Chapter 24
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
RUE
The sea wasn’t so bad. Two days in and we’d had steady winds and a calm surface to journey through. The relic was close and getting closer. I’d felt it as soon as I’d passed through the veil, and opening the channel had made that connection stronger.
Jilyana kept the relics shielded to allow me to maintain a lock on the fourth piece. The first day I’d had to keep opening the channel to make sure we were headed in the right direction, but now the relic’s presence was a steady vibration, calling to me.
I stood on the bow, looking out at the vast expanse of rippling gray and green.
This circle was truly nothing but water, and although we’d spotted small outcrops of land, they’d been dry lumps of rock jutting out of the waves.
So far, we hadn’t come across any Gehennans, and we hadn’t tried to lure any to the surface with blood either.
Once we got to the location of the relic, we might have no choice but to get some assistance.
With so little land to speak of, it was logical to assume that the relic was on the seabed—somewhere we wouldn’t be able to go. We had to hope the Gehennans of this circle were as helpful as the other circles.
I sensed Gabriel’s presence before he spoke. Our bond was gone, but the connection we’d developed remained. In fact, it was stronger now than before, and I wasn’t sure what to make of that except…I liked it.
I liked that we were on the same wavelength. That he seemed to know what I was thinking most of the time. I liked sharing a bunk with him and falling asleep with the sound of his heartbeat against my ear. I liked it all a little too much.
“Jilyana says food is ready,” Gabriel said finally. “We’re close to the relic, aren’t we?”
“Yes. It’s so strong now. I think…maybe tomorrow, if not tonight…”
“Good. Then we should all get some rest.” He glanced down the boat toward the helm, where Kabiel kept his hand on the wheel, steadying our course. “He needs to rest. Asbeel can take the wheel for a while, but Kabiel needs to relinquish it.”
Kabiel had barely left the helm the past two days.
Although the other watchers claimed they could steer the boat just as well, he wouldn’t let any of them take control for more than an hour at a time.
Every time he took back the helm, he’d check with me to ensure we were headed in the right direction.
Gabriel was right; Kabiel needed to take a longer break. “I’ll speak to him.”
“Good. He’ll listen to you.” Gabriel squeezed my shoulder. “I’ll see you downstairs.”
I turned away from the late afternoon sun and crossed the deck to climb the steps to the helm where Kabiel stood, legs shoulder width apart, hands on the wheel.
“Do we need to change direction?” he asked.
“No. You need to take a break.”
“I don’t need a break.”
“Then humor me.”
He snorted softly. “Why?”
“Why not?”
“Because I’d rather be up here than down there watching you and Gabriel cuddle.” He said it in such an even tone that it took me a moment to register the meaning of his words.
“Why does it bother you?”
“You know why.”
I did. I fucking did, but I didn’t want to think about it. I couldn’t cope with more feelings right now. Him wanting to fuck me at one point I could handle. But nothing more than that. I didn’t have the emotional space for it.
“Kabiel, I—”
“I know. I don’t expect anything from you. But allow me to deal with my unwelcome yearnings in my own way.”
I wasn’t about to push him right now. If this helped him cope, then so be it. “If you get tired, you need to switch with Asbeel. Promise me.”
“I’m not a fool, Rue. I know my limits.”
So abrasive. So like Shem. I backed away.
There was only one Shem, and he was gone. “I’ll have some food sent up for you.”
He made a noncommittal sound, and I forced myself to walk away.
I couldn’t get tangled up in his emotional turmoil.
My heart was bruised and tired, and Gabriel understood that.
He didn’t push. He didn’t ask for anything.
Gabriel was the calm in the eye of the storm, and that’s where I needed to stay for now.
I joined the others below deck to find Jilyana passing around bowls of soup. Soup and stew were the staples of our journey so far. Filling and easy to prepare.
“No Kabiel?” Gabriel asked as I took the vacant spot beside him at the table.
“No. But he’ll let us know if he needs relieving.”
I took the bowl Jilyana offered, aware of Gabriel’s hot, probing gaze on the side of my face.
He didn’t push me for more information, though. Although I was sure he’d ask me what had been said later.
Nothing got past Gabriel, not when it came to me, and there was comfort in that. Comfort in not always having to find the words. In having someone who simply felt what you did.
What would this have felt like with the bond in place? What kind of connection would we have had if we’d opened ourselves to it?
Why did it even matter?
“Eat up,” Gabriel said. “I’ll take some food up to Kabiel.”
He filled a bowl and clomped up the steps.
“It’s different here,” Yomiel said. “The devolution is slower.”
“It’s because we’re close to Rue,” Asbeel said. “Rue, the relics, and the residual power.”
“We’re close now, aren’t we?” Jilyana said. “I felt something today. A prickle of awareness.”
She’d finally sensed it too. “Yes. We’re close. I think late tonight or early tomorrow.”
“Then we should be ready to set down anchor,” Kokabel said.
“And feed blood to the waves,” Matarel added. “The relic will be far below us. We must hope we can convince a Gehennan to aid us.”
“To think that there’s a whole world down there,” Jilyana said. “A world where the inhabitants breathe water.”
It was a fantastical thought, but then I was sure the humans of my world would have said the same thing if someone told them that celestials existed and that we were about to be invaded by monsters. Anything was fantastical until it happened, and then…then it quickly become the norm. Mundane. Life.
I drank my soup, barely tasting it as nerves spawned in my belly.
We’d been supremely lucky so far. With Thanatos, the village of Gehennans in the sixth circle, and Prometheus and Lorcan’s help, we’d gotten this far—so close to the relic that I could almost see it in my mind’s eye. So close that I could almost feel the weight of it in my hands.
So close…
But everything could be thwarted if the Gehennans of this realm refused to help us.
And that…that scared the shit out of me.