by Maya Nicole
They looked human, but on the next page was a close up of one of them. Her eyes were nearly black, and her skin looked like it had spiders crawling under the surface. I scrunched my nose and goosebumps broke out across my skin. I hated spiders.
Reve grabbed the book and let out a small laugh. "Widows are the definition of female empowerment. They kill men that wrong women. I was actually surprised there was one in that mall the first time demons got through. They usually stick to themselves."
"There are only women Widows?" I made my way across the room to a shelf and scanned the titles. It seemed each type of demon had a book. Who had written all of them?
"Yes. Well, no. There are men, but they always wrong the women in some way and end up dead. They are a dwindling population... or at least they were the last I heard."
We set off down the hall and found where my father kept his watches. It was rather loud inside, with all the ticking.
"You know what this reminds me of?" Asher ran his finger along the top of a case. It looked like a jewelry store in the room. "That movie, Hook, where Captain Hook keeps all the clocks."
I slid the watch from my wrist and placed it in an empty slot in a case. Tobias put his arm around me and tucked me against him.
"I think I'm ready for a nap now." I leaned against Tobias.
What if we couldn't find him or get him back? I wasn't ready to lose my dad.
Chapter Eleven
Reve
Watching Danica try to hold herself together was painful. She put on a brave face, but we all saw through it. She was scared shitless.
We all were.
After she was asleep, we made our way downstairs. Michael had wanted to meet with us to come up with a plan. I didn't know how much of a plan was needed.
"Alex is preparing supplies for your journey. He says you won't be able to leave until after the storm passes." Michael laid out a paper map in front of us. I didn't want to tell him that we didn't need it because I knew exactly where we were headed.
"So the plan is to walk to this castle where they are keeping Olly and Lucifer, break in, and take them back? That seems a little too easy." Asher sounded skeptical as he looked at the map. He traced his finger over the path that was drawn from where we were located to the castle.
"Reve will do most of the breaking in. He knows the castle well."
I grunted. There was a secret entrance I could get us through, although Lilith might have changed the place in the centuries I had been gone.
"Lilith needs to be taken out." Michael looked at each of us. "At all costs. Can you handle that burden?"
"Do you mean..." Tobias stood up straight and crossed his arms. "I thought our job was to protect Danica."
"Yes." Michael looked sad. "I know you are willing to risk your own lives, but sometimes protecting the ones you love means letting them go."
"Fuck." Asher put his face in his hands. "She should be part of this conversation."
It was quiet for several minutes. Danica should have been here, but I was grateful she wasn't. She didn't need to know we were discussing killing her mother and the possibility of one or all of us dying in the process.
Or the possibility that she might die too.
"She'd go to Heaven. Right?" I looked at Michael, who now wore an impassive expression.
"Yes." His expression was grim, and he looked at Tobias. "It will be similar to dying in war. She'll remember that she fought in one, but not the specifics."
Tobias sat down in a chair and looked at Asher. "So, she won't remember us?"
"It's hard to say how much will be blocked from her memory. I'm not privy to that information."
We couldn't let her die.
Morning came too quickly. We made our way downstairs to the dining room for breakfast. This might be the last regular meal we'd get for a while.
Food in Inferna was similar to Earth, except the animals and plants were a bit different. Several servants brought out our food and drinks.
"Your Highness, if the food and beverages are not to your liking, we can get you something else." A servant placed a plate with eggs, bacon, and toast in front of me.
I didn't need to eat, but it was something to occupy my time and to feel more a part of the group. Danica was already devouring her eggs.
"Good?" I took a bite of bacon.
Everything here had richer flavors. It might be home to demons, but they took care of the land and its resources.
"It's delicious. There are chickens here?"
"They are similar to chickens." I wasn't about to tell her they had ten eyes and ate the males.
Inferna was savage like that.
But the bacon was top notch.
"Your Highness, would you like more bacon?" I looked up at the servant, and she bowed deeply.
"I’m fine. Thank you."
"Your Highness." Asher set his fork down and took a drink of his coffee. "I just don't see it. Toby is more kingly than you."
Danica sniggered and hit Asher's arm. "He's kingly in the bedroom."
"So, what you're saying is that he’s a better lay than us?"
Danica nearly choked on her juice. "You are all kingly in the bedroom."
"There is only one king. Asher is more of a princess." I smirked.
Tobias cleared his throat. "Are you planning on reclaiming your throne?"
I picked at my eggs. If we were able to take care of Lilith, the throne would be up for grabs. Did I want it? I couldn't see myself staying in Inferna where the sun never shines, and the air always smells faintly of burning wood.
"I've been on Earth for so long because I never wanted the throne to begin with." I set my fork down. "I might have to settle things, but I plan on returning to Earth. That's where my home is."
After breakfast, we gathered the packs Alex prepared for us and headed out to where a carriage was waiting for us. It was too risky to fly and way too risky to take air transport. Lilith would see us coming from a mile away.
We climbed into the horse-drawn carriage, settling in for the first part of our journey. The carriage would take us to the edge of the Black Forest, and then we would go the rest of the way on foot.
