“I’m in love with a prince of Hell, Dash. I must love the burn.”
The laugh from the collective audience was a bit hard to take, but I wasn’t leaving my demon behind.
“Well, we might as well go do this now.” Michael’s cell phone rang as he finished his drink. “Jophiel? What’s wrong?”
Their voice was frantic. I felt the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end. If they were calling Michael, something terrible must have happened.
Michael hurriedly left the room, and I turned to Keir and Dash. “Who’s in the walk-in?”
“A ninety-five-year-old man named Burgess Kincaid. He’s being cremated tomorrow. We’ll drop him off at Steinbeck’s in the morning. We leave on Wednesday if the world doesn’t end tonight.” I could see Keir wasn’t joking.
“I don’t think it’s quite that bad. Probably something to do with closing the portals. Jo’s been working on it.” I glanced at them to see concerned expressions.
“Are they closing the one here?” Dash studied my face, so I knew I couldn’t lie.
“No. This is the only portal they want to leave open. They want to bring the fight here to you.” Keir nodded before wrapping himself around Dash, the two of them hugging.
Michael returned to the room appearing a little shaken. “Okay, Scotty, let’s go. We’ve got work to do.” He then turned to Dash and Keir. “Is anyone staying here while you’re gone on your vacation?”
“No. Should we ask someone to stay?” Dash’s eyes danced between Michael and me.
“I think Adonis should stay. He’s nearly impossible to kill and doesn’t spook easily. If the neighborhood kids see nobody coming and going, they might decide to break in and look around. That’s all you’d need.” I didn’t mention that we had no idea if anyone would come through that portal, so it would be best if an immortal was there to greet whoever did.
“Oh, I didn’t think about that. Great idea, Scotty. Well, let us know if there’s anything we can do for you guys before we leave. Don’t bother us until we return unless it’s time to fight.”
Dash was staring at me, so I gave him a grin. “Promise. Have fun, you guys.”
Michael and I went down the stairs as quickly as possible and through the portal in the receiving bay. When we stepped out on the other side, I grabbed his arm. “What did Jo want?”
“Nyx and her minions have disappeared.”
I stared at him, but Michael didn’t crack a smile. “Disappeared?”
He nodded. “They’re gone. Beelz called Jo. She’s on her way to Limbo. We need to get to the Celestial Realm now. We need to try to head off whatever this is.”
We discussed what each of us would do and went our separate ways. A weight was on my shoulders that I’d never imagined, but I had to be sure everything went smoothly. I didn’t have a lot of time to pull it off, but I was determined.
When I arrived outside the Council building, the butterflies in my stomach had changed into pterodactyls, and I didn’t see them calming anytime soon. The courtyard was filled with folks chatting, some sitting at tables and having coffee.
I ducked behind a white marble pillar and closed my eyes, picturing Nakir the last time I saw him. He was adorable, and my heart hurt that he’d been murdered. As Celestials, we were taught that life, any life, was a gift from the Creator and should be honored as such. How had the thirst for power become more important than honoring that gift? More importantly, how had that happened in the Celestial Realm?
I opened my eyes and was a little dizzy. My line of sight was much lower to the ground than it had been a moment ago. I glanced at my body covered in a Celestial robe. I touched my cherubic face to find it was the human face I’d seen on Nakir, not the lion, the ox, or the eagle they sometimes wore. I glanced down to see the hooves I expected, and I wiggled a little in my robe to feel two sets of wings on my back instead of my usual one.
“You can do this.” It was a little pep talk to myself because I was going in alone.
I stepped from behind the pillar, put my hands behind my back as I’d seen cherubs do, and slowly traversed the stairs on my much shorter legs.
“Nakir? Where’ve you been?” It was Chasan, the cherub who had told me Jay and I were rumored to have killed Nakir. If Chasan thought I was the cherub, I must have remembered him correctly.
“I’ve been trying to figure out how to get back.” Seemed like the best answer to give. Non-committal, but not a lie.
“Uriel—”
Suddenly, I was grabbed by my short hair and dragged down the hallway leading to the Celestial Chamber, where the Council convened daily. I couldn’t look up to see who it was, and as I was about to reveal myself, we ran into two Council members, one of whom was Gabriel. The other was Remiel.
“Oh! It’s back. Where was it? Did it run away after killing the demon?” Remiel asked.
“I didn’t kill Tork.” It was time for me to speak up.
