“That took longer than I thought,” she said, sitting next to me. A clean bandage was taped to a small wound on her head. I could feel it throbbing, sense her head aching. She held my hands in hers. “Was it painful?”
Bex’s expression was indescribable. Every emotion was on his face. “You knew she’d come back?”
“I didn’t know,” Grandmother said, waving him away. “I assumed. It’s Heaven and Hell 101, Bex. Honestly, why didn’t you assume? And why hurt Nina so deeply if Eden was gone years rather than hours, or she didn’t come back at all?”
“Grandmother,” I said, stern. Over the years I’d learned it was the only way she’d listen. “What do you know?”
She squeezed my hands. “I know that you’re back, and your mother will be so happy.” When I glared at her, she continued, however outwardly unruffled. “It was a sacrifice, dear. There is nothing purer. Lucifer should’ve known better than to believe God would allow an act so pure to be held by Hell.” She sat back and sighed. “Honestly, people have been prayed out of purgatory for less.”
“So she’s a slam dunk?” Bex asked. “We have an unbeatable force on our side?”
“Of course not. She has to do her job. She still has human blood running through her veins, and that makes her fallible, obviously. Not a … slam dunk … by any means.” She said Bex’s phrase like it was inferior gunk in her mouth.
“Eden is … different,” Bex said, trying to say it delicately. “Do you know anything about that?”
“Different?” Grandmother said, looking to me.
I nodded.
“You took a shower,” she said. “Why, aside from the obvious.”
“When I came back, I was covered in … a gel. The smell was putrid. The water only made it worse.”
She seemed annoyed. “Of course. He kept you hidden. There is only one place in Hell with a substance like that. The Bog.”
Bex seemed confused. “I feel like I should know what that is.”
“It’s a secret.”
“You knew,” Bex said, unhappy.
“Discussing it brings—” She looked up, and so did Bex.
Something heavy was coming, with a million smaller somethings.
“Just the word.”
“It’s not allowed.”
I stood up, bringing Grandmother with me, putting one hand behind me to protect her. “Then why did you say it?”
“Because that’s what it’s called, Eden, for goodness sake,” she said, unafraid and a little annoyed. She sat down and brought me with her. “When they realize it’s me, they’ll return to wherever they came from.
“How do you know about it?” I asked.
She shook her head. Soon, the masses of aggression and anger began to slowly fade away until it was gone.
“Whoa,” Bex said, still staring at the ceiling. I haven’t felt that since … since right before Eden was born.”
Grandmother sighed. “Yes, well, they’re quick to react these days, and overstaff if you ask me.”
Gravel crunched in the drive as Dad and Claire’s vehicles sped into the drive and came to an abrupt halt.
“Bex?” Mom called, her voice frantic and cracked. The door slammed. “Bex!”
“Dining room!” Bex called, staring at me with a hundred questions reflecting in his eyes.
Mom rushed in, her hair, nose, and chin dripping with rain. Dad rounded the corner, soaked in someone else’s blood.
“Eden?” she shrieked. Just as she moved toward me, Dad held her back. He stood in front of her protectively, even as she struggled.
“Eden?” Mom said, trying to move around her husband. “Jared,” she said, impatient. “Let me … let me go,” she said, leaning away from him.
“Wait,” Dad said, eyeing me.
I stood. “Hi.”
“Hi, baby,” Mom said, breathing out a single laugh. Tears immediately streamed down her face.
“Hi?” Claire said, bringing up the rear. “Hi? That’s all you have to say to us?”
“Eden!” Ryan said with a stunned smile. His eyes glossed over, but he wiped them before any tears could spill over.
“Let me…” Mom said, pushing at my dad. “Let me hold my daughter!” she screamed.
“Nina, wait!” Dad growled.
“It’s her,” Bex said. He met Dad’s gaze, both their eyes glistening with happy tears. A small, relieved chuckle escaped his throat. “I swear. It’s her.”
Dad released Mom, and had I been human, she would’ve tackled me to the ground. Sobbing as she pulled me, she was unable to hold me tight enough.
