The Darkest Gateway

by Jeri Westerson

Quick as lightning, she grabbed it back. She held it up to her neck, the chain fixing itself around her with a small pop. The green gem eyes glowed brightly and she sighed in relief. “Mine again. My life is mine again.” Her own green eyes glowed a little too. “All right, meat girl. You’ve got the Booke. Let’s open that gate.”

  Suddenly, she was right next to me. With a hellish smile with a mouth too wide and too full of sharp teeth, she grabbed my hand, and everything went black.

  PART TWO

  “Farewell happy fields where Joy for ever dwells: hail horrors, hail Infernal world…”

  —Paradise Lost, John Milton

  Chapter Sixteen

  At first, I didn’t know where I was. But slowly, the world around me came into focus. We were in a dark forest near a road.

  “Wait,” I said, my memory sharpening. “I was just here. With Erasmus. This is near Hansen Mills.”

  “Of course,” she said, hiking up the incline. “Where the ley lines cross. The more lines, the better. And the stronger the magic.”

  “I thought we’d be going to the caves where the rift is.”

  “The rift could take us to the wrong world. With the ley lines and the book, we’ll be on target. Or don’t you believe me?”

  Uh-oh. I suddenly didn’t. Was this all a trap? Would she leave me for dead in the forest to get her chance at the Booke at last?

  “Wait.”

  She stopped with her back to me and sighed like a teenager. “What is it now?”

  “Maybe I don’t believe you.” I lifted the Booke. “I get why Baphomet wants the Booke. He wants to open a permanent Hell Gate to let all his god pals through. But why did you want it?”

  “You’re wasting time.”

  “Why, Shabiri? Why do you want it?”

  She didn’t say anything, and her shoulders suddenly tensed.

  “Erasmus is tied to it,” I said. And then if fell into place because I’m an idiot. “How long have you been in love with him?”

  She spun, her teeth grinding and her eyes narrowed. I cringed, thinking she was going to hurl a spell at me. But then all the twisted anger in her face, all the tense tightening of her body, suddenly dropped away. She looked off to the side and inhaled a shaky breath. “For far too many centuries,” she said. Then she laughed humorlessly. “Had I only known that all it took was to be a helpless mortal…”

  “Does he know?”

  She glared at me, her eyes glowing ominously in the dark. “No. And you had better not tell him.”

  “I’m sorry. It’s not something I—”

  “Oh, just shut up, won’t you?” She stood awkwardly, face turned away, one shoulder hitched up protectively.

  “Enslaving him with the Booke wouldn’t have endeared him to you.”

  “And she doesn’t know how to shut up,” she muttered.

  “I never set out to fall in love with him, you know, or he with me. It just happened.”

  “Still not shutting up.”

  “I’ll…I’ll step aside for you. I will. It’ll hurt, but I will. As long as you help me save him.” I didn’t mean for my voice to wobble. I was sorry it did because I wanted to sound firm with her, not weepy. But it actually seemed to have an effect on her.

  She turned toward me, her eyes rising to mine. “You would?”

  “I can give you that. If that’s what you want.”

  Her green eyes glittered with hope for only a moment, before dulling to their normal green again. “Nice try. But he loves you. And there isn’t a damn thing I can do about it.”

  “I’d give you my soul but I’ll need it for Satan.”

  She studied me a long time. “You’d do that…for him?”

  “I was all ready to. That’s why he left…without even saying good-bye. He knew that’s what I was going to do.”

  She gritted her teeth again, then took a finger and swabbed at her eye. Was she crying?

  “Aren’t the two of you a pair,” she said in her old disdainful voice, turning away. “A regular O. Henry tale.”

  I waited, counting silently in my head. If she didn’t decide by the time I reached ten, then it was the Booke and me on our own.

  At eleven she turned halfway back. “Well? Are you coming or not?”

  I stepped forward. Her discomfort was obvious in the tightness of her shoulders, in her stiff bearing. I don’t think she had ever bothered to do something for someone else before. Except…she had fetched me to help Doug. I wondered why.

