“By who?” I asked.
Ramiel shook his head. “I can’t say. But your mother is in danger.”
I frowned. “I know. That’s why we’re here, to devise a plan.”
“You’re not going to like what I have to say,” he said.
Before I could respond, he gestured to the creature above, who spread one wing. A gust of hot wind and sand blew against and over its singed feathers, but we were protected for the moment.
Ramiel could speak more softly now, protected from the noise of the wind. “If you leave the protection of the Ryels, you both—along with Bex—will die within the day. Petra is human now, one that’s been tagged for twenty years. She won’t survive the separation.”
“You don’t know what we’re capable of,” Eden said.
Ramiel wasn’t impressed. “You’re immensely powerful, Eden, but those powers are limited by your station. The Keeper of the Balance cannot complete anything that will cause inequity.”
Eden scoffed “I can do what I want. Maybe the penalty is death, but I’ve died before.”
“More times than you know,” he said, holding his hands to his sides. “Try it.”
She raised an eyebrow. “Try what?”
“Phase. Try to kill a human—even an evil one. One so full of filth and evil that he’ll be a celebrity down here. Hitler, Stalin, Himmler, Hussein, Kim Jong-il, Xi Jinping. All responsible for thousands of deaths on Earth just in the last century. Do you think you’re the first Keeper of the Balance? Or are you just the best one?”
Eden stuttered over her answer.
Ramiel sighed as if he were bored, and he stated his next words with even less enthusiasm, “Disconnecting a tag Satan placed on a human who gave her soul with informed consent is contrary to the laws. Petra will die. You will die. Levi will die. Bex will die.”
“No,” I said, feeling my entire body tense. “You … you came here to advise us, so what do you advise? There has to be another way.”
Ramiel walked over to the cliff’s edge, his creature becoming restless as the master glowered down at the monsters below. “I hate them,” he said under his breath. “I hate this place.” He turned to Eden, the same expression on his face.
She instinctually reached back to place her hand on Gehenna. “Don’t,” she warned.
Ramiel paused. “For the first time in many, many lifetimes, I have a chance to see my Lizeth. The same chance you have to see your mother again,” he said, looking to me.
“What do you mean?” I asked, dubious.
“Petra must die. The question is, where will she go? Eden can’t use the blade to end Petra’s existence. Anyone else who uses the blade on your mother, Eden must send to Hell. Petra will go to the Oubliette. There is no other way, Levi.”
“The sacrifice.” Eden blinked. “Lizeth. You’ve made a bargain. With who?”
One side of his mouth turned up. “I tell you—or anyone—and the deal’s off.”
“So, you have help? Someone on the inside?” Eden looked over her shoulder. The screams of the minions were getting closer.
“What are we talking about here?” I asked.
“They can get her through,” Eden said, excited. She grabbed both of my arms, her eyes dancing as she processed hundreds of thoughts.
I shifted my feet, looking to Ramiel. “You’re sure? You can guarantee her passage?”
Ramiel simply nodded. “You have my word that someone will be waiting at the twelfth gate of Zebulun to let her in before your father can reach her.”
“How?” I’d always feared my mother’s death, knowing where she was destined to go. Each time I visited Hell I wondered if she would reside in the Temple, but it was still a miserable existence. After warning me, her destiny was sealed. But maybe that was part of a bigger plan. For the first time, I allowed myself to hope for her a better afterlife.
“We’ll worry about the how,” Ramiel said. “You make sure she exits your plane, after a sacrifice, without the tag. That’s the only way she can enter Heaven.”
I felt a twinge in my chest. “Thank you.” It was all I could manage.
“I must go.” Ramiel climbed up his winged creature, and its enormous legs bent before launching itself off the cliff and surging upward with one flap of its wings.
The tears in my eyes welled up and spilled over, vaporized before they could get to my jawline.
“Huh,” Eden said, watching them get smaller and smaller until they disappeared into the darkness. “I thought that thing lived inside this… Oh, shit.”
A new creature stepped forward with a guttural snarl. Eden and I raised our chins slowly to see its head glowering down at us.
“Is this a pet too, I hope? Like Ramiel’s?” Eden asked.
“It’s a daeryx.”
“In summation, how do we beat it?”
“For starters, it’s not a pet.”
“Summary, Levi,” she said, impatient.
“They’re strong, but slow. Very aggressive, mostly around its dwelling.”
Eden pointed at the hole in the mountain. “You think it lives here?”
“He looks pretty pissed, so I’m going to say yes.”
The daeryx was enormous, as tall as the huge cavern behind it. Part dragon, part crab, its six legs ended with a single claw that clicked against the hard red clay we stood upon.
“Oh, I should’ve called this one,” I said, taking a step back and bringing Eden with me.
“Hi,” Eden said, holding up her hands palms-out. “I don’t want to hurt you. We’re leaving. Cool?”
I yanked her back as the daeryx’s long neck extended. It reared back, then surged its head forward, a foul stench blasting into our faces once it bleated a warning—or possibly a war cry, calling for others.
“We don’t have time for this,” Eden said. She took a quick glance at the base of the mountain. The demons were beginning to climb over each other, forming a living pillar reaching closer to us every second.
“We need to move,” I warned.
As Eden gauged the creature pre-strike, it reminded me of the first time I saw her. Creatures residing in Hell were what nightmares were made of and made life in the Underworld seem surreal in the worst possible way. But being in Eden’s presence, surrounded by every mundane object of Earth, was phantasmal. She had the same look on her face as she approached the daeryx as she did the first time I saw her: petite, blonde, and full of piss and vinegar, the human form of my immortal love. Even if she hadn’t been beyond beautiful, my love for her had spanned lifetimes; any perceived flaw would be just another reason to love her. The moment we met was so vivid. She was so clean I could still smell the chlorine and fluoride on her skin. Now, every time she moved a handful of sand fell from her hair, and another drop of sweat streaked the soot on her face.
“Okay,” she said, finishing her calculations.