A taxi curved through the lush green hills of the Irish countryside.

Treycore gazed at the baby blue sky over the hills, but he wasn’t thinking about his surroundings. He was thinking about a mortal—a very special mortal who’d sacrificed his life to save him.

For months, he’d hunted, scoured the world, searching for an immortal who would take him to the realm where his villainous ex had taken this generous creature. It was not easy to find those who knew the way through the realms. There were many laws that prevented immortals from crossing into realms other than those they came from.

Though Treycore had acted as a spy for the Almighty, he had been granted a permit to enter the realm as a guard, to watch and ensure that the Leader did not attempt to usurp his authority on the planet. Of course, the Almighty had actually sent him to violate the Council’s restrictions regarding conspiring against the mortal realm. He wanted Treycore and those like him to help assist in its demise. Little had the Almighty known, Treycore acted as double agent for the Leader, exchanging intel from the Almighty’s allies to His enemies.

A few months earlier, his cover had been blown, when the Raze, one of the Almighty’s private gangs, discovered the moles in their midst and attempted to assassinate him and the other Leader’s allies.

It seemed such a long time since he’d set out on his quest, since he’d begun his search for his mortal lover.

He’d searched high and low for assistance to enter Hell, and though many wished to assist him, none knew the way. Most of his allies were higherlings, who could only access portals to Heaven. But he was informed of one higherling who could assist. She was the last higherling anyone thought he would reach out to.

The taxi pulled up a winding pebble drive, which led to a castle in the distance. This was where his only hope dwelled.

When he’d learned of her residence, it had come as a great surprise. This higherling had been one of the Almighty’s greatest prizes. She’d reigned alongside the elite in Heaven, as Treycore once had. But now, to know she had been placed in isolation on Earth, to be forgotten, saddened him. It reminded him of how much things had changed from the early days, yet he couldn’t divorce himself from the fact that those days had not been so great for all.

The driver parked before the castle, its towers of cracking stone reaching as high as mortals of primitive times could build them. Treycore paid the driver, who said something indiscernible, perhaps a greeting or an insult. He was too focused on his mission to care.

As he headed to the main entrance, a cool wind rushed through the blond locks that dropped into his gaze. It pressed the tips against his eye so he had to brush his hair to the side.

He should have considered his appearance before heading out, especially before meeting with this particular higherling, but since he’d begun his mission, he’d given little thought to how he looked. He just had to save Kid, the mortal boy whom he’d hardly known, but who had sold his life to Treycore’s villainous ex, Vera, to prevent her from hurting Treycore. Why he made that decision confounded Treycore. He knew how he felt about Kid. His feelings had been so strong—more intense than anything he’d felt over the course of his incredible history of love affairs. He hadn’t understood why he’d felt that way, and he’d cursed himself for feeling so blindly infatuated with this creature he barely knew. But despite his resentment of those sensations within him, he couldn’t deny that they existed. After Kid had given his own life to protect Treycore when Vera had threatened his life, he had to believe that Kid felt the same for him. Even if he didn’t, he still wouldn’t let Vera keep him in her vile clutches.

That meant he had to follow this path that led him to what seemed now a distant memory. Before his life with Vera, he’d had another lover, who through her work with the Council had access to portals between the realms. As much as he didn’t want to approach her, considering their tumultuous end, if he was to rescue this incredible boy, he would have to sacrifice his pride and request her help.

As he approached the castle entrance, he wondered: Would she let him in? Would she attack him? Considering what he’d discovered about her reason for being locked in isolation, he feared the worst.

Two impressive metal doors with vines etched around their frame guarded the construction, which judging by the cracked and fallen stones around it, had not been kept up properly.

A higherling such as her deserves better.

He pushed on the door, which was unlocked, and allowed himself inside.

The entry was bare. It made him wonder if he’d been misled about his ex-lover’s whereabouts. White light from overhanging chandeliers illuminated a long hallway. He followed it to a series of rooms, stuffed with piles of magazines and stacks of books, which seemed to be mini-mazes in each room. They were logical possessions of a higherling who had worked as peacekeeper for the Council, as she had been charged with understanding mortal culture. Now that she no longer worked for them, he wondered why she kept them and why they hadn’t been better organized.

As he came to a door at the end of the main hallway, he pressed it open.