“What happened? How? How are you here? Where did you go?” she cried. Her hand grabbed the back of my head, and she held my cheek to her shoulder.
I glanced at Grandmother before lying. “It’s hard to explain. I don’t know where I was, just that it was dark,” I said, trying not to invite back the legion that had just rushed us at full force. I didn’t want to chance them returning with my mother and Ryan present.
“And stinky,” Bex said, his nose wrinkling. “I’ll never forget that smell.”
He’s playing along.
“Smell? What smell?” Ryan asked.
“She was covered in steaming, rancid goo,” Bex explained.
All heads turned slowly toward me.
“I showered,” I said, defensive.
Dad took a step toward me. “You were in the Oubliette?”
I shrugged one shoulder. “It was black. I didn’t see anything. It was like I was underwater. Thick, gelatinous water.”
“You saw no one?” Dad asked.
“She just said,” Claire began, annoyed.
“What are you getting at, Jared?” Mom asked, holding me tighter to her side.
“I was hoping she’d crossed paths with Ramiel.” Dad spoke the language of Heaven to my uncle. Not that demons couldn’t understand it, but it hurt them to hear it, making it extremely difficult if one could get his point across quickly enough. “He’s our one contact there. Maybe we could convince him to help us find Levi.” Dad continued in English, “The sooner the better.”
“I’m sure Levi can handle himself,” Ryan said.
Dad shook his head. “This is a strategy. Eden, Levi, Bex… they’re all connected. Whatever they’re planning will be a domino effect.”
“You think they’ll come after me to kill Levi?” Bex said, raising one brow.
“Or kill Levi to kill you,” I said. “But how can our friend help?” I asked, purposefully vague.
I remembered Bex glazing over the subject of Ramiel when I was nine. Ramiel was an Arch. Now, he was an Arch in Hell—the only one. We couldn’t out him. We needed a way to speak about him freely.
“Anyone can fill me in,” Ryan said. “I didn’t major in theology.”
“Or anything,” Dad grumbled.
“Ramiel is a lost cause,” I said.
Bex’s expression sank as he fell into deep thought. “Ramiel and God will never forgive each other.”
I looked to my dad. “We can’t speak of the contact freely. He needs a nickname.”
Dad nodded. “CAHL it is.”
“CAHL?” I asked.
“Cranky asshole?” Claire asked. When Dad smiled, she laughed aloud. “I knew it.”
“So why is Ramiel so significant to our story?” Ryan asked.
I pulled my wet hair into a bun and tucked it into itself so it would stay. “He’s not, except that Ramiel is a fallen angel like Papa Gabe. His wife, Lizeth, was human. She was made an example of, murdered, and when Ramiel asked for a second chance, his prayer wasn’t heard. He begged, he bartered, he offered his life for hers, but God was stubborn about the first rules.”
“I thought God listened to all prayers?” Ryan asked.
“Human prayers,” Claire said.
I shook my head. “Ramiel wasn’t human.”
“And he decried God,” Bex said.
Dad rolled his eyes. “How can we explain it within your understanding? He cursed at the Creator of the Universe like a spoiled teenager.”
Claire frowned. “Lizeth was an innocent, and she was murdered. That is rule number one, Jared,” she said, holding up her index finger, “and guess who broke it.”
“Careful,” Jared warned. “That’s not for us to speak of. Besides, we don’t know the whole story. It’s been told for generations. Things get repeated wrong, lost in translation…”
“Was Lizeth his Taleh?” Ryan asked.
Claire shook her head. “Ramiel’s Taleh was Abel, son of Adam.”
“Abel,” Ryan repeated, stunned. “Like Cain’s brother, Abel?”
Claire nodded, uncharacteristically quiet.
Bex finished the story for her. “Ramiel was separated from Lizeth forever, sentenced to guarding the Oubliette for eternity.”
“The oobie what?” Ryan asked.
Claire chuckled.
Dad rolled his eyes.
Claire patted Ryan on the back. “Dungeons,” she said.
