My heart froze as I realized what it meant. "Vincent," I whispered. "I sent a soul to Elysium for safekeeping until we could return to Abaddon to deal with him." What had I done? Had it been the wrong decision?
"He's probably broken free," Gabe said. "That would be our luck, anyway. And without the protective bubble you encased him in, he'd be expelled from Elysium."
"Where would he go?" Mary asked.
Of course. The prophecy made perfect sense now. As the soul of an angel, he should've gone straight to Elysium, but he was evil. Abaddon was the only place for him.
But Abaddon was compromised. I wasn't sure it would even hold the souls. It certainly couldn't hold the demons.
"The River of the Damned," Lucifer said. Damn, but I was sure he was right. Where else could the soul be?
Mary blinked several times. "That's real?" Wow, there was something she didn't know. That was a surprise. She seemed wise far above her station and had a vast amount of knowledge, most likely gleaned from all those books in her home.
I chuckled. "In a way. It's a part of the same plane the demons are trapped in. You can see it, but you can't touch it. Humans can neither see it nor touch it. A soul cannot remain there for long, especially in the space between Earth, Elysium, and Abaddon. A soul must go one way or another. Souls that are pure go straight to Elysium and do not remain in the River long, if at all, which is why it's largely considered the River of the Damned and not just a river of souls."
Mary nodded. "Where does it stop? Hell?"
"After the soul is forced to relive the worst moments of their lives, all the times they made the worst choices, they go to Purgatory," Luc said. "Therefore, some souls, who maybe only made a few truly bad choices, move through quickly, and some take a very long time." He shook his head. He didn't understand it either. "But souls of Angels aren't meant to be in Purgatory or the River at all. It can disrupt the entire system. Mess with the magic of it all."
He looked at Mary. "It's a very delicate balance. Magic is picky."
She nodded as if she understood completely. "That it is." They exchanged a look, and I wondered if she was beginning to soften toward the King of Abaddon a bit. But then she sniffed and gave him a haughty look before turning her attention back to Cecilio.
"Are you well, Brujo Blanco?" Mary asked. "We can stay with you."
He shook his head. "I am fine. It's like it didn't happen. Go. Save the world."
"We are in your debt, even with the way things went wrong," Lucifer said. I knew it was difficult for him to admit that Cecilio had been helpful after nearly killing him.
We had no time to waste. If Vincent was in the River, we had to get to him before he got to Purgatory, and though it wasn't a literal river, it was a massive flow of souls. So many that it was difficult to pinpoint just one soul in the mix.
There was one question that had bothered me since we saw our sleeping quarters the night before. “Cecilio, there’s one question that I have to ask,” I said. “If it’s none of my business, tell me and I’ll never speak of it again.”
He furrowed his brow waiting for my question.
I pointed to his odd home. “Why the enormous, luxurious, somehow laws-of-gravity defying home?”
He smiled, but his eyes were full of sadness and regret. “I used to have a very large family.”
He didn’t expand. I wondered if he meant a wife and kids, or if he was talking about his angelic parentage. But, I’d asked enough invasive questions for one day. "Come. We have to get to the edge of the wards," I said. "Any chance you can lift them for a few minutes while we disappear?"
Cecilio shook his head. "It would take hours to stop them all and hours to put them back. Faster to walk."
"Okay, then. Luc and Mary in the middle." I led the way this time.
It was nice that Gabriel and Michael had carved a path in for us, but this time I knew where we were going. I was more powerful than all of them, and I needed to get to the River. It was time to take charge.
The walk was shorter, as most of the path carved on the way in was still there. The vines were still broken and leaves pushed aside. The undergrowth already threatened to take the path over again, but all in all, it was easier.
Of course, demons continued to harass us, but they came one or two at a time, so it was nearly laughable. Like being attacked by a toddler. More annoying than dangerous. As we walked, I considered everything.
I'd read Vincent's aura and killed him pretty quickly. What if I'd moved too soon or too rashly? Did he have more to say?
And who had sent the words to Cecilio? It could've been Vincent himself. "I haven't heard of an angel or demon making it to the River before," I mused.
Gabe was closest to me. "Yeah, but I've also never heard of a soul like his being held in Elysium, so this is a time for firsts."
"I guess." I blasted a vine out of the way, then sent another bolt of energy toward an approaching demon.
"Has anyone checked on Jellybean since we started all this?" I asked. "Is he acting as crazy as the rest of them?"
"He was fine when we left the house," Gabe said. "We can pop in and check on him before we go to the river." Gabe walked beside me for a while but shuddered. "Do we have to go to the River? It's so creepy."
I laughed and pushed at his shoulder. "You're so silly. They're just souls."
"I hate it there," he said under