Motionless doves were strung all about the room. Mounted on the walls, laying in piles beside a table with needles and thread. Treycore could only assume she’d taken taxidermy up as a hobby.

A soft sound caught his attention—a tune he recognized, took him back eons.

He abandoned the room of lifeless doves and followed the melody.

It led him through another hallway, to a large room. On the opposite wall, French doors opened onto a patio, and just beyond the patio, bright green grass filled acres of land that went on and on. It was a lovely sight, but it certainly couldn’t rival the sights his ex-lover had been accustomed to in Heaven.

The melody came from outside, which didn’t surprise Treycore, as this was where she’d spent most of her time in the golden days of Heaven.

When he stepped out of the castle, he saw, standing next to a large cage, the source of this pleasant sound. Her white gown pooled onto the grass, fanning out around her. As she poured feed from a brown paper bag into a tray in a cage before her, she continued humming.

Treycore descended a small set of stone steps onto the grass, keeping quiet so as not to alarm her.

His ex pulled the bag back and closed the cage, her baby-powder-white fingers slipping over a latch. Ducking until she was eye-level with a dove on a nearby wooden perch, she smiled. Her expression appeared to ask the vermin to express gratitude for the meal she’d provided.

Treycore wondered what it must be like. Trapped out here, all alone, with only the company of these doves. In her days in Heaven, she had delighted in the attention of the higherlings—their appreciation of her flawlessness. Treycore recalled how she would wander the Heavenly cathedrals, endlessly laughing, chatting, and singing, just to bathe in the sort of awe the Almighty had intended for her to be surrounded by. How could a creature that had been designed for praise live like this? Were her days only spent sifting through the magazines and books in the castle and feeding these disgusting creatures? After all that she’d done for the Council, surely the least they could have done was provide her with company.

She rolled the top of the bag shut. Turning toward Treycore, her eyes met his, and she froze.

She was, as she had always been, the embodiment of a living portrait. Swirls of cream locks hovered around her white face, just a few shades lighter than the ivory dress she wore, which vee-d beneath her neck, its cloth wrapping under her arms, shaping tightly against the crests of her breasts and hips. Though she looked like she was about to rush off to her own wedding, the vision was so stunning that, had she worn it to a strip club, Treycore was sure the only side remarks would have been attempts to identify the goddess in white.

But for Treycore, all this beauty was a blur next to those wide, perfectly symmetrical aquamarine eyes, framed by two perfectly-arched eyebrows, a few shades darker than her hair—certainly the Almighty’s way of drawing attention to the glistening pride of his creation.

The sight of those eyes made Treycore’s thoughts cease.

She remained still, as if the picturesque state she found herself in had been permanently captured.

He didn’t speak. He wanted her to initiate the exchange. Considering their past, he felt he needed an invitation to interact with her. She might have been reluctant, but their intense history, coupled with her generous heart, made him certain she would allow him to vocalize his request. Whether or not she would grant it was another issue.

She wasn’t quick to speak, and she didn’t appear unsettled by the silence. It seemed like she was allowing a moment to adjust to the presence of this figure from her memory.

“Trey,” she finally said. Her high-pitched tone was like a symphony to Treycore’s ears—even more so than the one produced by her humming.

He waited for her to add a greeting or a remark, but she just stood there, staring.

Her gaze finally released him as she scanned her surroundings, as if trying to remember where she was.

“I should’ve cleaned.”

It was an odd comment, filled with innocence and lacking any mortal or immortal etiquette. It was the sort of oblivious comment Treycore would have expected from the higherling when they were together, when she felt safe to be at ease around him. It brought him relief. Made him feel that hardly any time had passed since their last encounters.

He smirked. “It’s fine. It’s good to see you again.”

Her free hand rushed to her face and massaged her cheek. Her eyes widened as they would if she’d seen something horrifying. “Oh, I—”

“You look flawless, Eilee.”

“Oh, no, no.”

She hurried up the steps and rushed across the patio, into the castle.

Treycore followed.

They passed through the magazine labyrinth and the stacks of books that Treycore had encountered when he’d first entered. Eilee didn’t comment or seem aware of them as she hurried along. Rushed as she appeared, she didn’t manage a pace faster than one that permitted her hips to shift ever-so slightly—in a way that Treycore remembered all too well. The way that kept all the higherlings, male and female, lusting after her physique.

