Hades

A faint smile played around Gabriel’s lips and he pushed back the lock of golden hair that had fallen loose from his ponytail.

“Look around you,” he said. “Do you see anyone?”

Xavier looked and a thoughtful frown appeared on his face. His eyes fell upon a snake in the long grass. It seemed to have stopped mid-slither, locked in place. He turned his face upward and his mouth fell open in surprise to see the fleeing birds frozen in the sky, as if the whole world had become trapped inside a painting. Only then did the dead silence become apparent. All the sounds of the world had stopped. There was no buzzing of crickets in the air or the sound of vehicles on the road. Not even the wind could break through the silence.

“Wait …” Xavier passed a hand over his eyes. “Did you guys do this? No way, it’s impossible.”

“You of all people should know that nothing is impossible,” my sister said.

Xavier’s brilliant blue eyes met Ivy’s cool, steel gaze. “Tell me you didn’t stop time.”

“We didn’t stop it exactly,” Gabriel said casually, inspecting the Chevy for signs of damage. “We may have put it on hold for a few minutes.”

“Are you serious!” Xavier cried. He was struggling to process what they were telling him. “Are you even allowed to do that?”

“That’s beside the point,” Gabriel retorted. “We did what we had to do. Can’t have civilians watching two angels carry a car out of the sky.”

My brother closed his eyes for a moment and lifted his palms upward. A moment later signs of life burst out all around us. I jumped, having never realized how noisy life was until I heard the world without it. It was strangely comforting to see the trees swaying in the breeze and watch a beetle shuffle across the dry earth.

Xavier shivered and shook his head as if to clear it. “Won’t people notice what just happened?”

“You’d be surprised what slips under the human radar,” Ivy said. “Stranger things happen every day and nobody pays any attention to it. People constantly catch glimpses of the supernatural, but they turn a blind eye, they blame it on too much coffee or not enough sleep. There are hundreds of excuses to disguise the truth.”

“If you say so,” was all Xavier said.

“What about Bethany?” Ivy asked. “You say she was physically present?”

“I saw her.” Xavier scuffed his shoe against the ground. “I’ve sort of … communicated with her a few times now.”

Ivy pursed her lips. “Thanks for sharing that piece of information with us,” she said and then a crease appeared in her forehead. “I wouldn’t have thought it was possible.”

Gabriel frowned. “Astral projection?” he asked dubiously. “From Hell?”

“Perhaps Bethany is more powerful than the demons realize … than even she realizes.”

“What they don’t know,” Gabriel said, “is just how connected to the earth Bethany really is.” He cast a sidelong glance at Xavier. “You tie her to this place more strongly than anything they understand.” He drummed his fingers against the hood of the car and a thoughtful expression crossed his face. “From what we’ve seen so far, it’s like a magnetic pull drawing the two of you together. The bond is so strong that Bethany is able to reach you even from where she is.”

Even though my heart was still throbbing in my chest from the shock of what had just happened, I still managed to feel proud of my relationship with Xavier. If I could reach him, even from my underground prison, if my love for him could break through a barrier of evil, it was truly saying something about the strength of our connection. The phrase how good are we? floated into my head and I smiled to myself, thinking this would be an appropriate time to give him a high-five.

Gabriel’s words seemed to have touched Xavier in a different way.

“This is crap,” he said eventually. “Jake’s playing us and we’re letting him.” He passed a hand over his face and the silver promise ring on his index finger glinted in the new morning light. “Does he really think we’re just gonna lay down and die?” His expression was so hard I thought I could see silver lightning bolts in his ocean eyes. He dragged a hand through his hair and squinted into the horizon. “Well, I’ve had it. I want her back and I’m sick of these games. Come hell or high water, I’m going to find her. You hear that, Jake?” Xavier opened his arms and yelled at the open sky. “I know you’re out there somewhere and you better believe me. This is not over.”

Gabriel and Ivy remained wordless. They stood together like one entity, their pale eyes grave and the rising sun setting their hair ablaze. I could see something different in their eyes and realized with a start that it was anger. Not just anger; but a deep, unbridled fury toward the demonic forces that had claimed one of their own.

When Gabriel spoke, his voice was like a rumble of thunder. “You’re right,” he said to Xavier. “We’re through playing by the rules.”

“We need to act now,” Xavier said.

“What we need to do is get back to the motel and pack our things,” Gabriel said. “We’re leaving for Broken Hill in an hour.”

31 Deal with the Devil

I wasn’t hopeful. Even though I knew my family would find the train station in Alabama where the fatal collision had occurred, I had no idea how they planned to get the portal open. Portals were engineered to repel angelic power; only agents of darkness knew how to use them. Gabriel was a high roller in Heaven, and even he couldn’t wrangle them open. As far as I knew, the angels had never had any reason to break into Hell. They were unconcerned with what went on underground — that was Lucifer’s domain. It was only when Hell’s inhabitants snuck up to wreak havoc on the earth that they got involved. A small part of me wanted to believe that Xavier’s stoicism would be enough to save me, but I pushed aside the tiny kernel of hope that threatened to blossom inside me. If I let myself wish for salvation, I wouldn’t survive the blow should they fail.

I was so caught up thinking about Gabriel’s plan that I almost forgot what had led them to take such extreme action. Xavier had almost died. If it weren’t for the deal I’d struck with Jake, he’d be gone by now, joining the millions of souls in Heaven where I might never see him again. Jake had tried to kill Xavier; he had sent Diego as bait to confuse him and push him over the edge. The flutter of hope I felt in my belly turned into something fiercer, something seething and dark. The hatred I felt toward Jake was like nothing I’d experienced before. He had me completely cornered, at his mercy, separated from my loved ones with no hope of returning to them … and still he wasn’t content.

I flung open the door of my hotel suite and ran down the passage toward the VIP lounge where Jake spent most of his time when he wasn’t tormenting me. I needed to find out what he wanted in exchange for Xavier’s safety. I found him reclining on a leather sofa, deep in conversation with Asia, who gave a nasty smirk when she saw me.

“Your brat is here,” she said, downing the contents of her shot glass and standing up. “I’ll see myself out.”

“You,” I said when I was within inches of Jake, “are the most repulsive, despicable creature to ever slither out of the ground!” I was literally vibrating with anger. Jake sat up and watched me with a bemused expression. I wanted to punch him right in his smug face, but I knew that wouldn’t do any good. I’d only end up hurting myself.

“Hello, cupcake,” he drawled. “You seem upset.”

“I can’t believe you tried to hurt him!” I yelled. “This was supposed to be between me and you. Why do you always have to go one step too far?”

“No harm, no foul, right?” Jake waved his hands as if nothing had happened. “Now, if I remember correctly I am a repulsive, despicable creature that you made a deal with.”

“Only because I had no choice!”

“The circumstances aren’t really important,” he said.

I gritted my teeth and glared at him. “So what do you want, Jake? What’s the trade for sparing Xavier’s life?”

Jake regarded me lazily with a stare that was like ice and fire at the same time. His bottomless black eyes