No one spoke as they all digested that.
“The hell does that mean?” Malachi finally asked. “Has that ever happened before?”
“No,” Valac answered. “It’s unprecedented. For the first time in my existence, I cannot enter Hell. We are all cut off from it. I have no way of contacting my superior, Astaroth, or anyone else in the underworld.”
“If Danielisin Purgatory,” Nicolas croaked, “you can’t get to him.”
“That’s right.”
“How long would he wander for, without intervention?”
“It’s difficult to say. There are creatures who wander Purgatory, reapers, who guide lost souls to their destined afterlife. If he’s particularly stubborn, he might resist them for a time, but…” He shook his head. “I can’t know for sure. Perhaps he isn’t even there. You have Ashmedai—and the rest of us. Maybe knowing that was enough for Daniel to find peace.”
“He couldn’t come back, anyway,” Talon said, uncharacteristically soft. “Human souls can’t cross back over, remember?”
“No,” Valac agreed, “he can’t. But I’d hoped I could find him nonetheless, if only to help him find that peace myself.”
Nicolas felt like a fragile pane of glass. “Thank you for trying.” His voice broke.
“But the question remains,” Wolf said. “Why are the gates shut?”
“Not for anything good.” Talon folded his arms. “Maybe they’re trying to keep something in. Lots of demons want out of Hell.”
“Not many can actuallygetout, though,” Shadrach added. “Remember that thing with the possessors last year? The closest they could get to escaping was with those pills the kalmach, Amon, made. And they werestillunsuccessful. What could possibly be trying to escape that would make them shut down every avenue in and out of Hell?”
“Nothing good, I suspect,” Luke said.
“Whatever it is, we’ll handle it,” Talon said with a sigh.
Ira nodded decisively. “Together.”
“Together,” Nicolas echoed with the others, soft but genuine. They weren’t family like Daniel was, but maybe they didn’t have to be.
Epilogue
ASHMEDAI
Because the paladinsknew where Nicolas lived, they teleported some of his things into Ashmedai’s apartment in the days following the rescue of the Alvarez kids, who had been spending a lot of time at home while they tried to explain where they’d been to their father and the police and everyone else who’d been looking for them. The official story was a kidnapping, and the kids claimed their captors had worn masks the whole time so no one could be identified. Talon explained to Ashmedai that the manhunt for the supposed kidnappers would lead nowhere, and eventually it would be considered a cold case and dropped.
Nicolas didn’t want to get rid of Daniel’s belongings, so they remained scattered throughout the apartment, reminders of the soul they’d lost. The only thing they’d changed were the sheets and blankets on the bed. Daniel’s deodorant remained on the bathroom counter. His favorite drinks stayed in the fridge. Nicolas said they could box it all up eventually, when it hurt less, and Ashmedai agreed. There was no rush. They could take as long as Nicolas wanted.
The demons had laid down extra warding around the perimeter of the Rink, protecting not just the building but the property around it, including the parking lot, which made it safer for them all to return to. The humans were still taking a break from their regular patrols, but their day job wouldn’t wait for them. They had clients to see and bills to pay—that they insisted on paying for themselves, although as Ashmedai understood it, they didn’t have to.
Now, Ashmedai stared up at the slowly twirling disco ball as the conversation flowed around him. Luke and Nathan were on laptops at the air hockey table, sitting on barstools they’d dragged over and talking about their most recent case. Ira had gone to pick up the Alvarez kids after they’d received a text in the group chat asking for a ride. No one was exactly comfortable with them going anywhere alone right now, even if it was only from home to the Rink. Ashmedai had never expected to see so many demons rally together to protect a couple of young humans. They treated them like family.
It gave Ashmedai hope, a warm feeling he was wholly unfamiliar with.
When Ira arrived, opening the door and gesturing back to the kids with a grand wave of his hand, the whole room applauded as they stepped inside. Zachary looked bashful, and Angela beamed at them. Beside Ashmedai, Nicolas lifted his head, his distant gaze focusing on them with a weary smile.
That was something else that had changed in the days following Daniel’s death. Nicolas was quieter, disappearing into his own mind. Sometimes Ashmedai would reach for him, always comforted by the fact that no matter how far Nicolas’s mind wandered, he never turned away fromAshmedai’s touch, often leaning into him without consciously acknowledging him. Like his body recognized Ashmedai even when his mind had drifted somewhere Ashmedai couldn’t follow.
His soul was darker, too. Still golden, still beautiful, but dimmed by grief and guilt. Ashmedai had hope that it would brighten again one day. Time healed all wounds, after all, and time was something they had in abundance.
“Thanks, everybody,” Angela said. “It’s good to be back.”
“I’m surprised you’re here,” Nathan said. “I didn’t think your dad would let you leave his sight quite so soon after your ordeal.”
Zachary winced. “The police have officially closed our case, since we said we couldn’t identify our captors, and Dad is… coping. With a bottle.”
