“How is that possible?” Corson asked.
When the gateway closed and Hell collapsed, the Asharún vanished. The nymph gave him a smile that caused Wren’s eyes to narrow as the pretty woman batted her lashes.
“Oh, the river Asharún isn’t far from us,” she replied.
“You’re shitting me,” Corson blurted. “The Asharún is on Earth?”
The nymph smiled. “Yes. It’s right out back. It’s why our mjéod is the best you’ll ever taste.”
I hadn’t seen the river Asharún in a while. I never would have guessed the river or ferrymen had made it to Earth, but the collapse of Hell had created more of an upheaval than I realized if the Asharún rose to Earth.
“What’s the Asharún?” Aisling asked.
“You would know it more as the River Styx,” Hawk said.
“That’s the name the humans who glimpsed the Asharún through the veils gave it,” Shax said.
“Did Carion or any of the other ferrymen make it out?” I inquired.
“All of the ferrymen are still on the river,” the nymph replied.
“Good.”
The ferrymen weren’t fighters, they simply did their job of carrying demons across the river, but they were loyal to Kobal.
“What about the tahanusi?” Hawk asked. “Are they still in the river?”
“What is that?” Wren asked.
“Sea creatures that live in the Asharún,” Corson said.
“More like seamonsters,” Hawk said.
I had to agree. The tahanusi were frightening creatures with black scales, a round mouth full of sharp teeth, and pitiless green eyes. Their tail was like that of the rattlesnakes on Earth. I’d dealt with rattlesnakes and the tahanusi; I didn’t like either of them.
“The tahanusi also live,” the nymph said. “And there are still wraiths trapped within the Asharún’s red waters.”
“I’d hoped never to see those hideous things again,” Hawk muttered.
“We’ll stay away from the river,” Corson said.
“I’ll get your drinks,” the nymph said.
She hurried away with a flick of her dress that revealed her ass. Aisling and Wren stared daggers at Hawk and Corson, but neither of them was paying attention to the nymph. Sitting in the corner, with two nymphs on each of his thigh bones, Lix lifted a mug in the air toward us.
“That is one happy skellein,” Corson said.
From the corner of my eye, I saw Calabar stiffen before breaking into a smile while the rest of the room became eerily silent. The hush that descended over the room ended when Caim snapped his wings shut.
I didn’t have to look up to know Wrath had entered; I felt his presence in the marrow of my bones, but I still turned my head to find him standing in the doorway, surveying the room. When his eyes landed on me, the strength of the rage and desire slamming into me rattled my composure, but I somehow managed to keep my face impassive.
My Chosen, my fate, and my death had arrived, and he was wearingmysword.
Chapter Eight
Wrath
My eyes settled on Bale,sitting at a table with some of her paliton cohorts. I recognized some from the battle the angels lost at the wall and from our encounter at the minotaur’s cave. Like us, their numbers had dwindled drastically.
