Levi tended to her. “Mamá?” He lifted her chin, but her eyes were rolled back into her head. He looked to me. “It’s time.”
I nodded. “Remember. You promised not to go in.”
“I understand. Go,” he said, holding up his mother’s head.
I closed my eyes, searching for Petra’s lifeforce and the tag who held her between the planes of Hell and Earth.
Chapter Fourteen
Levi
“Eden,” I warned. Mamá’s lips were blue.
“I know,” she said, her eyes popping open.
Mamá’s eyes focused. The tag finally allowed her to breathe again.
Eden hadn’t even broken a sweat, but Mamá could barely form a sentence; she had surpassed exhaustion and was now just focusing on taking her next breath.
Jared and Nina, Claire and Cynthia still stood in each corner of the room, continuing their chanting to distract and weaken the demon. Otherwise, Mamá would’ve been dead hours ago.
“Petra?” Eden said, leaning down to look into her eyes. “Stay with me. It’s not time yet.”
Mamá met her gaze, and a ghost of a smile touched her lips. “Stubborn.”
Eden’s expression softened. “Yes, he is. More than I realized, but we’re getting there. Rest.”
Cynthia brought my mother water, allowing her to take small sips from a straw, and then encouraged her to take a bite of a protein concoction on a pita chip. “It’s odd, but it will help to keep up your energy.” She looked to me with a reassuring nod.
“Thank you,” I said.
“We’re wasting time,” my mother said. Dark circles had formed under her sunken, bloodshot eyes.
“You can tell me,” I said. “If you want a break, if you want to stop all together, or if you change your mind about...”
She shook her head. “I want to be free.” After a few breaths, she spoke again. “And, I want to piss off your father.”
I managed a grin, but it quickly faded. She was feisty even as she faced death.
Eden squared herself, planting her feet on the ground.
“Ready?” I asked.
Mamá nodded.
Eden’s eyes rolled back in her head, and moments later, so did my mother’s. A deep growl filled the room, coming from every corner. Agatha seemed nervous, but Cynthia’s shoulders were relaxed, her eyes settling on her granddaughter with pride.
Mamá’s back arched, and a short cry was muffled by the same strangled sounds she’d been making each time Eden took hold of the beast. Her eyes bulged, indentions forming on her neck where the demon squeezed.
“Eden,” I warned.
“Almost there,” she said.
Mamá made a choking sound as she struggled for air. Her eyes rolled back until only white was visible, and then her body began to seize. Four invisible talons sunk into Mamá’s skin, drawing blood. The crimson liquid oozed from the wounds, pooled, and then streamed down her neck, filling the hollows behind her protruding collarbones. There, the blood divided into more streams before spreading downward to her shirt.
Sweat began to bead on Eden’s forehead. Cynthia wiped her brow.
“Eden?”
Eden was too focused to answer, and I knew we were close, but the tortured expression on Mamá’s face was unbearable.
“I’m going in,” I said.
“Levi, don’t,” Cynthia commanded. But she was too late.
My skin instantly sizzled at the rolling flames in the room, the embers floating around Mamá, Eden, and me. The tag was hanging onto my mother’s side like an overgrown toddler, talons on its hands and feet. It was larger than I’d seen for something that could survive for long periods in two planes. Eden was in a mental battle, standing a few feet away, her eyes still closed.
“Levi,” she warned. “Don’t!”
Eden knew as well as I did that Mamá couldn’t approach the Pearl Gates with a tag attached to her. We had to set her free first.
I jumped on the demon, prying its hands from her throat one finger at a time.
I met the tag’s eyes, coming within inches of his deformed face. “Let her go,” I said, struggling. “You’re killing her.”
His talons sunk deeper.
Mamá was finally able to suck in a breath, and she wailed.
Her screams were heard by my father.
“Eden,” I warned. “He’s coming.”
“I know,” she said, her eyes still closed.
“He’s coming!”
“I know!” she yelled back. Whatever Eden did next hurt the demon, and he buried his face into my mother’s neck, his thin gray skin trembling over its exhausted muscles.
Mamá’s eyes met mine, and for the first time in my life, I could see her panic.
“Eden, stop!” I begged.
“No!” Mamá croaked, shaking her head.
“She’s afraid,” I said, looking to Eden.
Eden opened her eyes and looked to Mamá, who reached out and then shook her head.
“I’m sorry,” Eden said, closing her eyes.
Mamá pulled back her hand, and she touched my cheek. She shook her head, still unable to breathe. Her eyes fluttered, rolled back, and her body relaxed, her hand falling away and to her side. I stared at her hand, hanging lifelessly off the bed.
“Not yet!” I yelled. “Eden!”
Eden pulled Gehenna from behind her, showing it to the tag. It immediately recoiled, loosening its grip on my mother.
“I’ll end you! Free her!” Eden screamed.
The moment the demon showed weakness, Eden lunged, effortlessly prying its fingers off my mother’s tiny body and then tossing it over her shoulder and onto the floor. They grappled, and then Eden gained her footing and held the thick skin of its neck with both hands, pinning it against the burning wall of Mamá’s bedroom.
“Mamá?” I said, shaking her. “You have to come back. You have to fight to open your eyes. It’s time.”
I grabbed my mother’s shoulders, shaking her as the room burned around us. “Mamá!”
Her eyes flickered, and then she gasped for air.
“Is she ready?” Eden yelled, still holding the tag. “Are you?”
Mamá tapped my arm, and I helped her to stand. She was wobbly, but she kept her balance.
Eden stepped aside, freeing the tag to barrel toward Mamá like a freight train. On all fours, it loped toward her so fast drool slid from the corners of its mouth and across its leathery skin to its ears.
I unleashed every bit of my rage, tackling the tag and ramming my fists into its head and sides. Hundreds of tiny razor-sharp teeth snapped inches from my face as it fought. That was when I felt the first of my wounds tear apart.
“Petra!” Eden called, true fear in her voice.