As soon as we started rolling along the dirt path, I solidified.
"What if we get there and she controls you again?" Danica was peeking out the window. She looked in awe of what she was seeing, which was a whole lot of dark landscape.
"It will be more difficult for her here. She could do it before because I was young. In Shanghai, she could because I am weaker on Earth."
I had kept many things from them. Including the fact that Lucifer had offered to help me get my throne back, and I had opted to live on Earth.
"What can you do now that we're here?" Tobias had been quiet since we left Earth. I could tell he was worried.
"At the height of my father's power, he could cause visions in entire villages. Lilith used me to do the same, but on a much smaller scale since I was still developing my skills."
"Can you give Lilith visions and dreams?" Danica looked at me and frowned. "If so, you should give her a vision of me cutting off each finger one by one and then shoving it down her throat.”
My eyes widened at the violence in her voice. Surely she was joking. I shook my head in response. Lilith's brain was utterly inaccessible to me. Whatever kind of demon she had evolved into over the centuries was a strong one.
She would have to be if she was able to get back and forth to Earth. I thought only archangels were capable of such feats. That and a dose of dark magic and angel blood.
We fell into a comfortable silence. The first leg of our journey would be smooth. This part of Inferna wasn't very populated, which was why the angels had set up their prison of souls here.
The carriage came to a stop after several hours. I went to my phantom form before the door was opened. Lilith probably thought I was dead, and I intended to keep it that way.
We climbed out, and Asher, Tobias, and Danica took their packs
from the demon that had driven the carriage.
We walked through the Black Forest at a snail's pace. Any faster and we would attract attention. The Black Forest lived up to its name. The trees were black, and the low light that was ever-present in Inferna made everything look dark blue.
It looked like it should be freezing, but the temperature was warm. At night, the air became chilly, which was the only way to distinguish night from day.
It was approaching nightfall when a pack of creatures came at us from the side. I sent a vision at them, but they continued forward. They relied on their other senses instead of sight.
"What the fuck are they?" Asher had ahold of Danica's hand and let it go to unsheathe his sword.
All of the creatures’ heads turned in his direction at the sound.
"They're like zombies." They weren't exactly zombies. You couldn't turn into one from a bite, but they did enjoy feasting on the flesh.
"Can I try to get them to go away?" Danica looked to Tobias.
I don't know why she was asking permission all of a sudden. She tended to do what she wanted. Not that I could blame her. Tobias nodded.
"Leave us alone."
They stopped and then turned around and headed back the way they had come. It was an amazing thing to watch but it made me shudder.
We continued on. About an hour later, we came to a small group of tents surrounding a campfire. If demons had set up camp, they were most likely humanoid.
"Stay here." I didn't know if whoever was living in the woods were friend or foe. My family had a lot of pull in Inferna, but there were a lot of demons that hated our power.
The campsite was occupied but whoever was living there wasn't there at the moment. I turned back towards the group and froze. They were walking towards me with their hands in the air and a group of about ten men behind them.
"Let us go." Danica was attempting to control them. From this far away, they looked humanoid, which seemed to be harder for her to control since demons that took human-like forms usually had much more complicated brains.
"They don't smell right," one of the men said.
I floated around the group. I breathed a sigh of relief that they were shifters. I could deal with shifters.
I landed in front of them and revealed myself.
"Holy shit. Is that-"
"It can't be."
"Wait until-"
They all started talking at once, and Asher, Tobias, and Danica darted behind me while they were distracted.
"Enough!" I yelled.
They fell silent but kept their knives and clubs raised. None of them looked familiar.
"Are you back to save us from Lilith?" One of the men took a step forward, and one of his buddies put out his arm and stopped him from getting any closer.
"Something like that."
"Please join us tonight. It would be an honor to host you and your party," one of the men offered with a slight bow of his head.
I looked over the men and decided they seemed sane enough. Shifters struggled to hold back their emotions, so if they meant to harm us, they would have already.
We set up our own tent next to theirs and gathered around the campfire. They had just been out hunting when they came across us.
"You don't live in your village?" I asked as I watched Danica bite into the leg of the boar they had killed. She let out a small, satisfied groan.
"She kicked us out centuries ago. Instead, demons who do her bidding live there. Anytime we set up somewhere new, she takes that from us too. Many packs moved North."
Leaves crunched behind us, drawing everyone's attention. The shifters sniffed the air and then went back to eating and drinking. Someone was coming, but they didn't seem to think it was a threat.
"Reve?" The feet stopped behind us.
I stood and turned to look. I'd recognize Alaric's voice anywhere. He was just as I remembered. Short dark hair, scruff on his face, shockingly green eyes. The eyes of an alpha.
The eyes of the man who was supposed to be my guard.
I walked towards him and stopped before him. My heart wanted to leap out of my chest, and I swallowed down the lump that had worked its way into my throat.
Then I punched him.
"Reve?" Danica unzipped the tent and crawled inside.