Grandmother stood on the other side of me, hooking her elbow around mine. She patted my arm, but she was trying to console my mother more than me. “Eden is home. That’s all that matters. We don’t need to send her back for answers. Nothing is coming.”
“Yet,” Dad said. “You know as well as I do Lucifer is going to call on every legion he has when he realizes she’s gone. And if Levi is down there—”
“He is,” I interrupted.
“Then we need to get him out, home, and form a plan. Hell is another world. It would be like us trying to search Earth for one person. The most efficient way to find him and get him out alive is our contact, who—to protect his identity, we’ll refer to as Cahl.”
Claire stifled a laugh.
“I’ll go,” I said, glancing at Grandmother. “I feel things differently now. Sharper. I can feel Levi now. I know the general region he’s in.”
“You want her to go back?” Mom cried. She hugged me to her, shaking her head. “No. No, that is exactly what Satan wants.” She looked at me. “You’re staying here, and we can figure this out together.” She looked to Grandmother. “You agree, right, Mother?”
Grandmother pressed her lips in a hard line. She knew the answer, and my mom wouldn’t listen to reason.
“I should be the one,” Bex said.
“You’re half human, Bex. You can’t bounce planes like I can,” I said. I looked to my worried family.
“So are you,” he grumbled.
“Not anymore,” I said. “I’m different. Stronger.”
Mom hugged me tighter. “What do you mean, different?”
I hugged her back, taking care not to hold her too tight. “I died.”
Dad finally allowed tears to fall from his eyes. He enveloped me then Mom, and even pulled in Grandmother, holding us tightly against him.
Not one to appreciate an overabundance of affection, Grandmother quietly and smoothly slid from Dad’s grasp and stood to the side.
Claire gave us a few moments, and then she covered her mouth. For maybe the fourth time ever, I witnessed Claire lose to her emotions. She hugged me, too, and then Ryan. Bex joined in shortly after. We were a heap of red-faced, sobbing Ryels, and Grandmother watched us with a detached expression.
Claire handed me a phone. “I found this on the ground after you… I picked it up before we left. Call your grandma. She’s worried.”
I nodded, dialing the numbers. I sought her out as the phone rang, easily picking up her essence despite the hundreds of souls between her and me. She was expecting my call.
“Eden?” Grandma Lillian answered.
“Hi,” I said cheerfully, as if I’d just arrived home from a training.
She hesitated. “Did it hurt, my love?”
“It didn’t,” I lied.
“I’m so … I’m so glad, honey. We’ve all been a mess. I’m glad they… Well, I’m just glad to hear your voice again. I love you. Come see me as soon as you can, so I can hug you,” she gushed.
“I will. I’ll come tomorrow. Love you, Grandma. So much.”
We hung up, but before I could return to a conversation with Mom and Dad, a presence nearly overwhelmed my senses.
“What is it?” Mom asked.
“Eden?” Bex said, grabbing my arm.
I looked down at his fingers around my skin, then back at him.
“You okay?” he asked.
It was Levi, that much I knew. His sorrow, his anger, his vengeance was so loud it was hard to focus on anything else. He could sense me, too, but he didn’t know why. He was searching for me, but in the wrong dimension.
“He’s here,” I said, reaching out for him.
“Who’s here?” Mom asked.
“Levi. He’s close. But he’s so far away.”
“He bounced,” Claire said, looking to my dad. “I bet he went to find her and bring her back.”
“What does that mean? He’s in Hell? Without dying? Can he … can he do that?” Ryan asked, pulling out a dining chair to sit.
“He’s the son of Lucifer,” Bex said, always the most patient with Ryan’s questions. “In theory he can, but I doubt he thinks he can just walk out with her,” Bex said.
“So why’d he go?” Ryan asked, settling in at the dining table.
“His mother, Petra,” Grandmother said, touching the bandage on her forehead. She sat, leaving an empty chair between her and Ryan. “She bore a son of Lucifer and is still alive. That speaks volumes. Maybe the Devil is scared of something after all.”
Mom sat next to Grandmother, checking her bandage and whispering questions as to her wellbeing.
“Why would Lucifer be afraid of Petra?” Claire said. “She’s just a human.” She glanced at Ryan. “No offense.”
