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“What do you mean?”
“Did your mother tell you to flirt with me?”
“I’m not flirting.”
“Then what is this?”
“I just thought…”
“You just thought…”
“We could be friends.”
I
looked at him for a long moment then threw my head back and laughed out loud. Okay, so maybe I didn’t have to laugh that hard, but I felt like I had to make a point. It had the anticipated effect. Sariel narrowed his silver eyes at me, suddenly unhappy with my brash attitude, and took a step back.
“That’s what I thought,” I said between chuckles. “I’m gonna go now, so please don’t follow me. Let me make that even clearer.” I pointed at the corridor ahead. “I go,” then at him, “You stay.”
“Fuck you,” he mumbled as I walked away
That’s the Sariel I know.
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
Just like Heaven, Hell had two entrances in the US. Feeling generous, professor Maat chose the most beautiful one, located in one of Arizona’s breathtaking canyons. Since I hadn’t traveled much, I was excited, but at the same time, terrified. I was going to visit Hell. When Pazuzu’s mother found out that the Gracewings had had me for dinner in Heaven, she decided she had to go the extra mile, beat them at their own game, and throw me a party. GC, Paz, and I were invited, which of course, made sense, but then she invited Francis and Sariel, too, and that was where she lost me. Maybe she wanted to show Sariel that a dinner party in Hell was better than a simple dinner in Heaven? These people mystified me…
Anyway, I liked Lamia Eremus, I’d met her at the Yule Ball, so I couldn’t wait to see her again. My boyfriends had the best mothers, and they both loved me! What more could I ask for?
The canyon was made of red sandstone, and it was the most breathtaking thing I’d ever seen in my life. It was difficult to navigate, there were places where stairs weren’t available, and there were spots so narrow that I could barely fit. It wasn’t open to humans, and those who ignored the warnings and went in anyway, never returned. Spiral rock arches ascended toward the sky all around me, and the sun sent its beams down the openings and crevices, creating a scenery that, in my opinion, was way prettier than what I saw in Heaven. The gateway to Hell was behind a narrow passageway between two spiral columns, and once we managed to squeeze through it one by one, the cave opened up, and we saw the dark mouth to Hell.
I gulped.
“Don’t worry, it’s safe for us,” Pazuzu encouraged me.
“Who isn’t it safe for?”
He chuckled. “For the humans who can’t get it through their thick skulls that this canyon is not open to tourists.”
“What happens to them?”
“If they come this far and find the mouth to Hell, what do you think happens? It swallows them whole.”
“They can turn back.” I looked at the deep, ominous cavern we were supposed to enter. Professor Maat was already stepping into the darkness. “Who would ever choose to go in there instead of just going back?”
“They don’t actually have a choice. It’s too tempting. Don’t you feel it? Supernaturals instinctively know what it is, and they stay away from the canyon. But humans don’t know how to listen to their instinct. Don’t you feel drawn to it?”
Now that he mentioned it, I did feel inexplicably pulled toward the darkness. It’s fine. At least, I know what I’m getting into. Those poor, curious souls, though… A bunch of VDC students followed professor Maat. GC and Paz stayed behind, waiting for me to gather up my courage. What was strange was that Sariel and Francis were waiting for me, too. I looked over at Sariel, and he quickly averted his gaze. After our strange encounter outside Mr. Lovecraft’s classroom, the archangel had taken up this hobby of following me around unnoticed and popping up out of nowhere when I was alone. His flirting style left a lot to be desired. Not that I was interested.
This was ridiculous. I didn’t want to be last, and I also didn’t want to miss what Mrs. Maat had to tell us about each Circle of Hell. I dragged a deep breath in and walked briskly through the dark entrance. The guys followed me, and I soon felt Paz’s hand seek mine. Our fingers entangled, and I felt safe again.
Hell was structured the same as Heaven. If Heaven had Nine Spheres, Hell had Nine Circles. We were going to visit the first three, stop for lunch in the Fourth, then visit the last five. Lamia, Paz’s mother, lived in the Ninth Circle, which was where Satan lived, too. He liked to keep his wives close. We weren’t going to see him, because he didn’t take visitors and he didn’t care that we were the next Grim Reapers, but we were going to see his palace from a distance.
The First Circle was called the Limbo, and it was the home of those souls that weren’t sinful enough to deserve damnation, but neither pure enough to go to Heaven. So, they were going to suffer here a bit, learn a lesson or two, then get reincarnated and see if those lessons had stuck. The only difference between Heaven and Hell was that the souls that got into Heaven could choose how much they wanted to stay there and when they wanted to take another shot at life on Earth. The ones that went to Hell had to first serve the time allotted according to their sins, then they could reincarnate and do better. As far as I was concerned, it all sounded fair.
Limbo was bathed in a dim light that made my eyes struggle to see clearly. As we walked down the narrow streets, looking at the small, old houses and rundown shops, Corri snuggled closer to my neck, hiding under my blue hair.
“I don’t like it here.”
