I closed the few feet between us, stayingclose to her as I peered into the dark bowels of Hell.
“I’m okay,” River murmured to me, sensing myconcern for her before I could give voice to it.
“I don’t like you so close.”
“I’m going to have to get closer if I haveto go in.”
My teeth grated together as I spoke. “Iknow.”
She looked up at me. The faint scar in thecorner of her right eyebrow and the light dusting of frecklesacross her nose were more pronounced right now. Outside of thisplace, her skin held a golden hue from all the time she’d spentoutdoors over the years, but near the gateway, her skin had a starkpallor to it.
Unable to resist, I brushed my knucklesacross her cheek. Her thinner frame had matured her face, and shelooked older now than when I’d first met her only four short monthsago, but she’d also grown from a pretty woman to a beautiful one.Or perhaps, it was simply that I found her the most beautifulcreature I’d ever encountered with her proud spirit and endlesslove.
She’d lived but a second of my lengthylifetime, yet she’d managed to take possession of me in a way I’dnever known possible. What I was willing to do for this woman wouldshock Lucifer himself.
She leaned into my touch before her amethysteyes slid back to the pit. My hand fell away from her as she kepther head bent. From here, the fires of Hell couldn’t be seen, but Icould feel their power in my bones.
River knelt beside the pit. Golden-bluesparks danced across her fingers as she drew life from—as shedescribed it—thesluggishEarth beneath her fingers. Beforewe’d gotten close to Hell, the sparks she emitted had always been agolden-white color, but here they were darker. The sparks rose toencircle her wrists, climbing all the way to her elbows. She workedtirelessly to use her angelic ability to draw energy from life inan attempt to close the gateway.
It hadn’t worked so far, but she’d neverbeen this close to the gateway before now. “There’s so much powerhere,” she murmured, drawing my attention away from the sparks andback to her. She lifted her head to stare at me. “It’s such acombination of everything, of Hell and Earth, of death and life.It’s so… conflicting.”
I shifted my feet as I glanced between herand the pit. “Can you handle it?”
“Yes.”
My fingers flexed as I watched her andresisted the compulsion to pull her away, but she was showing noill effects from being this close or from the flow of lifeengulfing her arms. The others all watched her, but no one spokeagain for the next few hours as she tried to find some way ofmanipulating the gateway into reacting to her the way another gateonce had to Lucifer.
The fading daylight drew my attention to theholes in the roof created by the gargoyles Lucifer had somehowmanaged to set free from behind the second seal. Even if Rivercouldn’t make it into Hell or close this gateway, I had to returnto Hell, and it would have to be soon.
I had to find out what was happening to thehellhounds I’d left guarding the seals, and it was imperative thatI find a way to stop the seals from falling. If the creatureslocked behind those seals continued to break free, it would be theend of what remained of the humans, and perhaps Earth itself, whichwould mean the end of us all.
I turned away from the pink, red, and orangestreaked sky to take in the others still standing within the room.Vargas paced by the doorway to the bar, his hands clasped behindhis back. Hawk leaned against the far wall, his rifle in hand, ashe watched the pit. Beside him, Erin had her legs crossed while shesharpened one of her knives. Corson and Bale both circled the edgesof the gateway, keeping watch for anything rising from within.
My gaze slid to River. Her eyes were closedagainst the sun pooling over her. Her expression was so serene thatshe almost looked as if she were meditating. The compression of herfull mouth and the jut of her chin were the only indication sheendured any kind of strain.
As if sensing my stare, her eyes flutteredopen to look back at me. The striking, purple shade of her iriseswere the most beautiful thing about her. They were enchanting, anda sign of her angel heritage, as all angels had the same eyecolor.
Her mouth quirked in a smile when she met mygaze. “What is it?”
“Just watching you.”
Love danced within her eyes as she rose.“I’m ready to go back to the camp,” she said and stretched herback. “And I’m ready to enter Hell tomorrow.”
I barely managed to bite back the savage“no”that rose in my throat. I glanced at the pit then ather once more. “That may not be necessary. There has to be someway—”
“To close the gate from here?” sheinterrupted. “How? What? Because all I’ve been able to do is standand stare at this thing. I can feel the pulse of life vibratingthrough the Earth beneath my feet now instead of only despair andtorment, but I still have absolutelynoidea how to go aboutshutting it.”
“Going in may not do any good,” Corson saidfrom across the room, his voice higher than normal.
I glanced at the normally easygoing, yetlethal demon I considered one of my closest and strongest allies.He had his shoulders thrust back and his orange eyes focused onRiver. There was an unusually stubborn and angry set to his pointedchin. At six four, Corson was tall with a lithe, whipcord buildthat made him exceptionally fast, far faster than most demons.
His hair was so black in color it was nearlyblue in the fading light falling around him. It curled against hiscollar and over the top of his pointed ears. From the tips of hisears, two pink unicorns dangled and spun on their golden chains.I’d become more accustomed to seeing him adorned in random piecesof jewelry, but I still hated it. I itched to tear the earrings outof his ears every time he walked by with a new set of them thathe’d acquired from his latest female conquest.
“It can’t do any harm, either. I hope,”River muttered so low I knew I was the only one who heard the lasttwo words.
“Perhaps we should wait on that,” Corsonsaid.
When River had first walked into the campnear the wall, she’d been nothing more than one of thepossibilities we’d encountered while searching for Lucifer’s lastdescendant. Now, she was my Chosen and their queen, but more thanthat, Bale respected her, which was rare, and Corson considered hera friend. Corson enjoyed being around many humans and demons, butthere were few he truly admired. Like me, he’d always stayed trueto the mission, to what was supposed to be done when it came toRiver. I felt him balking now.
