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“Shit. Are the portals closed?” Ryker asks, stepping up to the big one and walking around it.
“Lucifer? What is going on?” Lilith asks as she catches up to him next to the guard.
“It started early this morning. First, the portal to Nova was acting up, then we noticed the smaller ones started to… uh… shut off,” the guard standing next to the stairs says, not making eye contact with any of us.
“What do you mean, acting up?” Asatroth asks, his tail whipping out and sending thunder rolling through the room.
“Guys?” Ryker calls from behind the portal.
We quickly walk around to meet him as the guard hastily tries to answer.
“Well, simply put, our patrons weren’t getting to their destinations safely.”
I walk around the stairs and stop dead in my tracks at the sight. Piles of body parts lay before us. Arms, tails, horns, a few torsos, and some heads.
“How are we not smelling all of this?” Knox asks, glancing at the Demon guard.
He clears his throat before pulling at his neck guard. “I have an affinity for shields. I tried to shield the smell of the body parts themselves.”
Lucifer turns back to look at the guard and the leader in red. “Are all the portals like this?”
“No sir,” the leader states. “That was just the beginning. Now we can’t even enter.” He opens a leather satchel on his belt and tosses a coin at the gate on the stairs where it bounces off of it and rolls back down the stairs to his feet.
A light flashes at the gate and a faint image of chains crosses the portals.
“Did anyone else see that?” I ask, making sure I’m not seeing things.
I turn and find the guards shaking their heads, but Lucifer gives me a slight nod. He turns to the guards. “Leave the shield up until Bez comes. He’ll dispose of the bodies.”
“I think it’s best that we go home to discuss this,” Astaroth says, turning to start walking out.
Lucifer passes by me and slows down. “It looks like we might not be seeing the king after all.”
He walks to the entrance of the Crucible and his wings unfurl with a flourish, propelling him into the air. Watching him take flight, I almost trip, but Asatroth catches me and urges us to keep moving.
“He’s going to make an announcement while we walk out, so it’s best to keep moving.”
It’s easier to make our way out of the building now that everyone knows Asatroth, Lilith, and Lucifer are here. There’s a few that Asatroth pushes out of his path, but we make our way as Lucifer addresses the crowd.
“Dear subjects, I am sorry for the inconvenience, but until further notice the portals to Purgatory will be closed off. Anyone willing to go against these orders or attacking my guards will find themselves answering to L.A.M.B. personally if they haven’t been killed first. Now, leave the Crucible and go about your day.”
There’s a pouring of frustrated grumblings, but Demons start to scatter and Lucifer joins us as we begin walking back to his mansion.
“Well, that went well,” Zeke nervously chuckles, as we watch a few Demons leave and shoot our group scathing looks.
“Maybe too well,” Knox says, and I have to agree because that’s not what I’m picking up from the group. Boiling anger is the only thing that’s potent in this group of Demons, and it’s starting to choke me. Hopefully Rez is having better luck than we are.
CHAPTER 40
The Fall
Rez
I bite my lip as butterflies take off in my stomach while we walk back down to Lilith’s room. Before she left, she said she arranged everything for me and the potions were ready. I just have to follow the directions and be their anchor while the spell does its job. Simple enough. So, why am I scared shitless?
“So, who’s going first?” Lynx asks, pulling me from my musing.
“I don’t know what I’m doing, and I’m a little nervous,” I admit.