  We reached the place where Erasmus had brought me. Where he had kissed me so passionately, held me so tightly. There was nothing like his kisses, because he meant them every time. He didn’t mince words. He never lied about that.

  “Shabiri, is he still…is he still alive?”

  She frowned. “I don’t know. He’s not a demon anymore. I can’t find him.”

  He wasn’t a demon anymore. He was human. He broke the magical seal and made himself a human and was making his way alone in the Netherworld. He was vulnerable. He had no defenses. The idiot!

  Shabiri had stopped to stand on the mound where the ley lines crossed. “Erasmus brought me here before. The magic gave me strength.”

  “Yes. But now you must use the book to open the gate for you. I can pass easily through to the Netherworld, but you cannot. Only the book will allow it.”

  “So…how do I do it?”

  “Gods! You and your pathetic Wiccans know nothing! Concentrate. Talk to it.”

  “Okay. Concentrate.” I closed my eyes and hugged the Booke close. Open the gate. Let me pass through.

  That’s not wise. Play in my garden instead.

  Don’t argue with me. Open the gate.

  The gate is dangerous. The garden is better. I can take you to the top of a mountain. Would you like that? Or we can go to the whitest of sandy beaches, you and me.

  Just open the goddammed gate!

  The Booke said nothing more. But I felt funny. Something was happening. It wasn’t like when Erasmus transported me. It wasn’t like that dark and cold place. It was like a thousand tiny ants were biting me at the same time, like my very molecules were breaking apart. It was like every nerve in my nervous system was suddenly on fire.

  I screamed…and then someone slapped my face.

  When I flicked open my eyes, Shabiri was glaring at me. “Do you want to bring every creature in the Netherworld down on you?”

  I absorbed her words, suddenly aware of my surroundings. I wasn’t in a forest anymore. It wasn’t dark. It was like a perpetual twilight, but the sky was wrong. It was red-orange and the edges were black. Were they clouds…or something else? And the smell. Sulfur and other toxic gases. I covered my nose. “What is that smell?”

  “Desolation,” she said.

  Maybe she wasn’t far wrong.

  I saw shiny hills made up of obsidian or black glass, which rose in jagged points like fangs. And below that in their foothills were vast plains of molten lava, casting up curls of smoke. We were standing on something like a road or maybe a bridge between lakes of fire, and in the distance were more rocky outcroppings and dense, black forests of something that couldn’t have been trees.

  “This is the Netherworld?”

  “Yes. How do you like it?” she sneered.

  “It’s horrible! It’s like every dream of Hell anyone’s ever imagined.”

  “We just call it home.” She looked around, sniffing the acrid wind.

  Why would such a place even exist? Who created it? Who were the creatures who lived here? No wonder they were always trying to break into our world…and cause destruction.

  I had let the Booke go without even noticing, but it stayed close to me like a scared dog.

  “Shabiri, will The Powers That Be know the Booke is here?”

  She looked worried. “They might. We’d better get a move on.”

  “Do you know where we’re going?”

  “Yes. And the less talking, the better.”

  Fine. I didn’t much
feel like talking anyway. Everything around me, every sight, was a horrific vista. But I didn’t see anyone or anything. Except far in the distance, there were flying creatures. They had large bat wings and long tails. As long as they stayed over there by that volcano, I was all for it.

  I flapped my coat. It was distinctly hotter here, and steamy. Finally, I just took the layer off, making sure I grabbed the Spear of Mortal Pain first. I stuffed it in my jeans pocket where it stuck out like a magic wand. I carried the coat for a while until I tapped Shabiri on the shoulder. “I don’t think I’ll need this here. Unless there’s a part with a frozen tundra. Is there?”

  “Not where we’ll be going. But if you must rid yourself of it, throw it in the lava so that no one will find it. The absolute last thing we need is someone reporting the presence of a human.”

