All That Lives Must Die

was firmly fixed on the Borderlands. Without another word, Dallas climbed in the van and drove off.

The scant sunlight (and a fair amount of Fiona’s courage) faded with her aunt’s departure.

“Let’s go,” Fiona muttered to Jeremy and Sarah and Amanda-all three of them suddenly looking less thrilled by Eliot’s quest.

Nonetheless, they followed Mr. Welmann into the forest.

“What’d she tell you?” Fiona asked Eliot.

He looked away. “It was personal.”

Probably some advice on how to get a girl not to hate you-Eliot desperately needed that.

Fiona itched all over. She didn’t want to be here, either. This was beyond stupidity; Eliot was going to get them killed. . which was precisely why she had to go along: to make sure that didn’t happen, dragging him back unconscious and bleeding if that’s what it took.

But Fiona swore it was the last time she’d get him out of trouble of his own making.

They trod upon a crooked path through the forest. Overhead a few stars appeared through the tangle of skeletal branches. Fiona didn’t recognize any constellations; the points of light seemed smaller and colder than they should have been.

The dead forest ended at the edge of a dry lake bed. The earth was cracked and blasted, and volcanic ash spiraled into whirlwinds. A hundred yards from here, the land fell away-plunged miles down to the lava fields of Hell. The sky was coal black, but beyond the cliff’s edge, the horizon glowed like a furnace.

Amanda stood transfixed, staring at the roiling thermals and flashes of fire.

There was, thankfully, a fence between them and Hell. It looked as if a monolithic dinosaur had crawled onto the edge of the cliff, clung there, and then perished, leaving curved femurs and rib bones and talons that made a gigantic tumble of a barrier. For good measure, someone had added rolls of concertina wire (bits of cloth and flesh clinging to its spurs) along the top.

Set in the center of this fence stood the Gates of Perdition. They were bronze and rusted steel, gears and cogs and worn filigreed hinges oxidized blue-green. Spikes bristled from every surface. There were six combination locks. . some thimble tiny, others that you’d need both hands to turn.

Only a certified crazy person would try to open this thing.

“So how do we open it?” Eliot whispered to Mr. Welmann.

“I can do it.” Mr. Welmann ran a hand over his beard-stubbled face. “Then I’ll jam the lock so it doesn’t shut. It’d be a heck of a mess if we got stuck on the other side.”

“How exactly are you going to open it?” she asked.

“I don’t know.” Mr. Welmann’s bushy eyebrows bunched. “But I know I can. Like I knew to wait for you and your brother. I think dead heroes are supposed to be able to get into Hell”-he swallowed-“unfortunately.”

Fiona heard the rumble of approaching thunder.

She turned.

Headlights pierced the haze of volcanic ash-far away, but they turned and vanished.

Robert closed his eyes and concentrated. “V-8,” he said.

Mr. Welmann nodded. “That’s a three hundred ten horsepower V-8,” he corrected. “Specifically from a black 1957 Cadillac Eldorado Brougham.”

“Kino’s car?” Fiona asked.

Robert slipped on his brass knuckles.

“Don’t even think about it,” Mr. Welmann warned Robert. “Your aunt might be crazy enough to play chicken with Kino in that van of hers. . but even she wouldn’t dare tangle with the Lord of the Dead on his home turf.”

Amanda trembled. “I don’t know about this anymore,” she whispered.

Jeremy and Sarah shared a worried glance, and then Jeremy gave his cousin a slight shake of his head.

“Get to the Gate and you’re safe,” Mr. Welmann told them. “It’s Infernal property. Kino’s not allowed to cross or even touch it. Just step across, and you’ll have all the time you’ll need to figure this out.”

Amanda paled and looked sick-caught between the gates of Hell and the Lord of the Dead.

Eliot glowered at them, maybe understanding that everyone was coming to their senses and support for his crazy plan was faltering.

“Okay, listen up,” Fiona said. “We run for the gate. Eliot and Marcus-take point. Amanda you keep up with me. After us, Jeremy, Sarah, and Robert bring up the rear and yell if you see those headlights.”

This felt like a gym match: Fiona providing the strategy and Team Scarab pulling together to overcome a series of insane obstacles. It was as if they’d trained for this all year. Maybe there was something, after all, to Mr. Ma’s methods.

She glanced over her shoulder. If this didn’t work, if Kino got to them, it’d be best to scatter. She would make a stand and face him while the others got back to the forest.

“Go,” Fiona ordered.

They sprinted for the gate (probably the first people in all history to actually run toward the entrance to Hell!), and then skidded to a halt before its closed doors. Six dial combination locks (the largest the size of a hubcap, descending to one the size of a dime) were set into a precise dotted line next to the Gate’s massive bronze handle.

Far away headlights reappeared in the haze. . turned to the right and then the left, and then crept forward.

“Hurry,” Fiona whispered.

Mr. Welmann spun the combination lock dials-one by one, using both hands, not even pausing-then he stopped them and spun them the other way. “My birthday,” he muttered. “Those lucky lotto numbers. . license plate of my first car. .”

He finished with the first, largest combination.

There was a click and a series of pings that resonated throughout the metal.

Fiona looked for the headlights. They were gone. A bit of luck, maybe.

Mr. Welmann stopped four more dials in quick succession and they clicked into place.

Fiona heard the ratcheting of large wheels, squealing and groaning as if they hadn’t been oiled for centuries.

An engine’s roar made the air tremble.

Fiona jumped as high beams flicked on and illuminated the Gate.

The Cadillac had crept up to them, lights off. It was a hundred yards away, now peeling out straight toward them.

Amanda clung to Eliot.

Eliot tried to shrug Lady Dawn off his shoulder and maneuver it around, but Amanda was in the way.

Jeremy and Sarah stepped forward, though, faces rigid with concentration. They held up their hands-waved them as if performing some sleight of hand stage magic.

Dust and ash filled the air, and the grit congealed into a pane of mirrored glass between them and Kino’s car.

The Cadillac fishtailed to a stop, momentarily confused by the appearance of another pair of headlights racing toward it on a headlong crash trajectory.

“Nice work,” Fiona said. For once, she was glad the two pain-in-the-rear conjurors were on her team.

But that trick wouldn’t fool Kino long.

Mr. Welmann clicked the last dial in place.

The Gate’s internal mechanisms hissed steam and sparked. A seam appeared and one side opened wide enough for a single person to squeeze through.

On the other side a rocky path zigged and zagged toward and over the cliff. Far below, lava geysered, rivers of molten rock snaked, and volcanoes belched smoke.

All they had to do was cross over-shut the door (but not completely)-and they’d be safe from Uncle Kino. But Fiona decided this was crazy dangerous. . and they hadn’t even gotten to Hell yet! So, she’d wait until Kino left, and then she’d abort Eliot’s rescue mission, and get them out of here (dragging her brother out by his ears if necessary).