“We have a plan?”
“Just … be sure to stand clear.”
Eden sprinted toward the enormous daeryx, and all I could do was watch with an amused grin. She was a tiny thing, dwarfed even more by the dragon-like creature as she grabbed one of its legs. The daeryx bleated for just a few seconds, but despite its weight—every bit of eight tons—Eden managed a good grip on the back of its ankle, planted her left foot, and pivoted to swing the monster three hundred and sixty degrees before letting go, hurling the monster over the cliff. Regardless of its long claws creating trenches in the rock to slow its trajectory, the daeryx slid all the way to the edge, right next to me.
I looked at her, surprised that she’d miscalculated.
Eden stood up, gesturing to her foot.
I bent my knee and kicked the daeryx, loosening its grip to send it over the ledge and down into the pillars of demons. Hideous beings were scattered in every direction, and noises pierced my ears that I was sure would alert Hell’s hierarchy. The daeryx wasn’t dead, but at least now it and the demons were fighting one another.
Eden looked at me with a grimace, her chest heaving. “It was heavier than I thought.”
“Well done, but we’re out of time.”
“So the new plan is to separate it from Petra and then kill it?”
“With the blade.”
She nodded slowly, still thinking. “But how do we separate it without killing her too fast? And is her coming to you with information enough of a sacrifice?”
I stared at her. “I’ll remove the tag. Give Petra the blade. She’ll protect me.”
She shook her head. “She’ll be near death, Levi. She won’t be strong enough to wield a sword, even a small one. And, forgive me, but she’s a wife of Satan. You’re really suggesting we give Petra Gehenna?”
“She’s my mother first. Everything she has ever celebrated or suffered has been for me.”
“Levi…”
“Can you think of another way?”
“I’m sorry. I don’t trust her.”
“Do you trust me?”
Eden’s eyes danced as she tried to find a different solution, but the longer she thought, the more frustrated she became.
The commotion from below drew our attention. The daeryx’s growls had turned to shrieking. Once he was overpowered by their sheer numbers, the demons made quick work of pulling the creature apart. His massive neck fell limp, freeing the army to resume fighting each other to climb the wall.
She raked back her hair only for the wind to blow it into her eyes. “The powers I’ve developed could make anyone feel overconfident. Something deep inside is whispering for me to be careful, and I’m not sure if it’s my voice or something else. What if, despite all of our combined knowledge, the blade, my new powers, and my best efforts… Levi, be honest with me. If I can’t do this, can you forgive me?”
Levi processed my words and then blinked. “Eden…”
“I know. It’s a lot to ask. It’s a lot to promise, but—”
“She’s going to die today. Like Ramiel said, what matters is where she ends up. This is her only chance; my only chance to see her again. If she sacrifices herself, Hell can’t hold her. You’re not guilty of disrupting The Balance, and she is home with me until the very end, and then… My God, Eden. She would be allowed into Heaven.”
“She won’t get through Heaven’s Gates with a tag attached to her,” I said. “And it will kill her when we take it off.”
“She’s died before. I know she can do this.”
“You expect her to kill the tag after she dies?”
“Just … please trust me,” I said, my hands balling into fists. I was desperate to get Eden on board before we phased out. “You know death isn’t real, Eden. It’s a doorway. I’m going to give her the keys to the right one.”
Her lips pressed into a hard line, and she tilted her head, already apologetic. “This doesn’t feel right.”
I touched her face. “I understand your hesitation, I do. But no one walks away from a war feeling like they’ve won. If I know she’s waiting for me in Heaven, and I get to keep you? Do you not understand it’s the best-case scenario? You asked me for a better way. This is it.” I looked down, seeing the living pillar of demons had nearly grown to the top. “They’re almost to the top. We have to go. Are you with me?”
I turned away from the ledge, my toes teetering on the edge. “Are you with me?”
“Trust fall?” she asked, one side of her mouth turning up.
I reached for her hand, and she took it, turning to stand next to me. We leaned back, falling backward over the ledge toward the pillars.
Chapter Eleven
Eden
My eyes opened just as I sucked in my first breath of fresh air. The first thing my gaze settled on was the chandelier above. I was focused more on what was at the bottom of the trust fall, so we didn’t end up in the hallway where we’d been, instead landing on our backs in Grandmother’s bedroom. That meant my sweaty, soot and sand-covered skin lying against my grandmother’s one-hundred-year-old Tabriz Persian rug. I could hear her sigh from the drawing room.
I scrambled to stand, with Levi’s hand still in mine. I pulled him up, but slowly. He had pushed his body too hard while we were in the Underworld.
“I shouldn’t have brought you down there so soon,” I said. “You’re still not healed.”
“I guess it takes me longer the older I get?”
“Or you’ve lost favor. Maybe some of your powers were given to you by your father?”
Levi frowned, unhappy with the thought. His expression changed. “Do you hear that?” he asked.
I nodded. Whatever it was hanging on to Levi’s mother emanated a constant, low growl that grew louder when I fixated on him. The demon knew I was aware of it. The old entity was a spy for Lucifer himself and had already relayed all the information it had gathered at that moment. I was glad we’d found a way around its eavesdropping, but no one else could hide the way Levi and I could.
Grandmother’s heels clicked down the hallway, and she opened the door, gesturing for us to get the hell out of her bedroom. Politely, of course. We stood in the hallway, waiting for her to speak.
“It’s listening,” Grandmother said. “And has been quite cantankerous since you left. Whatever you plan to do, you should do it now.”
“My parents should be here,” I said. “We need all the guidance we can get.”
Levi nodded.
I dialed Dad’s number and held my cell phone to my ear.
He picked up on the first ring. “Everything okay, sweetheart?” Dad asked.
“I need you to come home.”
“On my way,” he said, hanging up.
I looked into Levi’s eyes, hoping he’d change his mind. “You’re sure?”