She laid next to me on her side and reached for my bruised hand. She ran her fingers across the knuckles.
I turned my head and looked at her. "He was supposed to protect me. Instead, he ran."
"He would have died." She brought my knuckles to her lips and kissed them. They would heal all the way soon.
I shut my eyes. "I thought I was over it. I guess I was wrong."
"Did he really have a choice? I mean, he would have been killed."
I looked back at the top of the tent and sighed. She was right. Of course she was right. But Alaric had taken a vow to protect me until his last breath. Running from his own last breath didn't exactly show his loyalty.
"He was your best friend, right?" I grumbled my response. "You haven't seen him in practically forever. He could help us."
"I don't trust him."
"I didn't say you had to trust him." She kissed me lightly on the lips and stood.
I followed her out of the tent and sat next to her and Asher around the fire. It was starting to get cooler, and the warmth felt nice.
I looked at Alaric across the fire, and he stared back at me with a bruised cheek. He hadn't dared to take a swing back at me, although I had seen the desire to strike me back in his eyes.
He stood and sat on the ground in front of us, his back to the fire.
"I'm sorry. I was young and scared and-" A small squeaking noise interrupted him, and he looked down at the pocket of his jacket.
The tiniest head poked out.
"What's his name?" Danica leaned forward to get a better look at the monkey. If it could even be considered one. It could fit in the palm of Alaric's hand.
"Picard Rupert Ferdinand the Fifth."
"That's a fucked-up name for a tiny little pipsqueak." Asher snorted and reached his hand out to pet the little guy. "Ow! Fuck!"
Asher shook his hand and examined the small bite.
"He doesn't like being called names." Alaric held the monkey in his palm and stroked the top of his head. "Isn't that right, Picard?"
The monkey rubbed its little head, which was no bigger than a golf ball, into his finger. It made a tiny squeaking noise as if it were talking to him.
"I thought those things hated wolves."
I watched as it jumped off his hand and scurried across the fallen leaves to my pant leg. It scampered up and sat on my thigh, looking at me with a cocked head and glossy eyes. I held out my hand, and it climbed onto it and then curled into the tiniest ball. It was the cutest thing I'd ever seen.
"I'm not most wolves."
"Wait. You turn into a wolf?" Asher was leaning forward with his forearms on his knees. "There are vampires and werewolves? I'll be damned."
"Don't mention those bloodsuckers in the same sentence as wolves." He let out a growl. "But, yes. All of us turn into something. Some of us are wolves. Foxes. A squirrel."
He gestured to the other men.
"How does that work? Being a squirrel shifter? Is your monkey a shifter too?" Danica was fascinated with the new information. I could see the wonder in her eyes.
"We recognize each other as pack. Picard is not a shifter. He is the last of his kind, unfortunately."
The conversation died down after a bit, and Danica stifled a yawn. I could tell she wanted to stay awake and learn more about this realm, but we all needed to recharge for what lay ahead.
We made our way to the tent, and the three situated themselves in the sleeping bags.
I first noticed that Tobias and Asher were weakening when we woke up after our first night in Inferna. I'm not sure they realized it themselves. There was a reason that archangels were the only angels that could get in and out.
Inferna dra
ined turned angels.
Eventually, they would weaken to the point where they wouldn't be able to fly, heal, or whatever else it was they could do.
I sat at their feet in the tent. It had taken Asher a while, but he had finally stopped tossing and turning.
I licked my lips as I watched his eyes move under his eyelids. I could feel his unease. His restlessness. I looked over at Tobias and Danica entwined together. Tobias never showed signs of nightmares. Recently, Danica had less severe nightmares.
I knew that with their weakened states, I could push into both of their brains and into their dreams. But did I want to?
Asher kicked out a leg, and I flinched as he came close to kicking Danica. Maybe just once wouldn't hurt.
I moved to hover over him and pushed into his dream.
"If I never have to eat another damn K-ration again, I'll be a happy man. I don't even need pussy ever again. Just give me some damn meatloaf and mashed potatoes!"
Laughter went up around Asher in what looked like an abandoned warehouse.
Tobias was next to him and stuck a cigarette in his mouth, lighting it up. "I can't wait to eat my wife when I get back."
More laughter. I looked around the group of men. They looked ragged, like they had just gotten done on the battlefield.
All of a sudden, a loud explosion rocked the building, and a mortar shell crashed through the center of the roof, exploding on impact.
Panic ensued, and Tobias and Asher jumped to their feet. The men on either side of them were wounded.
"Go get litters!" Tobias had jumped into action and was applying pressure to someone's leg that had nearly been blown off.
Asher took off out of the building and down the hill. I followed. He ran to a medic camp and collected stretchers. I could feel his panic and fear, but like Danica, instead of feeling energized by it, I felt drained.
Tobias was coming down the hill towards Asher, and someone yelled, "Watch out!"
Asher dove over Tobias and a mortar shell hit the ground and exploded, sending debris everywhere.
I made my way up the hill and grabbed Asher's hand, yanking him out of the hell he was living in.