Okay, but where, exactly, were they?Lush, green groundsstretched forever, dotted by fountains and forests, streams and paths.Amassive white building with doors that could allow entrance to a dinosaur wasflanked by smaller buildings, temples, and courtyards where people sparred orpracticed with weapons, and seated in a small amphitheater nearby, whatappeared to be a handful of bored-looking students were listening to arobedguy giving a lecture.
“This...this is Hell?”
“Sort of.”
How could someplace be “sort of” Hell?Was itlikehow his father was “sort of” evil?
Hawkyn squeezed her hand, pressing his palm againsthersin just the right spot, and a current of energy sizzledup her arm, astonishing in its intensity and made even moreastonishingby the fact that she could feel it spilling into the empty tank inside her thatheld her power.Usuallyshe had tomakean effortto absorb energy from people, and it was a slow, steadycharge; it never rushed in like water from a broken dam.
When he released her hand, her knees wobbled from the suddendisconnection from his nuclear-grade fuel.He gave her a brief once-over thatwasn’t remotely sexual, but tingles followed wherever his gaze landed.
“Youokay?”he asked.
No.Not at all.Touching an angel running on a full batterytook some getting used to.
“I’m fine.Just a little freaked out about being in Hell,you know?”Holy shit.“This isn’t exactly what I expected.”
“That’s because this probably isn’t what you think it is.”He nodded in the direction of a marble statue of two horned, hooved demonsfighting with a trident and a spear.“The demon realm is called Sheoul—it’swhat most people think of when they reference Hell.But Sheoul isn’t where evilhuman souls go.”He made an encompassing gesture with his hand.“This isSheoul-gra, sort of a sub-realm that houses the true Hell, where the souls ofdemons and evil humans are kept until they’re reincarnated.”
She looked around, but it was hard to believe this place wasfull of malevolent souls.“I don’t understand.Where are the souls?”
He guided her down a stone path toward a blocky buildingwith a lot of glass-less windows.“They’re kept in the Inner Sanctum.”
“I see,” she said, even though she didn’t.“So why are wehere?”
“It’s where I live.”
She nearly tripped over her own feet.Angels lived inHell?Since when?What was happening?Somehowshe managed to not blurt any of that out, insteadkeeping her cool the way her brother had always taught her and asking just onetame question.Therewouldbe others later.Manyothers.
“Why?”she asked.“Angels living in Hell is contrary toeverything I was ever taught.”
Not that she’d gone to church or anything, but seeing howreligion was everywhere, she’d managed to pick up a few things, and oneconstant in all the various religions that mentioned angels was that theyresided in the other, less demon-y place.
As they walked through a grassy courtyard, he explained howMemitim were raised by humans, taken from the human world as young adults, andtrained at various locations around the world, but that they could also comehere to live and train...because apparently, their father, the father of allMemitim, ruled this realm.
As they approached a building Hawkyn called Hotel Hell,panic frayed the edges of her control.She was in a strange place full ofstrange beings, and she didn’t know nearly enough to be comfortable here in theleast.She needed more information before she went any further.
Planting her feet, she grabbed his arm and pulled him to astop.“Wait.I need more.”
He gazed down at her, his brow furrowed.“More what?”
“Information.”
“Such as?”
A bird flew by, a bird that looked a lot like a robin.Buthey, sure, if there were angels living in Hell, why not robins?
Aurora looked around, wondering if all the people millingabout were his brothers and sisters.“You said your father rules this realm?Who is he?”
Please don’t say Satan.Please don’t say Satan.Pleasedon’t say Satan.
“His name is Azagoth,” he said, and she nearly giggled athow foolish she’d been to think, even for a measly second, that a legendarybeing as evil as Satan could father angels.“You probably know him as the GrimReaper.”
Her knees went wobbly again, but for a very differentreason.She stumbled, but in a blur of motion, Hawkyn caught her, steadying heragainst his hard body.
“I’m sorry,” he murmured.“I took too much blood.”
“No,” she said quickly.“No.This is just a lot to take in.I mean, forty-eight hours ago I wasn’t even sure God was real, and now I’m in...in...Hell.With the Grim Reaper.”
