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“Luca!” I called again, but there was nothing but charred earth and billowing black smoke.
“Where is he?” Julian stepped into the blackened ring of dirt, fanning the smoke away from his face. “What happened?”
Between my choking coughs and wracking sobs, I could barely get the words out. “He—Olryg took him. He took them both.”
“What?” Julian’s face drained of color.
“Luca took Abigor in—to protect him—but—”
“R-River?”
Theo’s hoarse voice came through the smoke. Julian offered me a hand and I climbed unsteadily to my feet. “Oh God,” I cried, seeing the blood seeping through Theo’s shredded T-shirt. I stumbled toward him. “Theo.”
“I’m okay.” He looked down, patting ineffectually at his chest. “It's the firelight. Makes it look worse than it is.”
Our campfire, in the absence of Olryg's demonic flames, had dwindled. Flickers of dying light illuminated Theo's torso; I couldn't tell how deep the gouges were.
"Looks pretty fucking bad," Julian said gruffly, coming up beside us. "Let me see."
Theo looked away as I pushed his shirt up, examining for myself the slashes across his chest. They were long but shallow, and were already starting to scab over.
Julian glanced at him, some of the concern fading from his expression. "You'll live," he grunted.
I let out my breath in a whoosh of relief and dropped my hands to Theo's waist, letting my forehead thump against his collarbone. "Thank God."
“What do we do now?” Theo turned to Julian. “How do we get him back?”
I raised my head, and the expression on Julian’s face made my stomach drop.
“We don’t,” he said.
“What do you mean we don’t? Where did they go?” Even as the words left my lips, I heard Lilin’s voice in my head.
Where do you think?
“Not…” I couldn’t force myself to say it. It sounded so outlandish, so terrifying—that Luca had been—
“Dragged to Hell,” Theo said grimly.
I shook my head and took a step toward Julian, as if he could fix everything. “Okay, dragged to Hell. There must be a way to rescue him. There must.” My eyes burned, and I couldn’t keep the quaver from my voice. Though it had been mere weeks since I’d met Luca, I felt like a part of me had been carved away.
“There isn’t,” Julian said, sounding tired.
“Does that mean…” I swallowed, unable to finish the question.
He is, I thought, pain swelling in my chest. The tears in my eyes spilled over.
He’s not, Lilin said in my mind. I’d know.
Julian held my gaze. He seemed to be waiting. I opened my mouth to speak, but—
“Is he dead?” came Theo’s voice from behind me, plucking the words from my mouth.
Julian looked toward the fire, his face unreadable. “I…don’t think so.”
See, Lilin said.
“You said that he’d be destroyed,” I reminded Julian, my throat tightening. “You said it was his punishment.”
