Page 7 of Shadowed Spirits

Levi shrugs. “You can pack a small bag if you want, but my brother will have everything we need while we’re in my realm. Any more questions?” He waits a heartbeat before opening one of his freaky-ass portals. “I’ll see you soon, little raven.”

After Levi vanishes, we all go our separate ways to prepare to follow our mate into Hell.

CHAPTER 5

IZZY

Stepping out of Levi’s rift, I glance around the barren plane. I’m not sure what I expected Hell to look like, but a vast ocean of red rock, a glowing electric blue sun in a neon green sky, and hardly anything in sight all fit the dystopian vibe I thought it would have. We’re on top off some sort of cliff, and heavy wind gusts kick up red dust and dirt at us, stinging my skin.

Archer surveys the barren landscape before turning to Levi. “Where to from here, demon eyes?”

Levi sighs deeply. “Still not a demon.” He points off into the distance where I can just make out a city. “We’re headed to the city there. That’s where my brother lives. It shouldn’t be more than a five-hour walk.”

I barely manage to hold in my groan. There are a ton of things I’d rather do than walk for five hours, like give a goldfish a perm, watch paint dry, or bathe a feral velociraptor. But it’s my fault we’re here in the first place, so I just have to suck it up and get it over with. Hiking my small dark purple backpack up farther on my shoulders, I follow Levi as we begin our trek.

We’ve been walking for a few minutes when something occurs to me. “Why can’t we just portal to your brother?”

“Acheron is the capital city of my realm, which is known asInfernus,so it’s heavily protected. That includes not allowing portals within roughly fifteen miles of the city. I opened a rift as close to Acheron as I could.” Levi briefly glances back at me and gives me a half smile before looking out into the distance again.

His answer only leaves me with more questions, so I quicken my pace to walk even with him. Levi and I are now in front, with Cain and Bishop directly behind me and Luca and Archer behind them. Now that I don’t have to shout to be heard over the wind whipping through the rocky landscape, I ask, “Why is it so protected?”

“Many wish to ruleInfernus, so there have been countless attempts to capture Acheron. Not allowing rifts makes it easier to see an attack before it reaches the city,” Levi explains.

I tilt my head as I consider the city while slowly, so freaking slowly, getting closer. “Who currently rules?”

“Hades. He has for a couple billion years at this point.”

I choke on my spit at Levi’s casual answer. “Hades? LiketheHades? He’s real?”

Levi chuckles at my shock. “He’s very real, but he’s not a god, nor does he rule over death.”

Archer jogs up to walk even with us and jumps in before I can say anything. “Wait, wait, wait. Hold up. Exactly how old are you?”

“As I’ve told Izzy, I’m billions of years old. After a while, the years blur together, and it becomes hard to keep track of my exact age.” Levi’s voice has a wistful quality to it, like he wishes he could remember everything from his shockingly long life better. I can’t even wrap my mind around living that long.

Archer’s eyes are as wide as saucers as he looks at Levi in utter and complete shock. “Holy shit. That’s fucking pre-prehistoric, demon eyes. Did you meet any dinosaurs? Did you have a pet T-Rex?”

I can’t help my laugh at Archer’s questions. Of all the things to ask someone who is almost as old as time itself, the boy wants to know about dinosaurs. At least he has his priorities.

At Archer’s silly questions, Levi seems to shake himself out of his thoughts of, and perhaps longing for, a different time. I don’t blame him for longing for a time before he met my complicated ass. “No, I didn’t have a pet T-Rex, but I did see dinosaurs. This realm and Earth have been intricately connected since your planet first spawned life.”

Archer bounces up and down on his toes in excitement. “On one hand, lame. You totally shoulda domesticated the shit outta a T-Rex. On the other hand, that’s cool as fuck that you’ve seen real-life dinosaurs. I bet you have some crazy stories to tell.”

Levi shakes his head at Archer but can’t help the ghost of a smile that flits across his face. “I do, pup.”

Before Archer can bombard Levi with any more questions, I ask, “Why are our realms intertwined?”

Seeming to debate how to answer, Levi stays silent for a long moment. “That’s… a complicated question. Let’s get through meeting with my brother, then I’ll try to explain it all to you.”

He makes it sound like meeting his brother will be an ordeal. Here’s hoping it will go smoothly, unlike everything else today. I wonder if he’s close with his brother, but he doesn’t seem to want to talk about it. Since I have so many questions for him, I try to forget my curiosity about that. “Will you show me what you are then?”

Levi eyes me warily, like he doesn’t know how I’ll react to his show-and-tell. “Yes, little raven, I will.” His eyes flick back and forth between mine for what feels like an eternity, but is probably only thirty seconds, before he releases me from his otherworldly stare.

We walk in companionable silence, each of us lost in our thoughts, as we make the long trek through the red dust and rock to the city.

“Halt!”a loud voice booms from the rampart above us. It was hard to see from a distance, but the entire city of Acheron is surrounded by a massive defensive wall. The red stone wall has to be at least fifty feet tall, with watchtowers dotted across its entire span.

We come to a stop as we wait for further instructions. I admire the intricate scrollwork on the heavy gate and stare at the deadly looking spikes at the bottom with trepidation.

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