if we can get you down there safely, can you show Medley whatever Annulus power you used to help the Hellgate? Our only hope is that you two can stabilize it right from the source.”
Delta forces herself to stand up straighter. “Yeah, we can do it,” she says without hesitation.
“Fuck,” Jerif curses, the fiery color of his hair simmerin’ as intensely as his eyes.
“Jerif—” Delta begins, but he cuts off whatever argument she was about to launch by slammin’ his mouth to hers.
The kiss is hard and intense and possessive, but it’s over in a flash, and then he’s grippin’ her chin and starin’ at her hard. “I know,” he tells her. “I don’t fucking like it, but I know I need to let you do shit like this. So just fucking be careful,” he all but growls.
Delta nods and places one last peck on his lips. “I will. I can do this. I’ll be okay.”
He steps back and nods. “I’ll see you soon, Warrior Princess,” he promises her, and then he looks at the others. “Let’s go.”
Echo and Crux both embrace Delta too, while I turn at the feel of Flint’s hand on my waist. “Be careful,” I whisper as he digs hard fingers into my skin, grippin’ me like he doesn’t wanna let go.
“Watch your back,” he tells me, stormy eyes flickin’ over my face like he’s memorizin’ me. “And if there’s danger, you scythe the fuck out of them, or you fly away as fast as you can. Got it, Peaches?”
I swallow hard, tryin’ not to let my gallopin’ heart beat right out of my chest or let the fear show on my features. I need to be strong. “I got it.”
Flint nods and shares a look with Alder. “Take care of our mate, brother.”
In the next blink, all four of the demons are racin’ away, runnin’ toward the burnin’ town in the distance.
Alder and Rafferty turn to Delta and me, and the four of us share a look as the weight of what we need to do settles on our shoulders.
“You ready?” Alder asks us.
Matchin’ gray eyes meet as my sister and I emotionally and mentally steel ourselves, and then we both answer at the same time. “We’re ready.”
We have to be.
35
Our group is forced to pass the gruesome bodies of the dead Guardians as we race to the groundskeeper buildin’. Blood scents the air, the deceased Guardians’ skin and muscle and bone contorted like a grotesque Picasso paintin’ with so many parts not quite where they should be.
“Don’t look,” Alder tells me as he grips my hand and tugs me forward. I hadn’t even realized that I’d stopped walkin’ to stare at them in horror. I don’t know what the hell kind of demons did this to them, but I don’t wanna meet them and find out.
Inside the buildin’, there’s nothin but daylight filterin’ in through a dirty window to light up a plain desk and chair in the corner. In the middle of the space, there’s a large pattern of stones set into the wooden planks that make up the rest of the floor.
Rafferty and Alder immediately lead us over to it until the four of us are standin’ over the ancient lookin’ stones with strange symbols carved into them.
Rafferty says somethin’ under his breath, and then my eyes blink at the sudden pitch-black darkness that comes over my vision as the room fades away. I don’t even have time for a mental pe
p talk to get myself ready for my first trip to Hell.
My chest constricts and the sense of vertigo nearly sends me tumblin’ down. I probably would’ve pitched all the way forward if it weren’t for Alder’s hold on my hand.
The moment I’m sure I’m about to either fall or vomit, the world settles around me again, and I blink at a dim replica of the groundskeeper buildin’, except it’s about ten times bigger.
Did we shrink?
I look around and see the odd desk and chair in a far corner, and it looks normal, which means we’re the same size, but the inside of this buildin’ grew like it took some potion and is destined to fall down a rabbit hole.
“This way,” Alder announces, tugging me forward as Delta and Rafferty match our steps.
“Is this Hell’s Embrace?” I ask, my head on a swivel as I look around and take in the eerie space.
“Yeah. Creepy, huh?” Delta whispers in the silent space. “The Hellgate is up ahead.”
Together, we walk carefully through the extra-large Hell-side groundskeeper buildin’, all of us on high alert. Just as we step out of the doorway and into a long cavern, an ear-splittin’ gong sound explodes all around me, the noise so loud that it makes my teeth vibrate and my body quake.
