At six foot four, Corson’s lithe build and usually easygoing demeanor often caused others to underestimate him, but as an adhene demon, he was one of the deadliest creatures I’d ever encountered. He was also one of my most loyal followers and closest advisors.
“The Asharún is full of wraiths,” I said to River. “I’d prefer not expose you to them any more than necessary. We will stay on land.”
She glanced back at the swirling water as a wraith broke the surface. A hand rose into the air, its fingers opening and closing as it sought to grasp something. The shifting currents of water spun the wraith around before sucking it under once more. Trapped by the flowing waters, some of the wraiths took on their human form again, while others remained the twisted spirits they became after demons fed on them for long periods of time.
When River started rubbing her arms again, I knew she recalled how cold the wraiths made her feel. I knew she was remembering discovering that her father, a man she’d never known when he’d been alive, had been sent to Hell when he died. In his wraith form, her father had used his abilities to help Lucifer bring down the seals one at a time.
“I’d prefer not to be around the wraiths, but if it’s going to be quicker and safer to travel the Asharún, then we should,” she stated. “Are we supposed to swim it?”
“No.” The tips of my claws dug into my palms as I glanced from her to the water and back again. “We don’t swim. The ferrymen are called to take travelers on their journey.”
“Call them then.”
“River, the Asharún is not a good place to be.”
“Kobal, we areliterallystanding in Hell. I don’t think anywhere is a good place to be.”
“No, it’s not,” I grated through my teeth. “Can you handle being that close to so many wraiths?”
“Yes.” She rested her hand on my arm. Her fingers ran over the symbols marking my flesh as she spoke. “If you’re with me, I can handle it. Your presence helps to shelter me from their cold, and these are weakened wraiths; they won’t affect me as badly as the others did, or my… father.”
Her nose wrinkled at the last word, and her mouth pinched together as if she’d eaten something unpleasant.
“You can’t know that they won’t affect you as much,” I told her.
“Maybe not, but Idoknow that avoiding the best route because of me is dumb. Besides, it’s hot as Hell in here; I could use a little cooldown, and the wraiths do provide that for me.” Her mouth quirked in a teasing smile, but no amusement shone in her somber eyes. “I’ll be fine. How long will we have to be on the Asharún?”
“It will probably feel like a few hours of human time, at least.”
No one else would have seen it, but I didn’t miss the twitching muscle close to her eye. She said she would be okay, that she would handle it, but I felt her uncertainty.
“A few hours is nothing in the grand scheme of things,” she murmured and turned away from me. “Call for the ferrymen, send up a smoke signal, knock down a rock from above, or whatever it is you have to do to get their attention. We’re going boating.”
I glanced over at Corson who stared at River with a pained look. When his gaze lifted to mine, I didn’t see fear there this time, but more guilt and a reluctance to do as she’d instructed. “Call them,” I commanded.
Corson bowed his head and stepped closer to the Asharún. Water ran over the tips of his boots, turning it from a blood red hue to a pinkish one when he knelt beside the river.
“You can change your mind,” I said to River. “No one here will blame you for that.” I didn’t bother to look at the others; they would have no choice in the matter.
Her hair waved about her shoulders when she shook her head no. “No matter what it takes, I want this over with. The sooner Lucifer is dead, the better we’ll all be. If this will get us to your chambers and eventually to Morax, Verin, and the rest of your followers faster, then we are going to do it.”
At River’s words, Corson rested his fingers in the water. Closing his eyes, he drew energy from the wraiths caught up in the Asharún’s currents. As weak as they were, it was easy for him to feed on numerous wraiths at once.
River winced and stepped back when a wail reverberated through the air. The forlorn cry of the wraiths echoed off the rocks until the sound became an inescapable cacophony that vibrated the ground.
“It will stop soon,” I promised her. Releasing her elbow, I wrapped my arm around her waist and drew her against me. I cradled her head to my chest as thousands of wraiths broke the surface of the water.
CHAPTER 2
River
I began to regret my decision to make this boat crossing when the wraiths bobbed up in the water. Their dipping and rising motions reminded me of buoys bouncing on top of the ocean water. Except these buoys weren’t colorful lobster pot or channel markers. No, these buoys were the blackened souls of the damned, and there were somanyof them.
They churned the water like piranhas in a feeding frenzy. Their frantic movements caused the current to shift and change as their hands clawed at the air. They seemed to be trying, and failing, to grasp something that would pull them free of the tumultuous waters. I couldn’t help but pity them as their desperation beat against me.
My shoulders drooped as the muggy air in the cavern, easily the size of football field, made me feel like a wilted plant. The stagnant pond aroma of the Asharún clogged my nostrils as the current flowed from an archway on my right. I couldn’t see beyond the archway, and when I turned my head, I couldn’t see past the twist in the rocks to my left, but the water coursed that way.
I yearned to clap my hands over my ears and shut out the awful, wailing of the wraiths, but I refused to show any weakness in front of them. Kobal embraced me against him and bent his lips to nuzzle the top of my hair. His innate, fiery scent filled my nose.