“None taken,” he said, staring at Bex and waiting for an answer.
“She’s a mother. Satan has no power against a mother’s love, like when I protected Eden as a newborn.”
Bex thought for a moment. “Petra isn’t protected by God, Nina. Petra is likely a vulnerability, a chink in the Devil’s armor. She knows something, too much, or maybe she has something special now like Kim did, a power that could somehow hurt him or his plan.” He shot Mom an apologetic half-smile. Even after eighteen years, just the mention of Kim sent my mom into a shame spiral.
Mom sat back, and Dad was immediately at her side, holding her hand.
“So … what’s his plan?” Ryan asked.
“Ryan!” Dad yelled.
“It’s a valid question,” Ryan said, holding up his hands.
“I need to bring Levi back,” I said. “Now.”
Claire frowned. “You can feel him now? Is he in danger?”
I shook my head. “Yes, and yes. Like, more than usual.”
Claire looked to Dad. “Let her go. If Lucifer thinks Levi had anything to do with Eden’s escape, any favor he might still have is gone. Remember Shax and his rabid obsession with the book? Eden was Lucifer’s prize, one that was so precious to him that he didn’t even display her. He hid her.”
I frowned. “I wasn’t asking. I’m going.”
Mom finally spoke, staring at the ground. “Petra can’t save her son from this, Eden. What makes you think you can?”
“I can’t explain it, Mom. Levi will be left unprotected, making him the target of every demon in Hell. He’s there to save me. To bring me back to you. I can’t leave him there to die. Or worse… captured.”
“We’re about to fight another war,” Mom said.
“Okay,” Dad began, holding out his hands in front of him, palms down. “Tap the brakes. We don’t know anything yet.”
“This isn’t up for debate. No humans can reach that plane,” Grandmother said. “Except one.”
Mom stood. “I said no. We’ll … go to the warehouse. Call for Eli.�
�
“This can’t wait,” I said. I was sympathetic to her concern, but we were now in a race against time.
“We have time to consult with Eli before we send you back to Hell,” Mom said. She looked to Dad. “Jared, tell her.”
Dad shook his head. “She’s right, Nina. Time isn’t on our side. We need to find Levi quickly and get him back to this plane. At least then he’s not a sitting duck.”
I nodded. “How do I find him?”
“Cahl will know,” Dad said.
“Jared,” Mom warned. “I already don’t like the sound of this.”
“I’ll be fine,” I said, closing my eyes.
“What is she doing?” Ryan asked. “Why are her eyelids fluttering like that?”
“She’s locating the entrance … I think,” Claire said.
Mom put her hands on mine. “Eden, please don’t go. I just got you back.” She desperately reached out and snatched me back to the dining room, and I looked at her with a small grin. “I’ll come back. I promise.”
Mom nodded. “Don’t forget. You promised your mother.”
I smiled at her. “I won’t forget, Mom.” I kissed her forehead and then felt myself leave her side.
Chapter Six
Levi
I lay on the ground sweating and bleeding, my left hand, forearm, and side blackened and raw from burns. Amaymon had grown in strength since the last time I’d seen him, and quite frankly he was kicking my ass. I was half human now, after all.
I pushed off the ground, arms shaking, and looked up at him. “Is that all you’ve got?” I said, breathing hard.
Amaymon lifted his chin to the sky and laughed, his voice carrying through all nine levels of Hell.
I winced, feeling the stinging burn at every place he’d struck me. With one eye closed I huffed, trying to catch my breath. “What’s funny? This is funny to you?”
A loud thud sounded behind me, and I turned around. Orien stood and brushed himself off.
I let out a disgusted growl, throwing a mini tantrum with every limb. “Really? Really, Orien? You couldn’t just let Amaymon handle it?”
He laughed, moving lithely toward me. He would look like a man had he not been nine feet tall, had inverted knees, or horns protruding from his forehead that curved back and into a spiral like a giant, mutant ram. His hooved feet kicked up dust and ash that traveled fast, passing over me when he finally came to an abrupt stop.
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