  “Okay.” I wiped the sweat from my brow and walked to the edge of the land bridge. I looked down into the slow-moving lava, where rocks floated along and then casually upended themselves to sink beneath the surface. It was a bit mesmerizing—maybe the fumes were getting to me. But when I wound back to heave my coat, the stone under me gave way.

  I screamed and tumbled down the embankment, cutting myself on one of the sharp lava rocks that littered the place like scree.

  “Dammit,” I hissed, looking at my scuffed palms. I wiped the blood off on the jacket and tossed it in the lava. It caught fire right away and sank below the surface.

  I heard the scrambling of rocks and Shabiri was suddenly beside me. “Can you make more of a spectacle of yourself?”

  “I’m sorry, I slipped!”

  She grabbed my hands and turned them palm up. “You bled? Why don’t you just get a bullhorn and yell to the hinterlands that a human is here?”

  I snatched them back. “I didn’t mean to get hurt.”

  “They can smell it. The blood. Everyone can smell it!”

  “I’m sorry!” I wiped them on my shirt, but realized that was no good.

  Suddenly she was looking up. “Uh oh.”

  I turned to see what she was looking at. Those flying things were heading straight for us.

  “Way to be stealthy, meat girl.”

  “I couldn’t help it.” But I pulled out the spear and clicked the button, extending it.

  She seemed impressed that I had brought weaponry. “Don’t leave home without it,” I said.

  Those winged things had the look of small dragons. Not that I’d ever seen big dragons, or any dragons. Assuming there were dragons. They were black, their scaled skins sleek and shiny. Their long tails whipped out behind them like the strings of a kite. They had long necks and long snouts with…yup, a whole lot of sharp teeth.

  I didn’t stop to think. I ran.

  Along the shore seemed like a good idea until the shore started to narrow. If I even got close to that lava, I’d go up in flames. I could certainly feel the heat.

  Shabiri was right behind me. I could hear her harsh breathing.

  “Give me the spear,” she said.

  “No.”

  “Give me the damned spear!”

  I had to trust her. I had to. Like a tag team runner, I handed off the spear behind me. When her hand closed on it, I felt it slide out of my hand. And I hoped that it was the right thing to do.

  I looked back. She had stopped. I slowed too and watched. She braced the spear against the ground and when the first flying thing came down at her, she jabbed upward. It flapped away, but soon came back, its long neck and snapping jaws reaching for her.

  I couldn’t just stand there. I scooped up some of those warm rocks and started shooting them at the beast. One hit its nose and it squealed and shook its head. That distracted it enough. Shabiri stabbed upward, catching it right in the underbelly. Spitted on the spear, it screamed and fought, flapping wildly. She gritted her teeth, maneuvering it downward on the end of the spear and then at the last minute shook it free to fall into the lava.

  It screamed as it caught fire and soon sunk beneath the crimson waves.

  Its companion had been making circles, watching the whole thing, but soon turned away and flew in the other direction.

  “Now we’ve done it.” Without even breaking a sweat, she walked toward me and handed the spear back. “Keep it ready.”

  “That was really good.”

  “Of course it was.” She brushed back her long hair with its streak of green and started heading up the embankment. I followed her, using the spear to keep my balance.

  “Did we give the game away?” I asked after a while.

  “That creature’s companion will be complaining to someone and we are a very curious lot in the Netherworld. Plus, the smell of your blood.”

  “Then I guess we’d better hurry.”

  The landscape changed and, mercifully, we veered away from the lava to where it was much cooler. We started up an inclined path that lead through a canyon of sharp outcroppings that thrust up through the red soil. It was like walking through the mouth of some enormous beast with large teeth all around us.

  We hiked a long way and I was getting thirsty. I wondered if there were any pools of water anywhere that were safe to drink. “Shabiri, there wouldn’t be a stream or anything around here, would there? I’m a little thirsty.”

  “Humans,” she muttered. “None of them would be drinkable. Here.” She conjured a canteen and handed it to me. When I unscrewed the lid, it was filled with cool, clear water. I drank down.

