“I know your assignment is a dangerous one, and I will do my part to help out as much as I can. Once you’ve crossed over onto the Road of Worth, I will not be able to stop anyone who tries to follow. I can delay them, but depending on who it is, how manyI’m up against, I might need to let them through,” Dad says as he gives us a warning.
“So you’re saying we might be fighting the test and the Demons that might be after us,” Moni says, looking dark like a rain cloud.
“Yes, I’m afraid.”
“Aww, we got this. We’re badasses, right?” I say, turning to the group only to see gloomy faces. “Oh, Hell no! Look, we have already faced death and survived. Hell, we even walked the halls with L.A.M.B. How many people can say that and have lived?” I point out. “The fact is, we have, and not only did it, but thrived. Plus, I have just lost my V card, and I’m not dying without living out all of my fucking fantasies.”
Moni’s bark turns to her normal green as the room starts to laugh.And this is why I’m me.Ryker walks through the group and grabs my shoulder. “Man, do we need to work on your delivery—but good job,” he says as he passes me and heads for the door.
Dad comes up to me and pulls me in for a hug. He doesn’t do one of those side hugs—nah, he’s too manly for that. “I’m proud of you, Lynx. Take care of your family and call us when you’re safe,” he says into my hair.
I pull back and look at the man I wanted to be all my life, and pride hits me right in the damn chest.
“I love you. Thank you for being my dad.”
He slaps me on the shoulder and turns me to the door. “You made it easy for me, Son.”
I walk out, noticing that he must have fixed the door since it doesn’t drop us to our knees with its screech, and I find myself standing back in the spot in which I last fought my father. He lets go of me and turns to the right at the dead end. Walking confidently to the wall, he runs his hands in a zig-zagged pattern while mumbling words I can’t understand.
The ground starts shaking, so I grab hold of the nearest person, not realizing it’s Knots, trying to keep balanced. The wall separates from the middle, and a ravine is in its place. Beyond that is a floor-to-ceiling red door with seven faces moving along the front.
“Holy Bubble Butt,” Moni says before collapsing into Chester’s arms.
“This is the true gate to the Road to Worth,” my father says, walking towards the ravine.
“Wait!” we all yell, but he throws back his head and laughs as he gets closer, a pale white-tiled bridge appearing before him.
“Well, come on. The bridge won’t last forever,” he says, and we hurry to follow him across.
Once across, I slowly turn my attention to the faces as they twist in agony. It has to be agony because there’s no way it’s pleasure since I’m sure no one is fucking them. They would be a drunken one-night stand at worst.
“Does anyone hear that?” Rez asks as she moves closer to the gate, pulling Reaper with her.
“Hear what?” Dad asks, cocking his head to the side, and I do the same. I don’t hear anything except for the shuffling of our boots and Reapers panting.
“I thought I heard voices, but I can’t make out the individual words,” she says, shaking her head and dismissing it.
Well if Rezzi-bear is hearing something like she did when we first got to the ward in Purgatory, this might not be as simple as I’d hoped. Either way, I’m willing to give Hell a ride for its money, and I know my friends are down with me.
“Good Luck,” my dad says, and the door to the Road of Worth opens with a bright white light. “You might need it,” are the last words I hear before my world goes dark.
CHAPTER 13
Level One-Illusions
Rez
Landing hard face down, rocks and pebbles dig into my skin through my clothes, but the lack of solid ground under my shoulders and half my chest, combined with a stiff breeze, is what sets my heart racing at a breakneck pace. Opening my eyes, I’m met with the image of the sea below me, freezing me into place. Whimpering reaches my ears, and I slowly look to my right to find Reaper floating in my protective bubble above the cliff we’re on, hanging over open air. Below us, as if I’m staring down from the top of a skyscraper, is a twisting whirlpool of water that disappears into a black abyss—and don’t ask me how far away. I told you I’m horrible with measurements. It’s a black hole of death, simple!
Holy Shit!
“I got him,” Moni says, flying out and pushing my protective bubble with my baby back from the void.
“Rez, be careful. You’re over the edge of a cliff,” JP points out.
‘YOU THINK!?!’I shout out from my mind, too scared to move. I don’t know how much of me is on the cliff’s edge, but Iknow if I panic or my brain goes into overdrive, my magic isn’t going to work properly, and it’s game over for me already.
“We got ya.” I can’t tell who said it, but I feel someone yank at my leathers and pull me back so that all I see is the red ground beneath my cheek.