We all cover our ears and crouch down as though we can hide from the assaultin’ din, but it does nothin’ to save our eardrums.
“What was that?” I shout with fear as I look wildly around, seein’ Delta grimace as she rubs her ears.
The noise slowly starts to die away, and Delta shakes her head. “I forgot about that,” she confesses, and Rafferty nods in agreement as he looks around warily. “That happened the first time I came down here too,” she explains, confusion swirlin’ in her eyes as her shoulders lift up in a confused shrug.
Alder looks worried as he and Rafferty scan everythin’ around us like they’re anticipatin’ an attack. When nothin’ jumps out and all is quiet again—minus the ringin’ in my ears—Alder plucks a white flower from behind his ear and once again grabs my hand. I squeeze his just a little tighter.
We all stand up again and cautiously continue to move further into the cavern. At first, it’s just gray and plain. Then, I see a patch of grass growin’ through the cracked ground. Then a larger patch with purple flowers. The further in we get, the less sparse and sporadic the vegetation becomes. It goes from odd patches of green to thicker blankets of grass and flowers. Trees start to pop up and multiply as we make our way through until I see that a third of the entire cavern—the entire right side—is covered in this lush, beautiful, wild lookin’ garden, extendin’ from the ground and spreadin’ right up the wall.
It’s strange lookin’—a strip of beauty on the right side, buttin’ up against a completely bare and desolate landscape in the middle and the entire left side of the cavern. It’s as though someone forgot to water the other side or somethin’.
I can’t take my eyes off all the plants flourishin’ down here of all places, but as we pass even more of it, my attention gets stolen away, my gaze landin’ on the massive, fiery double-doored Hellgate at the end.
Well, I’ll be.
“The fire is purple just like your wings and hair,” I observe, my tone filled with awe. I can practically feel the power of the Hellgate and the heat reachin’ out to me, beggin’ me to come and play.
A grin crosses Delta’s face. “Yeah, it used to have red flames, but after I did my thing, it changed,” she says, lookin’ smug and satisfied about that. “It’s so pretty, don’t you think?”
“It’s been the talk of Hell,” Rafferty says quietly as we continue to walk toward it. “The authorized demons who’ve passed through recently can’t stand not knowing why the color of the flames suddenly changed.”
Delta’s grin widens. “Secret Annulus tricks.”
“I like purple,” I say, noddin’ to my hair and wings. “But I still wish I could’ve gotten green wings. I miss my pretty mint hair.”
“I like you in any color, Petal,” Alder says, pressin’ his lips against my temple and makin’ me go all gooey inside. “But this purple suits you.”
“You’re just sayin’ that because I almost match you now,” I tease with a smile as I nod to his lavender skin. He winks at me.
“Aww, you guys are cute,” Delta says, and I’m grateful for the levity of this conversation, since it’s really helpin’ to calm me down and distract me from the fact that I’m about to face the actual Hellgate and try to fix the damn thing with nothin’ but the blood in my veins and the apparent power that I’ve inherited.
Reality is crashin’ down hard, and I suddenly find the whole situation intimidatin’. What if I mess up?
I thought I had a lot of pressure ridin’ on my shoulders when I was just a courier tryin’ to get my packages delivered on time. Now I’m in Hell, about to attempt to fix the Gate, and responsible for savin’ people’s lives. To say it’s intense is an understatement.
As we near it, Delta reaches out and plucks my hand from Alder’s. She starts pullin’ me closer to the heat of the fire that’s climbin’ up the doors, and as we get closer, I can see that they’re made of bones. Instead of bein’ grossed out, I’m suddenly overcome with the sacrifice these bodies made to help guard the realms and maintain the balance.
“There are skulls placed throughout the doors,” Delta starts tellin’ me as we get even closer. “They belong to our Annuli ancestors. You have to cut your hand and bleed on each one. It fortifies the gate,” she explains.
“That’s it?” I ask, feelin’ a little surprised. I expected a much larger and more complicated ritual or somethin’.