Treycore followed her through a series of halls and stairwells to a room, which he assumed was where she slept. Like the other rooms, magazines and books littered the floor. These were open and ripped apart. Various scraps and pieces of articles and passages were collected in patterns on the floor. Again, he wondered, if she was no longer with the Council, what need she had for this cultural hoarding.

Eilee paid equal attention to this mess as she had the ones downstairs. Approaching a vanity adjacent to a wall-sized window, she sat and riffled through boxes, perfume bottles, and makeup cases. She gazed at her reflection, searching it, her critical eye surely scrutinizing every immortal pore, every crafted dip in her flesh.

Treycore stepped beside a bed a few feet from her, waiting for her to finish her inspection.

She fiddled with various vials and cases, making small, precise adjustments, like an artist fine-tuning his masterpiece. Although, had the Almighty seen her adjustments, He would have surely been furious Eilee believed He had somehow erred in her creation.

Several minutes passed before she finally pulled her attention from the mirror. She shifted her body in the chair, arching her back slightly, stepping one foot from a knee-high slit in her seeming wedding gown.

She looked like a model, posing for her photographer. Even the smile that slowly spread across her face seemed little more than a performance to accentuate the most elegant parts of her face—as well as make them appear effortless.

Treycore had been away from her beauty for so long he could hardly recall the magnitude of its brilliance. She was more aesthetically pleasing than Vera ever could have been, for the Almighty had done no one the service He had done his dear Eilee.

“Eilee—” he began.

She shook her head.

“No, no,” she said with a playful smirk. “Not here.”

He followed her back downstairs, to the patio, and they walked through the yard, into a garden.

White, cream, and yellow flowers lined the green of tree-high bushes and eye-level shrubs. Cages were weaved into the arrangements, containing more white doves that perched quietly, as if biding time on the way to their inevitable end. In the center of this garden, a geyser spewed from the beaks of two dove statues. The water made an ‘M’ as it arched out and splashed into a fountain, where two swans glided effortlessly about.

As Eilee sat on the edge of the fountain, the swans’ gazes turned to her. It seemed to Treycore that even in their lowly state they could detect the elegant presence of their creator through her.

Treycore understood why she had brought him here, for nowhere in the castle had she looked as picturesque and flawless as she did in that very spot.

Her gaze lifted to the clear-blue sky. Her eyes filled with ease, though Treycore knew it was an artificial ease Eilee had managed to capture through long, meditative moments before her reflection. She turned to him, pressing either hand against the marble stone. Glancing him up and down, a vengeful look glistened in her pupils. Treycore knew that look. It was condescending, judgmental. It was the one he deserved.

“Well, Trey, what brings you all the way out here?” The way she said it, it seemed like he’d just stumbled upon her and that the past half an hour hadn’t been filled with the most awkward of introductory exchanges. It was a part of Eilee’s existence, as Treycore recalled: this belief that moments didn’t occur until Eilee decided they should. Perhaps it was the result of all the formative years she’d spent side-by-side with the Almighty. Or perhaps it was an exaggerated imprint from Him. Regardless of where it came from, it was clear to Treycore that for all intents and purposes, this was the beginning of their encounter.

Treycore prepared to speak his motive when Eilee interrupted with, “No, no. Don’t tell me. Shall I guess?” She giggled. “We could make it a game. Hmmm…”

She scanned about, as she had before. This time, her eyes were filled with amusement, like she was halfway through charades, piecing together clues.

She smiled broadly, tossing her head around as she considered the possibilities. “I can’t imagine that this is a visit to check on my wellbeing. No. Surely, you wouldn’t have bothered to trek this far simply to see if I was doing well.”

She bit her lip. “I would speculate on the Council sending you to retrieve me from my isolation, but I don’t believe they would consider sending you unless they’ve developed a cruel sense of humor. No, no. Something worse. Something darker. Something more serious. Has the little parasite abandoned her host?”

She smirked. “As if anyone leaves Treycore. No, no. That can’t be it either.”

She stood, tilting her head as she made her way to one of the cages, the branches of a nearby rose bush weaved into its bars. She rested her hand against the bars, which white roses grew around. She gazed at two of the trapped doves that rested on a nearby perch.

