Page 4 of When Monsters Fight
“You can’t,” Gabriel said. “You’re human, and Gehenna’s atmosphere will kill you.”
“Then why doesn’t our atmosphere kill the monsters?” Bastian asked.
“Valid question,” Bee said.
Gabriel sighed. “From what we’ve learned about the monsters and their biology, they’re designed to adapt to their environment. However, when the reapers and I intercepted you on the road to the farmhouse, we detected sulfur in the air. Traces of an otherworld atmosphere. Their atmosphere.”
The black mist. “Their world is seeping into ours, isn’t it? Their atmosphere is tainting ours.”
“Yes,” Gabriel confirmed. “And if left unchecked, it will poison the air here.” Bastian still hadn’t taken the drive. “Please,” Gabriel said. “I need you to get this to the resistance.”
Bastian looked over at me, his expression torn because this meant splitting up. This meant two separate paths. It meant not knowing if the other was alive and well.
But Shem had died for this chance.
There was no other choice.
I swallowed the lump in my throat. “I’ll focus better on getting the relics to Lucifer if I know our people have you watching their backs.”
Bastian’s shoulders slumped, but he took the drive, his jaw hard in that way that told me he was suppressing emotions. He fixed his gaze on Gabriel. “You’ll keep Rue alive.” It was a demand, not a question, and Gabriel took it as such, dropping Bastian a firm nod.
“You’ll take Baraqel and his scouts with you,” Sarq said. “We’ll go with Rue.”
But if my people were going to travel across monster-infested territory on foot, they needed all the protectionthey could get. “No, Sarq. I need you all to go with Bastian. The people need you.”
“Youneed us,” Sarq said. “Shem would want us to protect you.”
“She’ll be protected,” Gabriel said. “I’m going with her.”
“And she’ll have me and my reapers,” Erelim added. “We’ll clear a path through the monsters in Gehenna.”
“You’ll attract the monsters with your light,” Sarq pointed out. “You’ll put them in danger.”
“He’s right, Erelim,” Gabriel said. “Using the scythes here is beneficial, but if you use them in Gehenna, in a world created for monsters, then it’s asking for trouble.”
“You and Rue can’t go alone,” Erelim said. “It’s much too dangerous.”
He was right. But the reapers and the watchers weren’t my only option of companion. “We won’t be going alone. We’ll have backup. We’ll have Kabiel and the devolved to protect us.”
“They can’t get into the church,” Zaq pointed out. “How will they get to the convergence?”
I had a plan for this too. “With enough celestial light to push them over the brink from monster to watcher.”
Bastian sucked in a breath. “You’re going to open the channel again?”
“Yes, and Jilyana will help me.”
“The effects won’t last long,” Sarq said. “The changes never do.”
“I know. They only need to last long enough to get the devolved through the convergence.” I chewed on my cheeks, my mind whirring. “And Baraqel needs to be told the full truth. He can’t be expected to protect the humans and keep fighting outside these walls without knowing exactly what he and his scouts are fighting for. Tell him to hold off ontelling his scouts until I’ve left for Gehenna with Jilyana. I’ll tell Jilyana the truth once we’re in Gehenna and I have the fourth relic, just to be on the safe side.”
“Hard to betray you if you’re in hell,” Bee said.
“It looks like we have a plan,” Gabriel said.
Now all we needed to do was find the doorway to Gehenna.
A doorway hidden somewhere in this church.
