Purgatory? “But… so Apollyon’s been…”
Aurum nodded. “He’s been diverting each and every soul from Tartarus to the Netherworld, where they suffer forever and are robbed of their chance at eternal peace.”
Anger flared up inside of me, but I tamped it down and nodded. I already knew Apollyon had been diverting souls, my mother had told Aurelia that, but I had no idea where from until now.
“So, Tartarus is just empty?” I asked.
“Yes. And it will remain that way until you release the souls to go back there.” He pawed the ground twice with his massive paw, showing his frustration with the current state of things. “The Netherworld didn’t even exist until Apollyon created it,” he continued. “It was only ever supposed to be Avalon and Tartarus. Most souls make it directly to Avalon from Tartarus, and the ones who don’t stay where they are until they’ve earned their Ascension.”
“Earned their Ascension? But they’re already dead, so how would they even do that?”
“Hey,” Skye said, looking offended as she crossed her arms over her chest.
I grimaced and then shot her an apologetic half-smile. I didn’t mean to offend her; it was just hard to remember she was technically dead when the girl still had so much life in her.
“A soul can still change, even after death,” Aurum said, drawing my attention back to him.
All this stuff was really deep and starting to make my head pound. This was information that Aurelia and the top Lumens didn’t even know, but Aurum was tellingme. It was too much to process on the spot, but I still wanted to know as much as he would tell me.
“Where is Tartarus? Can I go there?” If I was going to be sending souls back there, I should at least check it out.
Aurum looked sad. “It’s lost. We haven’t been able to find it since the Netherworld was created hundreds of years ago.”
Lost!How did you lose an entire realm?
Oh, I was going to kill that man who called himself my father. I was going to kill him good.
* * *
After Skye and I portaled back to the academy, I sat in the sanctuary for a good ten minutes just staring at the wall and letting my mind chew on what I’d just learned. The Netherworld didn’t exist until my evil father created it and then rerouted the souls to go there? How much more vile and wicked could someone get?
Skye had poofed out of existence minutes ago, and when I finally dragged my butt outside, I went in search of Gage. Maybe a date night was in order if we could find the time?
I checked the library first and then the gym, but he was nowhere to be found. It wasn’t until I peeked into the third training room that I spotted him. He was sparring with Dash. Both guys were shirtless and had their swords drawn and were going at each other like maniacs.
Be careful!I wanted to shout as I slid into the room, worried Dash would cut an appendage off my nearly-human maybe-boyfriend, but the more I watched the more I wondered just how powerless Gage really was. He was fast, and strong. At one point he landed a boot to Dash’s chest and hurled him across the room with one kick.
What?
Maybe there was some residual Shade power left in him? But as if reminding me that he was stripped of his power in Avalon, Gage turned his back to me. My gaze landed on the two gashes between his shoulder blades where his wings had been taken. They were finally healed over, but the angry twin scars spoke of trauma from Avalon that he’d not yet shared with me.
From his spot on the ground, Dash arched his back and sprang to his feet. For once he was free of his regular hoodie, giving me a rare unimpeded view of his face and upper body. He shook his head, flinging his long hair off his face and revealing the jagged scar that ran down the side of his jawline.
“That all you got?” Gage taunted Dash.
Dash’s muscular physique was similar to Gage’s, so on the surface the pair appeared evenly matched, but as I watched, Dash engaged some of his angel marks—the elegant swirls glowing white over his biceps and upper chest—showcasing his advantage over Gage.
“Game on,” Dash said right before he jolted into motion, moving so fast he blurred. I couldn’t track him, but somehow Gage lifted his weapon in time to intercept Dash’s blow. Sparks flew from where their swords connected.
I gasped. Dash had almost split Gage’s head open. If Gage hadn’t blocked Dash’s strike he’d have been eating steel. Surely this had gotten out of hand.
Gage must have heard my gasp, because even as he pushed back against Dash’s sword with his own, his gaze flicked toward me. That was all the distraction Dash needed to drop low and swipe Gage’s feet out from beneath him.
Gage landed with a thud, and before he could recover Dash stood over him with the tip of his sword pressed against Gage’s throat.
“Do you yield?” Dash asked, chest huffing with the force of his breaths.
Looking equally winded, Gage’s eyes narrowed on his opponent. “Only because you cheated.”
