I close my eyes just like the other Annulus did, and gratitude washes through me. Thank you for your sacrifice and for showing me the way, I tell the skull, in what I can only explain as pure instinct. When warmth kisses my hand, I pull it back and move on to the next skull in the sequence. I share my blood and thanks to each one on this door before heading to the other one on the opposite side and working through those as well.
With the remaining drops of blood leaking out, I place my hand on the last skull and thank it for the purpose it’s serving and the protections it offers. When I feel the warmth greet me for a final time, I open my eyes and step away. A sense of peace and rightness moves through me, and I reach up and yank my scythe out of the bones of the door before stepping back as the guys return to my side, and we all watch the Gate with bated breath.
“Do you feel that?” Jerif asks the others, his voice bleeding awe, and I smile serenely because I do.
It feels like healing.
We watch as my blood soaks into the bones, and just as the last drop disappears on the last skull, the Hellgate ignites anew, and it’s better than before. Stronger.
Happiness washes over me as my face splits into a grin, and my eyes take on a wet sheen. I can practically feel the pride of the Annuli who came before me, as the Gate once again springs to life.
And look, it’s my favorite color...purple.
A breeze flits past me, playing with my wings and lifting my hair like it’s a teasing little minx. I spin on a laugh, and then my mouth drops in complete awe. The Gate isn’t the only thing that’s different.
“Whoa…”
One third of the long cavern that runs from the mausoleum to the Hellgate is now covered in grass, trees, flowers, and other plants. The whole left stretch of it seems to have just come alive. The once vast, empty, and sinister space is now bursting with greenery and life on that side, and butterflies flit happily from one bloom to another.
“What the hell?” I ask, completely dumbfounded. “Why did Hell’s Embrace just get its own Garden of Eden?”
“No idea,” Crux says, just as surprised as I am.
“Of course you’d put flowers all over Hell’s otherwise ominous entrance,” Jerif snarks. “You’re such a girl.”
I roll my eyes at him. “I’m totally telling Alder you said that,” I tease, and he narrows his eyes at me.
“You better not,” he mumbles, and I laugh, knowing he doesn’t want that demon blowing any scary ass flower pollen on him.
Echo disappears into the shadows again while we all stare around in wonder at the Hell garden. When he abruptly reappears in front of me again, I try to play off the jump by turning it into a weird little bounce, like I’m too excited about Hell’s new greenery not to move around, but Echo’s smile tells me he’s not falling for it.
“About a third of the Hell side mausoleum looks like this enchanted forest now,” he reveals, and we all look at the entrance located at the opposite end of the new electric-violet Hellgate.
“I wonder why only part of the space went green and not all of it?” Iceman observes curiously, and I look around at the black rock and dirt packed entryway that’s still free and clear.
“Maybe I didn’t do something right?” I declare, making a note to ask Nefta the next time I see her.
“No, the Gate definitely feels better than it ever has before. You got that right. We can feel it,” Iceman reassures me, and the other Guardians all nod in agreement.
I throw him a happy smile and move to wrap my arms around him. “Well, hopefully the gate will be better now, because I think we’re all due for some rest and relaxation,” I declare as Iceman wraps an arm around my shoulders.
“What do you say we get you packed up and moved into our place? Then we can rest and relax all you want,” Iceman suggests, and I don’t miss the hint of other kinds of suggestion in his tone.
Heat immediately shoots right through me and settles deliciously low in my stomach.
He gives me a knowing look. “You up for this one, Maverick?” he asks, quoting a line from the movie I picked our nicknames from.
I laugh.
“Just a walk in the park, Kazansky,” I reply, finishing the Top Gun line. “Let’s turn and burn!”
26
“Ugh, this is the worst.”
I’m sitting cross-legged in my bedroom, surrounded by plastic trash bags and a couple of cardboard boxes.
Echo shoots me an amused look. “It’s not that bad,” he says. “It’s not like you have to pack up the whole house. You’re leaving all the furniture and kitchen things. You just have to get your clothes and toiletries.” He toes one of the dozens of trash bags that are littering my bedroom floor with a slight frown on his face. “Although...I didn’t realize you had so many damn clothes. You’re always wearing the same three outfits.”
I grab a pile of the clothes I’m going through in my dresser and chuck them at his face, but he manages to catch them all before they hit him. “It’s not my fault life has been so crazy that I couldn’t change my clothes every day. And now I have these, which makes picking out an
