Chapter 19
CHAPTER NINETEEN
The sun was rising by the time Gabriel flew us down from the rafters to join the others on the ground floor of the barn.
“The settlement leader had furs sent over.” Kabiel handed me a bundle. “Put them on.”
Jilyana was already dressed in hers, but she busied herself with adjusting them when I looked over, dodging my gaze.
I couldn’t avoid this conversation, no matter how much I might want to. “Jilyana, we need to talk.”
She shook her head. “I know what you want to talk about, but it’s fine. We don’t have to. I understand your reservations.”
She was giving me an out, but I didn’t want an out. “Look. I like you, and I want to trust you, but I don’t have the luxury of putting my wants above the safety of everyone else. So I decided not to tell you the whole truth about our trip.”
“I understand.” Her smile was weak. “I knew atonement would be hard. I’m determined to prove myself. But if you’d rather someone else keep hold of the relics, then—”
“No. You can keep hold of them. For now.”
Her throat bobbed as she slung the pack onto her shoulder. “Thank you.”
The door to the barn opened, and I got my first look at a Gehennan.
Humanoid, four feet tall, and covered in fur, the creature had no need for clothes, but he was wearing boots and had a pack on his back.
His heart-shaped face was the only hairless part.
I kept thinking he—I mean, was he a male?
It was impossible to tell as the hair covered everything, and females might not have breasts in this world.
The Gehennan scanned our party with large brown eyes and zeroed in on Asbeel before speaking in his native tongue.
Asbeel listened, then responded in a stilted way before addressing us. “He says that they’re ready to lead us, but they can’t go farther than the angry skies. At least, that’s what I think he said. He warns us not to fly through the angry skies. He said we’ll have to go on foot through that area.”
“What does that mean?” Gabriel asked. “Angry skies? A storm?”
“Most probably.”
“We’ve flown through worse,” Kokabel said. “Tell him he need not worry.”
Asbeel relayed that, and the Gehennan snorted and lifted his chin as if to say whatever.
“Why are they being so helpful?” Jilyana asked abruptly. “Did you tell them why we’re here and what’s happening?”
“Yes,” Asbeel said. “They had no trouble believing me. They’re very in tune with the ecosystem of their circle and have noticed changes the past few years. They’ve never traveled out of the sixth circle but have heard tales of the inner circles and their queen.”
The Gehennan said something, and Asbeel nodded.
“He says we need to leave now.”
We followed him out into the gray dawn, into the chill that was made bearable by the lightweight yet warm furs they’d provided.
Two more Gehennans waited, each carrying spears, and behind them was a cart attached to two animals that looked like a cross between a pony and a hound. Mist plumed from their nostrils as they pawed at the ground, eager to be on their way.
Gabriel held his arms out to me, but Kabiel stepped forward.
“I’ll carry Rue this time,” he said. “If that’s all right with Rue.”
He’d confessed to wanting to fuck me. I should be disgusted, but I wasn’t.
Kabiel fought his devolution at every step.
He fought every dark urge, every debased thought, and there was nobility in that.
There was honor and strength in it. How could I be disgusted by that?
It wasn’t fair to press temptation on him by accepting his offer, but turning it down would be like a slap.
He might think that I was disgusted by him. I didn’t want that, so I looked to Gabriel, expecting him to protest and save me from the conundrum, but Gabriel simply shrugged as if he didn’t care.
He didn’t want to fly me?
Why did I care? I didn’t. “That’s fine, Kabiel. Thanks.”
Kabiel blinked sharply. He’d obviously expected me to put up a fight.
“Jilyana, I can carry you,” Asbeel said to the djinn.
Jilyana’s eyes lit up for a moment but then dimmed. “Thank you.” She adjusted the pack so that it hung in front of her, the handle of my bat poking out of one side.
Kabiel had the same build as Shem, so he’d be able to carry me like Shem had, and it would be less intimate, thank goodness. I stood with my back to him, and he wrapped his arms around my torso.
“You ready?”
“Yes.”
We took to the air, and below us, the cart rattled into motion.
“About what I said in the valley…I’m sorry if I offended you.”
“Offended me by telling me I was fuckable? Hardly.”
He let out a surprised laugh. “You’re not disgusted by me?”
“Admittedly, I’m not a fan of spiders, but you’re more than your devolved form, Kabiel. I’m not disgusted. I’m not afraid, and truth be told, I trust you. I know that you’ll never willingly hurt me.”
He was silent for several seconds, the only sound the beat of his wings and the whoosh of air around us. When he finally spoke, his tone was thick with emotion.
“Thank you.”
The rest of the journey passed in companiable silence.
Whereas the seventh circle had been all but barren, the sixth was a lush landscape of forests and green grasses.
I spotted a settlement in the distance—a sprawling area of small buildings with farmland beyond—and to our left was a field of yellow and red flowers swaying in the breeze.
These hardy blooms didn’t seem to mind the chill.
The skies might be gray, but the world seemed filled with sunshine, until it wasn’t. At least not in the distance where the sky churned with dark clouds.
The Gehennans called out to us and drew their cart to a halt.
Asbeel, who was flying ahead of us, swooped down with Jilyana and landed beside the cart.
“It looks like we may have reached the angry skies,” Kabiel said, easing into a hover, wings beating periodically to keep us airborne. Gabriel and the other watchers joined us above the cart trail a moment later.
Asbeel finished speaking to the civilians, then joined us with Jilyana. “They’re turning back. They said to follow the trail and we’ll come to a road. They called it the glass road, if I’m understanding correctly. We must stay on it. They suggested to go on foot.”
“On foot will take longer,” Kokabel said. “I say we stay airborne for as long as possible.”
“Agreed,” Kabiel said.
“They must have a reason for warning against it,” Matarel said.
“I agree with Matarel,” Gabriel said. “But I also agree we should remain airborne until we know more about these angry skies.”
As the Gehennans’ cart retreated, we flew on, staying above the trail, closer and closer to a sky that looked as if it was raging with dark emotions. The temperature dropped, and a strange crackle filled the air, along with the scent of a storm.
“It’s getting windy!” Gabriel called out.
“We can manage,” Kokabel called out, picking up speed toward the forbidden elements ahead.
Kabiel’s grip on me tightened as we also sped up. Gabriel and Asbeel flanked us with Matarel and Yomiel close behind.
The air was thicker beneath the angry sky, charged with energy that pricked at my skin. The trail below died and was replaced by an area of black, glassy-looking land. It was a wide strip with jagged edges where the earth sparkled like diamonds, and beyond it was nothing but sand.
“It’s a beach,” Kabiel said. “A beach that has been turned to glass.”
I knew enough about the elements, enough science to know that this phenomenon only happened if—
A roar battered my eardrums, shattering my thoughts, and then dazzling fingers of lightning cut across our path.
Asbeel swerved to avoid being hit.
“Down! Get down!” Gabriel cried.
Another crack. Another blaze of light.
“Watch out!” Gabriel slammed into us, shoving us out of the path of a strike and taking it himself.
His body lit up as the lightning energy held him suspended in the air for what felt like an eternity but couldn’t have been more than a few moments, then he was falling, and all I could do was scream.