Page 63 of Sorrow & Strangers

For the most part, they reside in Hell but are free to travel among realms as desired. However, access to each realm is closely monitored and is a multi-step process for non-demons or exiled demons.

Demon physical characteristics include horns, fangs, and black blood. Depending on the subspecies, they can have tails, wings, and/or extra arms.

The capital of Hell is named Pandemonium and is where the “king” resides.

Alice climbs out of bed and goes back to the dresser she has turned into a makeshift bench, to make more salve for Rafe. Between the book and the making of the salve, the smell of brimstone overwhelms the room, but I don’t care as long as it helps Rafe.

I go back to reading, becoming engrossed in the information.

“Ow,” Rafe groans, and I nearly drop the book in surprise.

“Rafe?” I ask, sitting up and looking down at him.

“Hurts,” Rafe whimpers.

“Rafe,” I choke out, a sob lodged in my throat.

He tries to open his eyes, but I can tell it’s a struggle for him. “Hurt . . . all . . . over.”

I nod and shift to redraw the rune. “I’m going to help you. I’m going to redo your runes, okay?”

Rafe’s body slumps, and I can tell he’s passed out again. I look up, meeting Alice’s gaze. She’s looking at me with tears in her eyes too.

“That’s good, right?”

“I think so,” I say, nodding. Rafe waking up means that he’s healing. It means that whatever we’re doing is helping him enough that he’s getting better.

“You should call them,” Alice says as I finish redrawing his rune. It glows dimly, and I grab my phone, selecting Uriel’s number.

Uriel answers immediately. “Is he okay?”

“He is. He woke up for a moment.”

Uriel releases a heavy breath, and I can hear him falling back in his chair. He must have been pacing, maybe since our last call.

“He’s going to be okay, Dad,” I say, my voice breaking.

Uriel’s sob is muffled as if he has buried his face in his hands. Then I hear him take a steadying breath.

“Farrah!” he calls out. “He woke up!”

“He-he did?” Farrah’s voice sounds distant, but I can clearly hear the raw emotion in it.

“Summer’s on the phone.”

Farrah bursts into tears, and I can hear her moving closer. There is muffled movement on the other end of the line, and I can picture her on his lap.

“He’s okay,” she says, and I hear both her and Uriel break down, their broken sobs heart-rending.

I listen, holding space for their relief and pain. As I let my silent tears fall, Alice wipes away the old salve and replaces it with new, visibly pleased that his skin is slowly regenerating.

“Did he say anything?” Uriel asks wetly.

“Just that he’s in pain. I redid his runes, and Alice is applying a new salve, which will hopefully help.”

“Jim got the paperwork through, so he’s enrolled. We were notified this morning.”

A weight lifts off me because that means he’s safe from Lucifer. No student of Avalon can be taken from the dome without their consent.