It was another picturesque moment, one that seemed as manipulated as all the others. Like she had practiced this performance a thousand times before his arrival.

“Have you little ones any thoughts?” she asked. “Can you speculate on why my Treycore has come so far out of his way to call upon me? Treycore, they don’t seem to know either.”

Her dialogue with the little creatures disturbed him. She had clearly been left on her own for too long.

She laughed again, turned to Treycore, and leaned against the bars of their cage.

“I don’t expect them to reply,” she said. “It’s a joke—a play to mock the news I’m sure you’ve heard about my situation.”

Despite her acknowledgement of the bizarre nature of her words with the doves, Treycore wasn’t positive she was being entirely insincere.

She released a few more high-pitched giggles.

“I can only imagine the sorts of things you’ve heard. I wish I could say they weren’t true, but they are. At least, some of them, I’m sure.”

“Eilee, we don’t have to—”

“I insist. I don’t want you to rely on the stories. You know how stories make everything so awful. Everything is so distant, so out of context. Just ask the Leader about the power of stories to twist and deceive. They aren’t the real thing. Although, I suppose the only access to the real thing is for one to be witness of it, and it’s a shame you could not have been present to see my side.

“As I’m sure you are aware, as peacemaker with the Council, my primary objective was peace. This was all of our objectives. We were to find a way that all the realms could peacefully co-exist. We spent decades dwelling on the subject, reading literature, philosophizing on the nature of peace. Tekker and Dissapha were my colleagues. And after much debate and dispute, we came to the consensus that two important factors were required to create peace. The first, a supreme authority, and second, obedience to laws under this authority. I don’t just mean following reasonable laws. Any law must be followed, even those that are unjust. For instance, let us say that there is a law to not speak out against the authority. Well, anyone who speaks out must be punished, regardless of whether or not their claim is warranted. This is because, in knowing the law and keeping it official and certain, creatures are able to behave accordingly and stay within these parameters, and eventually, it leads to order, which in turn leads to peaceful co-existence.

“Obviously, when establishing this, we gave little thought to the emotional bondage that this necessarily entails. Our work was not to satisfy this, but simply to create the absence of violence and war. I’m sure you’re thinking of all sorts of problems with my simplified version of this philosophy, but I assure you it was well conceived and has far more complex roots than a mind such as yours could work through. And we felt very confident about taking it before the Council. We knew the Council representatives wouldn’t be eager to embrace our philosophy, because there would be debate about what authority should be supreme. The Almighty? The Council? Would this peace not immediately necessitate war to take control over the population? So many factors had to be considered. But this is just the prologue to a greater struggle that I came upon.

“Before we managed to present our case, I became deeply troubled. It seemed strange that my logic had wound me around to existing under the Almighty’s supreme control. I couldn’t help but wonder if this was some sort of universal law or if the Almighty had designed us to think this way? Was it just that He had placed this philosophy in our minds so that we would not transgress against Him? But if that was so, how was the Leader able to leave Him? Or were we able to transgress, but still know that the only right way was under His control? For years, I contemplated this idea in the privacy of Heaven’s Jara Library, created specifically for our committee. How in control of our thoughts were we? Could we, could I, be trusted to decide how peace could come about? I determined I wasn’t. We must’ve been wrong. There must’ve been more.

“But try as I did, I couldn’t see another way, and I started to perceive my very existence as flawed.”

She looked at Treycore, her expression suggesting she’d just realized something very important. “I know that must be hard to consider, but I felt disgusting. We were wrong. Everything was wrong. As I met with Tekker and Dissapha, I just kept seeing error and imperfection. I even started questioning their forms, our forms. Did their legs and arms need to go there? Or was that just where the Almighty had decided they should go? It seems like an odd question to ask now, but at the time, it made perfect sense. And I hardly had any question about my approach as I was severing Dissapha’s arms and legs. Surely, by taking them apart, I could find the answer. Isn’t that the heart of logic and reason? Taking things apart?

“I was certain this would help me reach my conclusion… and ultimately, reach our conclusion about peace. This was certainly more important than sparing Dissapha’s life… or Tekker’s. Shouldn’t he have felt thrilled to be a part of my great revelation… rather than horrified about the end of his existence? Unfortunately, my experiment didn’t offer any solid conclusions, and the Council ended our committee… or what was left of it.”

