Then, the past faded away and I was a woman staring at her father’s bones. A woman who hadn’t laughed in years, who no longer dreamed of the future, and who was well aware her time could come as suddenly as her dad’s had. I was certain my mother’s bones were still in the kitchen, but I would never climb those stairs again toseethem.
That house and those bones were the reason the nightmare had returned and why I’d felt like an unsettled mess since seeing them.I will get myself under control again. Ihaveto.
“We see bones everywhere we go,” I murmured. “There is no avoiding that, especially so close to thegateway.”
“You should have taken us adifferentway.”
“No. I shouldn’t have. The past is the past. It’s done. When I was a child, I tried to stop on that porch and sit next to my dad’s body. I think I would have stayed there with him to die, but Randy twisted his hand into the collar of my shirt, lifted me, and carried me away. This time, I carried myself awayfromit.”
“Where did Randy take you after you left yourhouse?”
“Into the Wilds. I became a part of the woods, and I found a new family amongst the Wilders. There was no other choice for me but to accept mynewlife.”
“When the government evacuated the Wilds, you could have gone with the refugees to the wall. It wasn’t completed at that time, and some sections of the wall still aren’t entirely secure or sturdy, but you would have been safer there. You could have helped with the buildingofit.”
“You mean I would have been a safeprisonerthere. The government didn’t allow the evacuees from the Wilds to travel beyond the wall. Most became the first soldiers on the wall and were kept away from the civvies who were fed the government’s lies. Those who knew the truth of what happened that day weren’t permitted to mingle with the civvies or to live their lives freely. I’d felt like a prisoner under that sink, and I wouldnotbecome oneagain.”
“Demons and the human governments worked together to keep the threat from Hell contained and away from the outer areas,” Corson said. “The people on the other side of the wall were told those things to keep them frompanicking.”
“They didn’t panic when the truth finally came out,” Iretorted.
“No, but they’d also had fourteen years to adjust to their new lives by then. Lives that lacked most of the luxuries and stable food supply they’d once taken for granted. When the truth came out, they had no choice but to accept it and Kobal’s rule as the demons escaping the seals were spreading beyond the wall at that point, so were Lucifer and the fallen angels. What remained of the still-ruling human governments collapsed at a rapid rate, although somecontinuenow.
“Kobal had established a leadership role with the human rulers before the truth became public knowledge, so it was easier for him to take control of the chaos. Demons have also become better at dealing with people over the years and are able to interact better with thecivviesnow.”
“Were we so difficult to deal with?” Iasked.
“We weren’t exactly welcomed with open arms in the beginning. Many government officials distrusted us, and we didn’t establish a functional relationship with them until a year after the gateway opened. We had no say in the lies the governments initially created to keep their citizens safe. We also never planned to remain in this realm, so we didn’t care what lies they fed the humans, but things always have a way ofchanging.”
“I see. When the gateway closed, if things had gone back to the way they were before, would you have gone back to Hell?” I asked as I leaned into the warmth of himoncemore.
ChapterSixteen
Corson
“I wouldn’t have wanted to return,” I admitted. “During my time here, I came to enjoy Earth, but if my king had chosen to go back to Hell, I would havefollowedhim.”
“Will you follow Kobal anywhere?” sheasked.
“Yes. I have been on Kobal’s side since I was born. My parents fought for him before me, and once I was old enough to fight too, I did. I will continue to do so without fail. As the varcolac, Kobal is the rightful king of Hell, but Lucifer stripped the throne from the ruling varcolac when he entered Hell six thousand years ago. Lucifer tried to rule there, but he was never meant to be the king, and there were many in Hell that denied Lucifer, including myself and numerous otherdemons.”
“What is so special about the varcolac?” sheinquired.
“The varcolac is the only demon born from the fires of Hell themselves. Only one of them can exist at a time, and when the varcolac dies, a new one rises. The rest of us upper-level demons are all born as humans are, from a mother and a father. Our abilities develop with us as we mature from babies to adults, but the varcolac rises in adult form and with their powers fully developed. The fires that forged Kobal did so with the intent of making him strong enough to rule all of us and to defeatLucifer.”
“Yet some demons chose to fight on Lucifer’s side,” she murmured and stifledayawn.
“Some demonsstillfight with the fallen angels,” I replied. “There will always be those who seek only to destroy. That’s one of the reasons why the varcolacs before Kobal locked so many creatures behind the seals. They needed to be contained before they destroyed Hell. Now the seals are gone, and those trying to destroy Earth will be hunted down andkilled.”
“What if some of the things from the seals decide not to work with the angels or againstKobal?”
“We’re all starting over again in this world—demons, Hell-creatures, and humans alike. Those who don’t seek only to destroy will be allowed to live, even if they once resided behind the seals. There are some things, like the ouro, that have no purpose other than to kill and must beputdown.”
“What of the jinn and what they were doing with those people?” Renewed energy filled her voice, and she sat upagainstme.
“What little I know of the jinn, they’re manipulative and cruel, but those people made a choice to partake in what the jinn offered. No one gets something fornothing.”
“Some people have no idea what they’re getting into or what some demons are capable ofdoing.”