  “Thanks, Shabiri.” I raised the strap over my head and let it fall diagonally across my chest. “So…Erasmus was created to guard the Booke. What were you created to do?”

  “I wasn’t created with any particular purpose.”

  “Oh? Erasmus seemed to think—”

  “Well, he doesn’t know everything, does he? He’s not awake all that often.”

  “You’ve been to my world a lot.”

  “As often as possible.”

  “That’s why you know so much about cultural references.”

  “My, you are a talkative one, aren’t you?”

  “I just think it would be good to know something about you.”

  She stopped abruptly and got in my face. “Let’s get one thing straight. We are not ‘pals.’ We aren’t just ‘the girls,’” she said, making air quotes. “As soon as we save that idiot Erasmus, we won’t have anything more to do with each other. I’ve got my amulet back—” She shoved it in my face. “So I’m free. And I don’t plan on getting enslaved ever again.”

  “Okay. I just thought… Forget it. You’re so big and bad. I’m scared.”

  She heaved a put-upon sigh. “Look, I’m just your average, garden-variety demon, okay? We like to wreak havoc and cause trouble. And we especially like messing with mortals.”

  “Were you messing with Ed? Because I got the impression he kind of liked you.”

  She scowled and marched on. “I didn’t do anything to your precious sheriff. His virtue is safe.”

  “Well, that’s…kind of a shame.”

  She walked along saying nothing, until… “What’s a shame?”

  “Like I said. I think he really liked you.”

  “He’s human.”

  “So?”

  “So I don’t get involved with humans.”

  “But it’s all right to mess with us.”

  “For the love of…” She swung back to glare at me. “Do we really need to get into these philosophical discussions?”

  “I was just passing the time. How far is it, anyway?”

  She turned back toward the trail and looked up toward the high rock faces. “It’s difficult to tell. It changes.”

  “What does?”

  “The landscape. The points of reference.”

  “That would seem to make it difficult to get around.”

  “Yes, you’d think so.”

  “Do you know why it’s designed this way?”

  “I have no idea and I really couldn’t care less.”

  “Are the
re cities and villages here?”

  “No. Not as such. Demons don’t gather with one another. We only know each other in passing.”

  “Then how did you meet Erasmus?”

  She stopped again and hung her head. “Are we really doing this?”

  “I just thought…maybe you’d like to get it off your chest.”

  She stood still so long that I slid up next to her and got a good look at her for once. Maybe I hadn’t paid attention before because I disliked her so much, but she really was quite striking. Her luxurious hair was long, several inches past her shoulders and moved in gentle waves. It was dark except for a flourish of green down one side. Her eyes were a vivid green, much like the jewels in the eyes of her amulet. She had make-up on her lids, too, to make them more catlike and her lips were blood red. But close as we were, I noticed the tiniest of flaws on her skin and a freckle here and there. It was as if her makers didn’t want her too perfect, too unreal.

  Her black leather catsuit clung to her like a second skin. She didn’t seem to have any flaws along those long legs, even as she hiked right along with me in inappropriately high heels. She certainly had a look going, and it seemed to suit her whole mischief-making vibe. It made me wonder about her story all the more. But I doubted she would ever tell me details.

  She returned the scrutiny. “You’re a strange human.”

  “Not really. I think most of us are nice people.”

  “You’d give him up to save him. Netherworld denizens would never do that. They’d never offer it. They’d never think of it.” She stretched out her hand to show the vistas before us. “We are a land of narcissists. We only care about ourselves.”

  “Erasmus doesn’t.”

  “Well, he’s different. He might have lived a long time, but he isn’t acclimatized as the rest of us are.”

  “I’m not sure I believe that of you, either.”

  “Oh, she’s trying to flatter me now. You forget, I’m in it for my prize. You offered me something of my choosing. I’m still in it for myself.”

  “Whatever you say.”

  She scowled and continued on.

  The colors of the sky were changing, now a sickly green at the horizon and black above. “Will it get dark?”