Alder and Rafferty turn to Delta and me, and the four of us share a look as the weight of what we need to do settles on our shoulders.
“You ready?” Alder asks us.
Matchin’ gray eyes meet as my sister and I emotionally and mentally steel ourselves, and then we both answer at the same time. “We’re ready.”
We have to be.
35
Our group is forced to pass the gruesome bodies of the dead Guardians as we race to the groundskeeper buildin’. Blood scents the air, the deceased Guardians’ skin and muscle and bone contorted like a grotesque Picasso paintin’ with so many parts not quite where they should be.
“Don’t look,” Alder tells me as he grips my hand and tugs me forward. I hadn’t even realized that I’d stopped walkin’ to stare at them in horror. I don’t know what the hell kind of demons did this to them, but I don’t wanna meet them and find out.
Inside the buildin’, there’s nothin but daylight filterin’ in through a dirty window to light up a plain desk and chair in the corner. In the middle of the space, there’s a large pattern of stones set into the wooden planks that make up the rest of the floor.
Rafferty and Alder immediately lead us over to it until the four of us are standin’ over the ancient lookin’ stones with strange symbols carved into them.
Rafferty says somethin’ under his breath, and then my eyes blink at the sudden pitch-black darkness that comes over my vision as the room fades away. I don’t even have time for a mental pep talk to get myself ready for my first trip to Hell.
My chest constricts and the sense of vertigo nearly sends me tumblin’ down. I probably would’ve pitched all the way forward if it weren’t for Alder’s hold on my hand.
The moment I’m sure I’m about to either fall or vomit, the world settles around me again, and I blink at a dim replica of the groundskeeper buildin’, except it’s about ten times bigger.
Did we shrink?
I look around and see the odd desk and chair in a far corner, and it looks normal, which means we’re the same size, but the inside of this buildin’ grew like it took some potion and is destined to fall down a rabbit hole.
“This way,” Alder announces, tugging me forward as Delta and Rafferty match our steps.
“Is this Hell’s Embrace?” I ask, my head on a swivel as I look around and take in the eerie space.
“Yeah. Creepy, huh?” Delta whispers in the silent space. “The Hellgate is up ahead.”
Together, we walk carefully through the extra-large Hell-side groundskeeper buildin’, all of us on high alert. Just as we step out of the doorway and into a long cavern, an ear-splittin’ gong sound explodes all around me, the noise so loud that it makes my teeth vibrate and my body quake.
We all cover our ears and crouch down as though we can hide from the assaultin’ din, but it does nothin’ to save our eardrums.
“What was that?” I shout with fear as I look wildly around, seein’ Delta grimace as she rubs her ears.
The noise slowly starts to die away, and Delta shakes her head. “I forgot about that,” she confesses, and Rafferty nods in agreement as he looks around warily. “That happened the first time I came down here too,” she explains, confusion swirlin’ in her eyes as her shoulders lift up in a confused shrug.
Alder looks worried as he and Rafferty scan everythin’ around us like they’re anticipatin’ an attack. When nothin’ jumps out and all is quiet again—minus the ringin’ in my ears—Alder plucks a white flower from behind his ear and once again grabs my hand. I squeeze his just a little tighter.
We all stand up again and cautiously continue to move further into the cavern. At first, it’s just gray and plain. Then, I see a patch of grass growin’ through the cracked ground. Then a larger patch with purple flowers. The further in we get, the less sparse and sporadic the vegetation becomes. It goes from odd patches of green to thicker blankets of grass and flowers. Trees start to pop up and multiply as we make our way through until I see that a third of the entire cavern—the entire right side—is covered in this lush, beautiful, wild lookin’ garden, extendin’ from the ground and spreadin’ right up the wall.
It’s strange lookin’—a strip of beauty on the right side, buttin’ up against a completely bare and desolate landscape in the middle and the entire left side of the cavern. It’s as though someone forgot to water the other side or somethin’.
I can’t take my eyes off all the plants flourishin’ down here of all places, but as we pass even more of it, my attention gets stolen away, my gaze landin’ on the massive, fiery double-doored Hellgate at the end.
Well, I’ll be.
“The fire is purple just like your wings and hair,” I observe, my tone filled with awe. I can practically feel the power of the Hellgate and the heat reachin’ out to me, beggin’ me to come and play.
A grin crosses Delta’s face. “Yeah, it used to have red flames, but after I did my thing, it changed,” she says, lookin’ smug and satisfied about that. “It’s so pretty, don’t you think?”
“It’s been the talk of Hell,” Rafferty says quietly as we continue to walk toward it. “The authorized demons who’ve passed through recently can’t stand not knowing why the color of the flames suddenly changed.”
Delta’s grin widens. “Secret Annulus tricks.”
“I like purple,” I say, noddin’ to my hair and wings. “But I still wish I could’ve gotten green wings. I miss my pretty mint hair.”
“I like you in any color, Petal,” Alder says, pressin’ his lips against my temple and makin’ me go all gooey inside. “But this purple suits you.”
“You’re just sayin’ that
