I barely registered Druzila crawling away on her hands and knees, shaking and tearful. “The Between is no place for you,” I said, blinking at Melisande.
Had she even noticed?
She scowled. “You said your library was no place for me, either, and yet I seem to have survived it perfectly fine. Will the Between get us to Irkalla faster, or won’t it?”
I stood up straight, straightening my lapels again. It was an unconscious tic that brought me back to myself, a small motion that was so ordinary, so pretentious and fussy, that it was like gripping a lifeline back to normalcy.
A lifeline away from the dark. Away from what I would be if I let myself go.
“It would.” I looked over her spear, admiring the new form the Sword of Light had taken. Melisande was grace incarnate with a spear in her hand, like the weapon was a natural extension of herself. It wasn’t surprising that the weapon would have requested a shape to suit its new owner. “But faster isn’t always better.”
“Anything is better than taking weeks. Vyra is at stake.” If anyone else had used Vyra as a weapon against me, I would’ve flayed them alive. But Melisande’s pleading look took the heat out of my anger; she was just as worried sick for my sister as I was.
I barely spared a glance for Druzila as I stepped over her cringing form towards Melisande. If the ex-Reaper was wise, she’d get out while I was distracted. Even the small taste of her soul had been just a teaser, whetting the appetite of the monster inside.
Even now, with the bond between Melisande and I stronger than ever, I could still smell it. It was almost a psychic flavor, but that little bit of lingering rusty scent practically made me salivate.
I ignored the voice inside me urging me on. She’s seen you consume them before. She loves you, she won’t shy away. Feast on the worthless one. Feed me. Feed us.
“Most people are smart enough to stay away from the Between,” I said through clenched teeth. “Who told you about this?”
I was going to kill whoever put the idea of the Between in her head.
She lifted the spear, shaking it. “Wayland said you would know how to get there.”
Well, then. I would not be killing whoever put the idea in her head… though it was still a tempting thought.
I held back a sigh. If we ever had the chance, I was going to put Melisande on an in-depth study of the arcane and liminal places in Hell, and maybe once she read the eyewitness accounts, she’d be a little less enthusiastic about throwing herself into those places. “I could get us there. But everyone’s lives would be at risk the entire time we’re in it. That place isn’t a stroll through the park. It’s infinitely more dangerous than traversing Hell on foot.”
She was careful to keep the spear at bay as she took a step closer, not sparing a single glance for Druzila, who was still whimpering on the floor near her feet. “Everything is dangerous, Azazel. We’re equal to it.”
I gazed at her, reading the sheer determination in her eyes. Come Hell or Heaven, or anything in between, she wasn’t going to be dissuaded by any of the warnings I gave her.
“It’s a leap of faith.” Melisande’s lips were set firmly. “The moment I heard the name, I knew it was the place to go. This is what we’re supposed to do, so please show me the way.”
There was no fighting what she wanted. I massaged my temples with my fingertips. “We’ll take a vote. Everyone should know what they’re getting into.”
“Fine.” She agreed quickly, not giving me time to backtrack. “Tell them exactly what you told me, but I guarantee everyone will vote yes.”
Melisande held the spear away as she leaned in to kiss me. The bond between us lit up, washing the darkness inside me with pure light, the tenacity of something more than a simple angel.
I’d seen what she was in the orb. Her energy reflected it, even if her body didn’t.
Then she turned on her heel and strode to the balcony, spreading her wings and leaping off the edge of Blackchapel.
As soon as she left, the creature in me stirred again.
We’re hungry.
I sent several smoky birds from my fingertips, each carrying a message. They would repeat my warnings to the others- that the Between wasn’t meant for us. It’d once been the passage of gods… and monsters. But I wasn’t worried about myself.
If we were going to make it through, I needed to be at my strongest for the one who mattered the most to me.
Druzila was curled against the wall, her knees pulled in against her chest. Her face was contorted as she tried to cry silently. “Just one more chance,” she whispered, looking up at me through red-rimmed eyes.
Feed us. Protect the one we love.
“You should’ve left when you had the chance,” I said.
22
Melisande
I knew there was no way they would say no.
Not when I had the Spear, freshly forged and gleaming new in my hands. And not when I told them we could be there in days instead of weeks.
Tascius held my shoulders, keeping a careful distance from the Spear. “Azazel sent a bird just ahead of you. He said it was very dangerous. Are you sure you want to do this?”
I nodded, almost unable to speak.
The end was so far away, and yet so close.
Belial had already agreed on the way home from Wayland. I knew he’d support me wherever I wanted to go, even if it was into the furthest depths of Hell. The Between was just another day for him.
“Like I told Azazel, everything is dangerous. But if it means ending this and getting them back, what’s a little danger?”
“‘What’s a little danger’?” Tascius repeated, closing his eyes. Silvery light drifted off him, the antithesis of the Spear’s golden light. “Right. Let’s do this, friend.”
“Thank you,” I whispered, rising up to kiss him. I knew he’d have faith in me. We’d come this far, and we’d keep going, no matter what.
“I’m going with you.”
Haru’s sharp voice rang through the arena. I turned around, still in Tascius’s arms, and found the kitsune standing only feet away.
He wore a red kimono and black hakama, his sleeves finally pulled up to hide his lean physique. He’d tied his deep red hair in a ponytail, but his ears were perked straight up, his amber eyes narrowed.
“You don’t have to go, Haru.” I tried to sound gentle, but if the Between was that terrible and he died, I’d have the guilt of it on my chest forever, especially knowing he did it just for Vyra.
“I do.” He didn’t say anything else, just spun on his heel and headed to the armory.
Michael jumped off the upper balcony as Haru strode away and hit the floor next to us. He gave the Spear a sidelong look. “I’m going, too. I haven’t felt a hint of Raphael here in Dis, so if he’s in Hell, it’s somewhere else.”
“It’s not a cavalcade,” I snapped, but Tascius laid a hand on my shoulder and squeezed it gently.
“The more firepower we have, the better a chance we stand,” he murmured. “If Michael comes, we’ve got two archangels against Lucifer.”
I looked up at him, searching his blue eyes, but there wasn’t so much as a hint of reproach there.