“Waiting won’t do us any good,” River said.“I won’t go far, but maybe somehow the answer will come to me if Ido enter. I’m not getting anything now. I have no idea how this issupposed to be done.”
“You might not be able to do it,” Corsonreminded her.
“Corson,” Bale said in a warning tone beforeglancing at me.
She worried his words would push me over theedge, and I felt myself teetering, but it wouldn’t be their wordsthat pushed me over. It would be standing back and having to watchas River climbed onto the roadway circling the edge of the pit.Corson opened his mouth to protest more before clamping it closedagain.
“Are you sure about this?” I inquired ofRiver, my voice more ragged than normal.
“I still feel good. Likereallygoodright now,” she replied. “I’m not drained like I was when we firststarted coming here. I can handle myself emotionally around thisplace now. I can do this.”
I had no doubt that I was far less ready forthis than she was. “If you feel up to trying to enter tomorrow,then we will.”
“I do,” she said.
Corson paced away while Erin, Hawk, andVargas looked on helplessly. My gaze fell on Hawk leaning againstthe wall. He didn’t know it yet, none of the humans did, but therewas an extremely good chance he would be able to make the journeyinto Hell with us.
Ever since Lilitu, the queen of her branchof the canagh demons, had sliced Hawk open and her blood had mixedwith his, he’d been showing more and more demon-like traits. Thegirl following him around after only one sexual encounter with himwas one example; his more volatile temper, the rate at which hiswounds healed now, and the fact he wasn’t sleeping as much as heused to were only a few of the others. Demons required sleep, justnot as much as the human race did.
Eventually, I would have to tell him that hewas turning into what humans considered an incubus. He would onlyhave more women trailing around behind him if he weren’t informedsoon. However, right now, I couldn’t risk River knowing there was apossibility she could become immortal too—not with everything elsegoing on, and not with the chance it could sever her connectionwith the Earth forever. She was convinced the loss of thatconnection had been what turned Lucifer, and the other fallenangels into the malevolent creatures they were now. No matter howbadly I craved her by my side for eternity, I would not riskdestroying her in such a way.
For now, the others kept a close eye on Hawkto make sure he didn’t have sex or kiss another woman. He wasstaying away from them for now, but it was only a matter of timebefore his canagh nature became more dominant, and he wouldn’t beable to go without sex, not without consequences.
He’d made it this far through the change,which meant he would survive it. When the time came, I was going tohave to explain what was happening to him, and he would have toagree to keep it quiet, or I would have him removed from ourgroup.
I didn’t like keeping things from River, andI had no idea what I would tell her if he did suddenly leave, but Iwould cross that bridge when, or if, we came to it. If he did agreeto keep it quiet, I would find some demons for him to have sex withso he could feed and keep his urges from getting out of control. Nomatter what, Hawk had to be kept from unwittingly ensnaring moremortal women.
Taking hold of River’s elbow, I led her backtoward the hallway door. I opened it for her and waited for theothers to file through it before stepping inside. I didn’t lookback at the gateway; I knew what awaited us there.
Resting my hand in the middle of River’sback, I walked beside her down the hall. Bale and Corson led theway before us. Bale’s hips swung back and forth with every step shetook. Her blood-red hair fell to the middle of her back. The red ofher skin appeared darker in the dimly lit hall.
Stopping before the other door, Bale pulledit open and stepped back. Her lime-colored eyes briefly met minebefore darting to River. Bale’s jaw clenched; she had come to likeRiver over these past months, but she wouldn’t protest what must bedone.
I guided River back into the main barroom.Shadows from the lanterns lining the walls danced over the worncarpet and across the bar. The flames reflected on the gleamingwhite skulls of the skelleins. Music drifted through the room, andall the skelleins swayed back and forth to the beat with their mugsraised in the air. I had no idea what they were singing, but thehumans all exchanged a surprised look before breaking intogrins.
River clapped her hands before her andbounced on the toes of her boots. I caught something about therebeing no time for losers and champions before the music faded away.The skelleins cheered, clinked their glasses loudly with oneanother, and downed their beer.
In Hell, the skelleins had always enjoyedtheir mjéod, a demon drink brewed from the waters of Hell. OnEarth, their penchant for mjéod had been replaced with a passionfor beer. I didn’t know when they’d first tasted the humanconcoction, but I wasn’t sure if the skelleins ever stoppeddrinking it.
They brewed their own beer and kept it in ashed in the woods. I’d discovered their little stash a couple ofweeks ago when I’d been scouting the area with other demons. Theyhad enough inside their shed to keep them supplied for at least sixmonths.
River’s head tilted to the side, as it didevery time she watched them drink a beverage, but like always, noliquid trickled from their skeletal frames. She shook her headbefore shooting me an amazed look. “I’ll never get used to that,”she murmured.
Draping my arm around her shoulders, Ipulled her close against my side and held her there. She fitperfectly against me, soft and yielding against all my hardedges.
The skelleins all turned to face us whenthey realized we were standing there. Breaking free of Hell hadcaused them to individualize themselves far more than they ever hadbefore. In Hell, it had been impossible to tell male from female;now it was easy enough by the clothes they wore.
Some of the skelleins hadreallyindividualized themselves—like the pirate at another table who hadsomehow found a stuffed parrot to add to his eyepatch and bandana.I hadn’t realized the skelleins had spent so much time watching thehuman world when they’d been in Hell, but they’d seen far more ofit than I’d ever realized.
“Do ye know the answer?” a skellein wearinga kilt shouted to Erin. The male skellein definitely hadn’t comefrom Scotland, but he’d shouted the words in a bad Scottishaccent.
“It took some thinking,” Erin said, “butit’s a watermelon.”
Groans and cheers accompanied her statement.“Have a drink with us, lass!” the kilt wearer cried.
“Afraid not,” Erin replied.
River turned to me with hope shining in hereyes. “Can we stay? I’m in no rush to go back out there. Besides, Ithink a trip into Hell should be preceded with a few drinks.”