“That’s it,” she confirms, and a renewed sense of urgency floods me.
I know the others are countin’ on me to secure this thing as much as possible, and I’m aware that until I do, more demons could come floodin’ through at any moment. My mind flashes back to Delta tellin’ me about the attack they survived, and the last thing I want is to put her, our mates, or me through somethin’ like that again.
With Delta’s help, I waste no time locatin’ the first skull all the way on the left. I cut my palm with the blade of my scythe and quickly close the difference between me and the skull. As I get closer, I can see the symbol etched into the forehead of it and feel the intense heat of the flames.
I shove my hand through the fire, trustin’ that I’ll be okay, and as soon as my bloody hand connects with the symbol etched into the forehead of the skull, time completely slows down. The purple flames flicker languidly over my arm and up the Hellgate, and a whooshin’ sound fills my ears as I’m sucked into a vision of a different time and place.
I see angels buildin’ Hell, formin’ the Rings, and divyin’ up responsibilities. Wars are fought and scores of people turned to dust on the blades of my ancestors. I see firsthand what Delta and I were created to do, and exaltation fills me as well as a deep sorrow that so many of us are gone now, that we are the last.
I witness a group of scythe wieldin’ Annuli gatherin’ in a circle around a demon. Their scythes extend and touch the other scythes, like the weapons alone are cagin’ the evil entity in. The demon screams as they determinedly move in, and I see a crackle of power move through the circle.
A woman with blood-red hair and matchin’ wings looks over at me as though she’s steppin’ out of the moment and acknowledgin’ that I’m watchin’ it. Her eyes are filled with so much love and faith, and I feel my throat tighten and my eyes well up. She nods at me like she feels it too, and goosebumps crawl up my arm as a tear drips down my cheek.
And then in a blink, her focus is back in her reality and on the task at hand. She nods at the others, and I watch as every touchin’ scythe in the group is rotated, the blades all flashin’ in toward the demon at exactly the same time. The demon doesn’t turn to dust like I expect it to. Instead, it bellows out in pain and then appears to get sucked in on itself, like everythin’ the demon was made of, includin’ its very soul, was sucked into a va
cuum until there was nothin’ left.
With a gasp, I’m yanked back out of that moment like somethin’ is tuggin’ on my soul, and suddenly, I’m back, standin’ with a bloody hand pressed against a skull that’s been set into the Hellgate itself.
“Whoa,” I exclaim as I pull my hand back.
“I know, right?” Delta says with understandin’, and I look over, surprised to see that even though everythin’ around me has been slowed down, she hasn’t been. “Did you see the lady with the red wings and hair too?” I ask her, and she nods.
“Will that happen with every skull?” I ask, taken aback.
“It happened just the first time with me,” she explains, her tone reverent, and I take a deep breath and wipe at the tears on my cheeks with my forearm. That was intense.
I turn back to the Hellgate and press my hand against the next skull. I’m not pulled into any more flashbacks, but a wave of emotion hits me nonetheless. It’s as though the bones are acknowledgin’ my presence, recognizin’ me for what I am and fillin’ me with love and gratitude. I’ve never experienced anythin’ like it, and each time I press my blood against the bones of my ancestors, I give them my thanks and love for all who came before me and all who will come long after.
Tears drip down my cheeks, and I hear little sniffles comin’ from Delta behind me. When I reach the last skull, I have to cut my palm again, since the wound I created before has started to close up. I reach up and complete what I now know is some kind of healin’ ritual, a reset so to speak, our blood bein’ the catalyst and necessary ingredient to help renew the protections built into it.
As soon as I’m done, a sense of rightness floods me, and I step back, a huge smile spreadin’ across my face. Time picks back up to normal, and I look up at the Hellgate and watch as the tint of the flames turns from the bright and electric purple of Delta’s color to the warm, soothin’ lilac that matches my own hair and wings. The flames grow thicker and even more ferocious than before, but the heat no longer stings my skin. Instead, it warms me to my very core.