Her eyes lit up and she put her hand to her face like she was about to stifle a giggle. “It sounds insane when I tell it now, but it made so much sense then. I must’ve forgotten some important part of it.”

Her version had concerned Treycore far more than brought him relief because it wasn’t so different from the story he’d heard before his arrival. She was, as all accounts had assured him, insane. Yet so much of her seemed as it had before the moment she recounted. So much reminded him of the creature he’d been so enchanted by for so long. Still, little besides her beauty captivated his attention now.

“That’s the story of why I’m here,” she continued, “which brings us back to our real question—why are you here? Since I saw you, I’ve been pillaging my memory and thoughts for an answer, but I can’t seem to come up with anything that makes sense. I suppose the wisest decision would be to turn the floor back to you, yet I feel I should find a way to keep speaking, if only to keep you wanting a moment to vocalize your own request. I feel I have the right to keep you in such miserable suspense. But I won’t. I’m hoping whatever tragedy you’ve come here to tell me about is enough to sate my vengeful spirit.”

Since he feared she might not give him another opportunity to speak, he was quick to reveal his mission. “I’m looking for a way to Hell.”

“And so you came to one of the finest creations of the Almighty to get to His divine wastebasket?” She said that, seemingly not as a compliment to herself, but an acknowledgment of the absurdity of such a proposition.

“I know, as peacemaker, you were given free rein to move through all the realms while working on your propositions, so I imagine you can help me get there.”

Her expression shifted wildly as she chuckled, her eyes alight with an enthusiasm Treycore thought may have been present when she’d confronted Dissapha and Tekker in all her confusion.

She rested her palm on her ample chest, settling her outburst. She raised it again to remove a tear from just beneath her eye. As she relaxed, she turned and sauntered toward the fountain. “It’s true,” she said, strolling around it, her dress trailing behind her. “I was granted access to all the realms, and I do know how to reach Hell, but there are so many issues with me assisting you… the first, of course, being that I have no reason to help you. What reason could I possibly have for assisting the lover who deserted me with reaching his desired destination?”

She sat on the other side of the fountain and leaned back, looking over her shoulder, peering around the wing of one of the dove statues, one of her fine eyebrows arched far higher than the other.

“Because there was a time when the Eilee I knew would have done anything for me, and I’m hoping a part of that creature still exists.”

Eilee’s playful expression transformed to something serious, something cold.

She turned away from him, to a wall of shrubbery before her.

“She did exist, yes. But something terrible happened to her at the hands of her love. He abandoned her, and hurt her in ways she could never recover from.”

She sat in silence. He imagined the sort of sad, pathetic expression she was likely making away from him, fearing he may see her in a most unpleasant, uncalculated moment.

She cocked her head and rose to her feet, continuing around the fountain. “But let’s set her desire aside for a moment. Why does the great Treycore need to venture to Hell? What business does he have there? Was I right about him needing to meet with the temptress?”

“I guess you’ve been disconnected from immortal gossip for some time.”

“How so?”

“I left Vera.”

The light reentered her gaze.

“Really?” she asked.

She approached him swiftly, frighteningly so. He backed away until his shoulder blades hit a bush behind him.

“You don’t need to be frightened of me, Trey. How have I ever hurt you? If anyone should be afraid of you, it’s me, because you have hurt me so much… far more than any other creature is capable of inflicting pain on me.”

She set her hands on his arms and caressed them. Her gaze transformed to something familiar, like the gaze he’d once seen. For a moment, they transported him to the early days, when all was well in Heaven, and he and Eilee were in love.

“Come, Treycore. There’s been too much war as it is. We can end all this. We can make peace where the rest of the realms have created strife.”

“No, we can’t,” Treycore said, snapping out of her spell.

She tilted her head the way she might have had she not understood the words he’d spoken.

“Because I don’t love you, Eilee. And the reason I came here is because I have to get to someone I do love.”

Her white face flashed scarlet. Her features trembled. She turned away from him sharply, then turned back and slapped him across his face. As her hand made contact with his cheek, she curled her fingers, digging her nails into his face.

“And I’m supposed to assist you?” she asked.

Treycore grabbed his wound and took a breath, regaining his composure.

