Page 59 of Underworld
“It’s all right, Lily.” He squeezed my hand. “Taking in pure evil has an effect on my true form. It also brings out my full abilities. I’m stronger now and I can travel the realms easily, even here, coming to Purgatory with you.”
As we walked, the nothingness changed, bit by bit.
Stars sprinkled through the nothingness until a path formed at our feet, showing us where my heart led us.
A dome rose up in the distance like a protective bubble. Almost like a snow globe, but without the snow or the cute snow village.
Nope, in Purgatory there wasn’t all that much to look at, which was probably why I’d created the meadow in the first place.
“My sanctuary,” I murmured, recognizing the little haven I’d created during my time between worlds—between lives.
“That's where you holed up while you found the strength to return to us, isn't it?”
I nodded in agreement.
“I knew it.” Kaito’s quiet murmur held awe. “I found this place just weeks after you disappeared and I… Ifeltyou here. I kept coming, looking for answers, for you. It took a long time to even find the meadow, but anytime I looked inside, there was a fog. I couldn’t penetrate it.”
“You came toPurgatorylooking for me?” Kaito had been so close and I’d never realized it.
“I traveled in my astral form like we’re doing now, Lily. I couldn’t come here as easily as you brought us now, but I still tried.”
“Why are we here?” I asked.
“You must have unfinished business here.”
Staring into his surreal eyes, I tried to think of what that business might be.
He stroked a thumb over my knuckles and smiled, his demonic features twisting into solace. “It’s all right. Let’s walk around. Maybe it’ll come to you.”
We ventured away from the meadow, from the place that smelled of sweet ambrosia, a flower that I knew would never grow on earth, much less in Hell.
We wandered through the darkness until we finally came upon large, iron cages. I paused, my eyes going wide. “Kaito?” I asked, hoping he’d have an explanation for this.
Something in one of the cages stirred, black feathers poking out from the bars.
“It’s one of Purgatory’s dungeons,” he said, keeping his voice low. “These are the Fallen.”
I stared at him as I processed his words.
The Fallen.
He means fallen angels.
“Why?” I asked, my voice catching, my gaze snapping back to the massive cages. “Why are they here?”
“Punishment for some sin or another.” A muscle in his jaw ticked. “The sentence depends on the crime, of course, but Calamity has been screwing things up for decades. Since time moves differently in all the realms, these poor souls could have been down here for…”
He didn’t finish.
I didn’t ask him to.
We ventured down a long row, then turned into another.
So many cages.
So many suffering.
The angels didn’t even respond to our presence. I peered through one of the bars, trying to see who might be inside, but the darkness within seemed like a void, leaving the inhabitant in a state deprived of senses.
