Was that really what all this was about? Had he chased us here, abducted Isaac, just to get his rat back? That seemed…like an extreme reaction. I mean, it was pretty extreme to have thrown me out of Celestia in the first place, but shouldn’t he be over it by now? So I took one tiny meal from him. Surely he’d found more food since then, though I shuddered to think of all the other cute little creatures who had lost their lives to this demon. For once, I was glad we’d left Mr. Whiskerson behind. I hated abandoning him when we went on missions, and he always looked a tad forlorn when we left him behind. But rats and demons didn’t mix.Literally.
“He’s not here.” I spread my arms wide and spun in a slow circle. “Feel free to have a search if you don’t believeme.”
He narrowed his eyes, clearly contemplating just how much he was going to trust me, but then seemed to decide that I was telling the truth. “Where ishe?”
“That I can’t tellyou.”
“Can’t?” He flared his nostrils. “Orwon’t?”
“Don’t give it to him,” Isaac managed to say, even with the blade in his throat. Our eyes met, and he gave me the slightest of nods. It made me want to rush toward him for one of his signature bear hugs. He got me. He alwayshad.
“Just give him the damn rat, Erela,” Rourke whispered from where he hulked behind me. He, of course, had no idea about any of this. As much as he understood about demons and angels, we hadn’t filled him in on the detailed events that had led us all to land on earth. And he could have no idea how much the little creature meant to me either. He’d probably seen Mr. Whiskerson at some point at Lilith’s house or on the boat ride across the ocean, scurrying around or riding on my shoulder. I had to hope he wouldn’t blab to Asmodeus where hewas.
I would not give my little friend to this demon. The thought alone made my heartache.
“Yeah, that’s not happening, Asmodeus, and it isn’t even up for discussion. You’re not getting the rat back,” I said quietly. “That said, I’m sure we can work something else out. What else would you want in exchange for Isaac’ssafety?”
Not this old chestnut again. I swore, it seemed like every damn day I was getting myself into a situation where I had to make a deal with a demon. The first time I’d done it, well, it had been a dumbass mistake that I should have thought through a lot better. I’d had tunnel vision, too focused on getting back to Celestia to see the bigger picture. The second time had been with Lilith, based on an instinctual trust that had proven to betrue.
This time…well, this time, it might be our onlyoption.
Asmodeus’s red eyes flashed. “There is very little that could make up for the loss of myrat.”
What the hell? Give it upalready.
“Well, you’re going to have to come up with something, because I am not giving him back!” I shouted the words and stepped forward, my entire body trembling with the need to release all my pent-up fire emotions. My skin pulsed, and my heart throbbed. I gritted my teeth to hold it back, desperate to keep the truth of me hidden from Asmodeus. If he discovered my secret origin…word would get out about a Nephilim charging around Lower Realm with the Order of the Fallen. And then the Archangels would no doubt come for me. My existence was an abomination to them. They would want to snuff meout.
And they would go after my father. I knew what the Archangels had done to Az’s family when they’d only heard a whisper of a rumor involving fire demons. Me? I was flat-out proof. Regardless of how many secrets he’d kept hidden from me, regardless of what he’d done to avoid me in the past, he was still my father. The only father I knew, and the only father Iloved.
I couldn’t let Asmodeus see what Iwas.
Asmodeus arched an eyebrow. “An angel with a temper. Maybe you fit in with the fallen angels more than I thought you would. Don’t you all look positively sweet standing there in a protective huddle? And Lizzie there, your friend. She’s chosen to stay in this realm and so have you. You mustlovethe humans. Do younot?”
This was a trick question. I knew it was. He was going somewhere with this, and I didn’t think I was going to likeit.
“You can’t send us back to Celestia,” I countered. “You can try, but it won’t work. We haven’t just chosen to stay. We’ve fallen. The magic of Celestia won’t allow us toreturn.”
Thank the heavens that I could lie now. Because while I had truly fallen, Lizzie hadn’t. She hadn’t done anything to cement her fall. She’d merely chosen to stay. She didn’t want to go home, but she wasn’t bound here. Not like the rest ofus.
His grin widened even more, sending a storm of goosebumps down my spine. “Nice try. I already figured that out myself. But you’re forgetting one little thing. The magic of Celestia might keep you out, but there’s nothing to stop me from sending you to the Halfway Zone, and you’d have a beast of a time getting back here if I did.” He jerked his thumb to the portal behind him before shoving Isaac straight through. “Or I could send youthere.”
* * *
Everything happened so fastafter that. The world became a blur as I felt a pair of strong, powerful hands yank me forward. It felt as though he’d pushed me right over a cliff, like I was falling. Down, down, down into nothing but pitch black. Clouds swirled all around me, thick and gray and hiding my surroundings from view. Evil pulsed around me inwaves.
And then it all stopped. My feet found the ground, and I fell into a crouch, my hand finding the dirt before I stood. Isaac hadn’t fallen so lightly. He was sprawled on his back, groaning as he blinked up through the thick fog. My heart hammered hard. He was safe. Kindof.
“Are we in hell?” he whispered as he cracked open hiseyes.
“Oh, Isaac.” I dropped to his side and brushed his messy mop of brown hair off his damp forehead. I’d wanted so badly to see him, but not like this. “I’m so sorry. This is all myfault.”
“I mean, it iskind ofyour fault, but I don’t blame you,” Lizzie whispered, dropping down beside me, too. Her eyes were shining, her hand clutching the fabric of her shirt at her chest. “Isaac. I’ve missed you so much. Are youokay?”
So, he’d pushed Lizzie through the portal, too. I glanced up to see that Ramiel, Az, Uriel, Lilith, and Sam had also joined us. Oh, and Rourke, which…yeah. Great. Fanfuckingtastic. A human in the demonic realm was not a good thing atall.
“Where the hell are we?” Rourke asked, spinning in his massive boots to take in our surroundings. And not finding much, since we were still standing in some kind of thick black smog on what appeared to be rolling hills of gray. I’d always imagined hell to be all fire and mountains of char. Instead, it was…well, there wasn’t much toit.
“This,” Lilith said, clipping her words, “is my previous home. Welcome to the demonic realm, or as humans like to call it,hell.”
