With a loud groan, I rub my face in frustration. The fucking idiot. How could he not have known? All this for nothing?—
I freeze, fingers still dragging down the skin below my eyes. Dusk hasn’t said a word. He’s only standing there, staring at me with a taunting smirk on his lips.
“Seriously?” I pull my hands off my face. “Thereisan invisible portal?”
“Something like that. I’ll show you, but only if you apologize for doubting me.”
I stare at him with narrowed eyes, but Dusk doesn’t budge. He waits, even going as far as to lean back on his heels and stick his hands in his pocket. Cocky asshole isreallymilking the moment.
With a sigh, I heave out my words. “I beg thee for forgiveness, o’ gracious angel.”
He snorts out a laugh before shaping a mock bow. “You are forgiven, my most humble peasant. Now, get thyself close to the wall.”
Rolling my eyes, I take up a spot to the side of the camels, leaning against the metal wall. Curiously, Dusk walks to the center of the room, holding my eyes the whole time. Then he begins to… well, he… Is he taking his clothes off?
I raise my eyebrows, but don’t say anything. I’m still mad at him, and yes, it makes me blush like a tomato, but I can’t bring myself to look away. Here before me is an excellent, divinely made specimen of man. I am only human. I am weak.
Once he’s down to his underwear… his verytight-fittedboxers… and folding his outfit into a neat little pile, I finally choose to break the silence. “You know, you seem to have a problem with taking your clothes off at inappropriate times.”
Catching my gaze again, Dusk grins widely, holding my eyes as he slowly shifts his weight and position. At first, I think he’s doing some sort of weird angel kung-fu movements to summon the portal, but then he freezes in a pose.
I stare at him for a moment, confused, until he stops and rolls his eyes. “Michelangelo’s Statue of David.”
It clicks, and I burst out laughing, however delayed I might be. “Oh? Was he an old friend of yours? Don’t tell me you were the original model.”
“Please. I’m considerably better looking than David ever was.”
“Well… You’re not wrong.” It’s a nice statue, but a famous artist like Michelangelo would have been able to do him better justice than that. Or, at least, I think so. I don’t know much about art history, but surely they don’t name Ninja Turtles after shitty artists?
A bright flash of light spills over Dusk, and a second later, he’s covered in armor. The most magnificent, brilliant, brightly gleaming golden armor that I could ever imagine. His wings shortly follow, only further complementing his beauty.
“Much better,” he sighs, shaking out his wings like a bird before flight. “…Oh, I’m sorry. Did you prefer the other outfit?”
I’d roll my eyes, but I can’t take them off him. “You’re insufferable.”
“You adore me.” He walks back over to me, stealing a kiss on my cheek, before stuffing his clothes in a bag on the camel. “Besides, I hate to ruin perfectly good clothes...”
His little peck of a kiss is enough to make my mind go blank, and I completely miss the rest of his long-winded excuse. Once I snap out of my momentary trance, I glare at him. “Are you ever going to show me how the fuck we’re supposed to get into the Abyss, or are you just going to flirt with me until the Israeli military finds us loitering in here?”
“As much as I’d love to just flirt with you all day, Dawn, I’ll open the gate. It’s beneath us.” He turns back around and stills. I can’t see his face, but I imagine he’s concentrating.
It doesn’t take long.
The concrete cracks open with a rumbling groan, folding like a book into two large slabs. Red dust flies into the air, but it’s quickly blown away by an invisible wind.
Revealed beneath is a wide, shallow staircase, carved directly into the crimson earth.
I blink a few times, shake the dust off my clothes, and walk up next to Dusk. For a short moment, I just take in the sight before me. The earthen path is lit by torches hung along the wall, descending into the dark for so long that I can’t possibly see the end of it. Very foreboding. Like a stairway straight down to Hell.
“Well, I guess there’s no way I can ever get in or out on my own,” I mutter.
Dusk laughs, tucking his wings in behind him. “No, my Dawn. You really have no idea what you’ll be capable of. Opening the God-given seal to this place isexactlywhat you’re here to do. Moving a little bit of concrete will be the least of your concerns.”
PART II
“And if you gaze long enough into an abyss, the abyss will gaze back into you.”
—FRIEDRICH NIETZSCHE
