Cass saw Michael and Ari coming out of the house, and he opened his door to get out and meet them.
“He’s a hellhound. They’re not exactly civilized. They’re basically serial killers with a moral code,” Cass explained.
Ari must have heard the last part, because he chimed in, “Dude, hellhounds? Those fuckers are bad ass. They left hell centuries ago, but you’re right that they have a pretty strict code. Is one helping out Mammon? Because that will definitely make things tricky as fuck.”
“No, not at all. I know one, and I was going to ask for help locating Mammon before Kushiel disappeared. But now that my soulmate is gone, I can find him and Mammon. I’m just not sure what we’ll do about Mammon once we find him,” Cass answered.
“We’ve got that covered,” Michael replied. “Come on over and huddle in. The state park? Any clue where?”
“Maybe two miles west inside the park area. I’ll know once we’re closer,” Cass answered, walking over and standing close to Michael and Ari.
Ari grabbed Michael in a hug, and he threw his other arm around Cass’s shoulders, folded his wings around him, and then… Cass didn’t even know how to describe what happened next. It was a weird displacement feeling, like riding an express elevator. It lasted only a second or two before Ari was unfolding his wings, and Cass looked out and saw forrest.
He realized, a bit belatedly, that he’d left Aunt Ro behind. Oops. Hopefully she would find him; she seemed to be able to hone in on where he was most of the time.
Cass sharpened his sight again, and he still felt calm reassurance flowing through the bond. Kushiel was close now, probably less than a half a mile away, and Cass started off in the direction of the bond, heedless of the weeds and underbrush he had to trample.
Before he’d gone ten feet, however, Ari grabbed his shoulder. Cass turned around, and he saw Ari’s eyes lose focus and sort of swirl. Michael grabbed Cass’s other shoulder, as if to keep him still, but Cass knew what was happening.
Ari was having a vision. Cass hoped it would tell them how to deal with Mammon.
No one spoke, and after a moment, Ari’s eyes cleared.
“Whoa, dude. That was wicked,” Ari announced.
“Did you see how we can defeat Mammon?” Cass asked anxiously. He had this urge to move, but he knew this was important. Aunt Ro had been right earlier—charging in without a plan wouldn’t help things.
“Dude,wecan’t do anything. I saw that quite clearly. Mike and I have gotta leave you to it, bruh. But”—Ari then reached behind him, and he pulled a large, gleaming spear out, almost like it had been resting on his back—“the reason we sent the text is because we had this for you. This will help you.”
“What is it?” Cass asked, gently taking the spear from Ari.
“No clue, dude. If it works like the sword we got once, it sucks up the soul of whoever you stab with it, so be careful with that shit. Don’t go all stabby on just anything, yeah?” Ari pronounced.
“I don’t think Cassius is the type to go all randomly stabby on things,” Michael muttered, rolling his eyes at Ari.
Ari just chuckled before stating, “Wish we could help, bruh, but I clearly saw that our place is not here. So we’re out, but good luck, dude!”
With that, he grabbed Michael in a hug, despite Michael’s sputtering, and he heard the human cry out a “Good luck!” as Ari wrapped his wings around them and they disappeared.
Cass was on his own, then. That was ok. He had a magic spear, he had ties to follow, and he would do whatever was necessary to make sure Kushiel was safe. He sharpened his sight, and when he saw the bond, he sent reassurance and love through it to Kushiel.
“I’m coming, Kushiel. Just hold on,” he muttered aloud, setting off through the forest, following the golden ties that would lead him to his soulmate.
Chapter 26
Kushiel
One minute Kushiel was sitting with the ghost, Cassius, and Aunt Ro, and the next he was in the middle of a small clearing surrounded by trees. He had grabbed onto the ghost without thought, and it had never occurred to him that he would fade with it and be transported.
But here he was, whereverhereactually was.
He was in a large clearing with dirt beneath his feet facing a forest. There was something very wrong with the trees surrounding him, however. It looked like they were all decaying. His first thought was of Cassius—surely his human was frantic at his disappearance, and he concentrated on sending reassurance and calm out toward Cass. Kushiel didn’t know if it worked, but it was the best he could do in the moment. He had to investigate things here before he transported himself back to Cassius.
He looked next to him, and the ghostly lost soul was still gripping his hand, but it was very still and clearly afraid. He turned around and gasped at what he saw, for there, in the middle of the clearing, huddled up in a mass, were all the many lost souls from Erebus. They were barely moving, barely even formed. Kushiel could sense them as well; their grief and painmade his entire being ache with sadness. Who would do such a thing to souls?
This was where all the lost souls were, and they were not even functioning beings. The difference between the ghost next to him and the ghosts huddled in a mass in front of him was extreme; Kushiel had forgotten how bad the ghost had first been when he had seen it. He wasn’t even sure that the ghosts in the clearing were capable of movement. He had no idea how he would redeem them all or what he would do with them, but perhaps Cass would have some ideas. After all, the message had stated that they could do something together.
He looked carefully at his surroundings, struck again by how the trees looked… wrong. Nevertheless, he knew he could find this spot again to transport here. With that thought, he opened his wings, ready to fold space and time and go back to Cassius…