“Who is it now? Another fallen? Do you even know what the higherlings say about the beauty who was left for the mud-faced tramp? Did you even consider how mocked I would become because you found something so marvelous in that wicked maggot?”

“Please. I need to get to Vera’s.”

Her face grew even redder. She struck him again. He pulled away so not to catch her claws as he had before.

“Do you mock me, Treycore? Do you think I’m so beyond my reason that I can’t see your little trick? You think I don’t see what’s happening? You and your slut have fought and now you ask me to carry you to Hell so you may win her back. The gall it must have taken for you to approach me with such a selfish request. How dare you? You would have better luck asking the Leader to reconcile with the Almighty.”

“It’s not Vera I’m after. She has the one I love.”

The red on Eilee’s face dissipated. Her lips made an ‘O’-shape. She appeared genuinely surprised by the news. A wicked gleam entered her eyes.

“You left her?”

“Yes,” Treycore said, thinking it unfortunate Eilee was reveling in Vera’s discontent.

Bowing over, she clapped her hands together and rose back up.

“So you don’t love her? You love another? And in her rage, she has taken your new love from you?”

She appeared to have shaken herself from whatever madness she’d been trapped within. She beamed, wearing a smile greater than most Treycore had ever seen her face entertain.

“That’s right.”

She pursed her lips, gazing off as she thought on this. “Well, Treycore. I can’t say I want to reunite you with any lover. I can’t say that makes me even a little happy.”

Treycore figured as much, but he was glad that he had tried. It was all he could do.

“Then thank you, Eilee,” he said. He turned and headed back to the castle. If she was not going to oblige his request, he had no reason to entertain her another moment, especially considering the fragile state she was clearly in. He needed to let her be and work on finding other arrangements.

She ran up beside him, skipping like a child.

“Wait, wait.” She snatched his arm, which concerned him, as it reminded him of her tales of mutilations. “You must stay. I’ve changed my mind completely. I do want to help.”

Treycore stopped. Turned to her. “You do?”

“Of course! I would love to help you get back to your love. But I have some conditions.”

Treycore nodded, encouraging her to express them.

“One, you are to take me with you.”

“Out of the question.”

Her face grew stern. “Treycore, unlike you, I have ventured into Hell. I understand the layout. I understand how to get around. Whether you like it or not, without a Teleporter, you are left in need of a guide, and I am the only one who can assist you.”

She was right, but he wasn’t comfortable with the idea for a number of reasons: Eilee’s safety for one, his own for another.

“Two,” she continued. “I want to be present when you meet with her. I want to see the look on her face when we come to retrieve your love.”

“No! You know Vera. She’s on guard, awaiting my arrival. Who knows what traps she may have set?”

“I fought in the War, same as you, so I expect you to treat me as if I can offer something to this quest. What? You don’t think I can handle Vera? I may lose when desire chooses the victor, but I doubt I will when we leave the decision to the sword.”

“She’s a Teleporter,” Treycore said, stressing her obvious advantage.

“Vera has that, yes. But the greatest power she’s ever created was the fire she stirred in me, and it is with that I wish to destroy her.”

“I’m not letting you turn this into a game of vengeance.”

“Then you will find a new way of reaching your destination.”

Treycore stormed off.

“Trey!” Eilee shouted behind him. “When you finally make your way to Hell, by whatever means you choose, I hope you remember your love had to stay with Vera just a little longer simply because you were unwilling to bargain with selfish, but understandable requests.”

Treycore’s pace slowed. She had a good point. He couldn’t just leave Kid down there, waiting. Who knew what tortures Vera had crafted for him?

He turned back to his ex-lover, who sported a wicked grin—one that indicated that she knew the power of the words she’d used against him.

“I should warn you, though,” she said. “I don’t know the most luxurious of ways through the darkness. We will have to venture through the outerlands and break through the border in order to reach her. If you’re up for the challenge, I of course, will be more than happy to help, but it will be dangerous.”

“I have nothing to live for if I can’t save him. Are you so eager to rush to your own potential death?”

“I already lost the thing I lived for, so it seems we are in the same boat.”

He sighed, frustrated. Surely, she shouldn’t go. And yet, he needed her. She was his only way to Kid.

“Shall I pack my things?” she asked with a wink.