Blurred

them to a place where they will never have to watch the darkness eat away at everything they once were. A place where they will never have to live in fear of becoming just another eternally hungry monster. Where I take them, they will never wander lost or alone. They will never become a shadow demon. I can give them peace.”

Shadows had begun to gather around the base of the building. Drawn in by Noah and me or the buffet of souls inside, I wasn’t sure. I did know that whatever Noah’s intentions were with me, he needed to get those souls out of there unless they wanted to become dinner for some sick shadow demon.

“There are your choices, Cash,” he went on. “You can help me give souls the peace they deserve, or you can aid in delivering them into an eternity of torment. That is if they even decide to keep you around for that. For all I know, your other option may very well be eternal death.”

I nodded, feeling numb and confused. I didn’t know what to think. Who to trust. I just knew in that moment, I wanted whatever option got those souls out of here before it was too late.

“Just think of how many we could help if we worked together,” he said.

“What do we do?” I stumbled back a few steps as the shadows closed in tighter. Knowing they could hurt me was enough to kick my fear up a notch. Noah didn’t budge, allowing them to surround him like a second skin. He glanced up to one of the windows where a set of luminescent eyes peered out at us before disappearing back into the dark.

“I’m going to take care of them,” he said. “And you’re going back home. You’re not ready for this yet.”

“But—”

Noah clamped his hand over my shoulder again and the words got caught like peanut butter stuck to the insides of my mouth. The ground vibrated under my feet and the world around me began to blur.

Noah smiled at me and winked.

“No worries, friend,” he said, sounding distorted and muffled. “I’ll see you soon.”

Darkness engulfed me in an instant and then the slap of cold tile exploded against my cheek. I opened my eyes, feeling like I’d gone ten rounds with a heavyweight and the heavyweight had won.

Bile rose up my throat and I scrambled for the toilet to choke up the pills I’d swallowed earlier. When

I collapsed back onto the floor, unable to move, my thoughts slowly came back in pieces. A few blue pills lay the in the coffee-colored grooves of the bathroom tile near the toilet. The bathroom. I was back in Emma’s bathroom. I didn’t have much time to contemplate what any of it meant, because by the time I took my next breath, a thick hazy darkness was pulling me back under again.

Chapter 14

Anaya

I couldn’t believe I was about to do this—cross over to the one place I’d vowed never to go. Hell was only a fall away, and fear swam inside my chest at the thought that I might not make it back. But I had to go. I needed answers. I had to do this for Cash.

“Are you sure you want to do this?”

I let my gaze drop to the puddle of swirling screams that opened up in front of us, then looked back up to Easton. He looked worried. Like I should have been. The underworld wasn’t a place for someone like me. To them I’d be a shiny new toy. Or even worse, dessert. I pushed the thoughts away.

“Yes,” I said. “I need to see what I’m dealing with.”

Easton hesitated, as if he were waiting for me to change my mind. I shut my eyes, still able to feel

Cash’s face buried in the hollow of my neck. His breath against my lips. If Balthazar wasn’t going to give me answers, I’d go after them myself. I refused to deliver Cash into his hands not knowing what he would be used for.

I grabbed Easton by the hand and stepped up to the gateway to the underworld. He squeezed my fingers in his. They felt impossibly hot.

“You don’t have to do this,” he whispered one last time. “It’s not too late to let him go.”

“Just don’t let me go,” I said. Easton linked his arm through mine to get a better hold.

“I won’t.” Easton stepped forward, pulling me with him, and the world fell out from underneath us.

I was swallowed by screams. Awful, gut-wrenching screams that rattled my insides. The blackness was so dark it ate up my light, so I squeezed my eyes shut. Easton’s arm remained twined with mine.

He tightened his hold a little when he realized I was trembling, and suddenly heat exploded beneath me.

“Anaya,” he said, shaking me. “We’re here.”

I opened my eyes and realized there was solid ground beneath my feet. Letting my arm fall away from his, I tested the rocks. They weren’t very sturdy, toppling and tumbling around under the soles of my sandals. I tried to focus and change back into elemental form but nothing happened. I was solid.

Easton must have seen the terror in my eyes.

“You can’t do that here,” he said. “Once you cross into this place, you’re flesh.”

“Why?”

Easton raised a brow. “Do you really have to ask?”

No, I didn’t. This was a place fueled by torture. It would be a little hard to torture a soul in elemental form. I shuddered at the thought.

Easton strode forward and I followed, overwhelmed by the smell of ash and sulfur and Almighty only knows what else. Dark gray clouds that looked more like smoke than part of the sky rumbled with thunder overhead, but no rain fell. Easton stopped at the edge of a stony cliff. Rocks crumbled where the toes of his boots pressed against the ledge.

“That’s it,” he said and pointed ahead. “Umbria. Shadow demon central.”

I placed my hand over my mouth to hold in the sound. It was unlike anything I’d ever seen. Unlike anything I’d ever wanted to see. Black frothy waves battered the cliff side. Enormous, hollow stones carved into skulls lined the places where the cliffs met the sea. And then there were the shadow demons. Everywhere. Scouring the cliffs. Diving into the sea only to emerge searing in flames.

Screaming and writhing in agony as they scrambled up onto the thick ice around the base of each skull. I flinched when a swarm of crimson-colored butterflies fluttered between Easton and me before disappearing into one of the skull-eye caverns. I touched my shoulder where one of their wings had brushed my skin. Blood.

“Blooderflies.” Easton grinned.

I gaped. “You find this funny?”

He shrugged. “You become numb to it all after a while.”

I shook my head and wrapped my arms around myself. A bitter-tasting wind that burned my skin whipped my braids into my face.

“This must be Hell,” I whispered.

Easton laughed. “This?” He folded his arms across his chest and looked out over the sea. “No. This is paradise compared to what’s past those gates.”

“Gates?”

Easton clasped his hand over my shoulder and turned me around. A mountain towered over the barren land of stone and ash. At the base were two blazing gates of fire. They stood open as a steady stream of souls marched in between them, each disappearing into the black billowing smoke inside.

There were so many. My heart ached for each of them. They’d never know peace. All that awaited them was pain. I wrapped my arms around my waist. The wind carried screams and moans that swirled around me, tugging me toward the flames.

Easton’s attention was elsewhere. He pointed to a boy standing at the edge of the cliff a few yards down from us.

“I’ve been doing some digging,” Easton said. “There are only a few in existence. Balthazar has one of them. Your human will be another. And him.”