Page 31 of Reaper Unhinged
“And the power source is our only hope at saving our worlds,” Keon added. “This affects us all.”
Azazel’s jaw ticked. “We have no choice. Lilith must be found and rescued.” He looked down at me. “Because once Fee saves our worlds, we’re going to have to be ready for a war.”
He had faith in me, and that gavemefaith in me.
“We meet back at quarters in forty-eight hours,” Mal said. “No matter what.”
In other words, if I failed to find the power source, we could face the end together.
I had no idea how long earth would take to die once the Beyond shut down. No idea how long the demons would survive without their connection to the celestial power the Beyond allowed them, but however long it was, we would experience it together.
I picked up my tankard and held it up on a toast. “Forty-eight hours.”
“Forty-eight hours,” the others echoed.
Mal and Azazel left first, and a hollow sensation bloomed in the pit of my stomach.
“They’ll be fine,” Keon said. “Both are ruthless on the battlefield.”
I nodded. “I know. I just…” Missed them already. Worried that I’d never see them again. “Nothing.”
We left the sweaty, crowded confines of the Den and headed out into the crisp night air.
I asked the question that had been plaguing me for hours. “What if we don’t succeed? I mean…What if we don’t make it out?”
Keon gripped my shoulders. “You will make it out. I’ll make sure of it.”
I believed him. It was his job to keep me alive for Lilith’s sake. Except now…Now I felt hewantedto protect me.
That was good. Because I was not ready to die.
Chapter Twelve
The entrance to Limbo was marked by a towering stone arch etched with symbols I didn’t recognize.
“This is the gateway. The only way in or out,” Keon said. “But those confined are allowed no exit.”
“The ancient souls that the Beyond abandoned here?” I looked to Uriel.
The celestial’s brow pinched. “Why would the Beyond leave any human souls here?” He pursed his lips and stepped closer to the arch to study the symbols. “Enochian. But I can’t…I can’t seem to read them.” He rubbed his eyes and studied the symbols again before shaking his head. “Strange, almost as if they don’t want to be read.”
“Was the divine about when the circles were disbanded and the souls were recalled?”
“I don’t know,” Uriel said. “I didn’t even know the divine was gone until recently.”
Of course, he was a lower circle celestial, not privy to that information. “No worries. Let’s just get this over with. If this power source is here, then there will be some kind of clue or energy signature we may be able to pick up on.”
I was clutching at straws, and we were technically going in blind with no plan, but it made me feel better to say words that made it seem like we knew what the fuck we were doing.
I pulled a dagger from my holster and stepped through the arch. Fog closed in around me, damp and cold. The chill seeped through my clothes to kiss my skin. The world here was gray, black, and muted. We were in an open space, and trees were visible through the fog. This was a path of some kind, made of white pebbles.
“Stay on the path,” Uri said. “I think the path is safe.”
Made sense. The fog was thinnest here, but it hovered thickly on either side of us as if eager for us to come closer so it could smother us.
“What if the power source isn’t on the path?” Keon asked.
He had a point, but my gut told me to stick to the pebbled track. “There has to be some clue.”
