Zakara scowled at the whiny angel by her side. How was it that this AOR had rocked her world and given for the best orgasms of her life only to become this annoying gnat?

“Stop your bitching,” Kara barked. Rami stopped walking and gaped at her. “And, close your mouth, unless you want me to shove my nipple in it. As I recall, you’re the one that wanted to go to the Underworld. The ghost is the only way, so shut the fuck up about the time we are wasting.”

“We are wandering around the middle of a forest chasing a ghost story,” he replied as he waved his arms, gesturing to the preserve on one side and signs of modern civilization on the other.

Initially, she wanted to kick his ass for his lack of faith in her, but then she recalled he’d been human less than five years ago. She understood his frustration. There was seemingly nothing special about the location as they made their way to the entrance of Bachelor’s Grove Cemetery.

If he’d ever visited there, they could’ve teleported, but she couldn’t carry anyone with her, so they’d traveled by car from Chicago. Thankfully, the angel had been to Fenway Park, or it would have been one long-ass trip. This well-known cemetery was the topic of countless human ghost stories as Rami indicated.

“Delphine gets bored because none of the Fallen in Hell use her entrance. And, since we are the only ones that know about it, she hasn’t had crossings in millions of years. What do you expect her to do? I’m surprised she doesn’t scare the shit out of more humans,” Kara replied.

“I should’ve known she was real,” Ramiel said with a shake of his head. “Why aren’t demons flooding it now? Surely, the Fallen want to travel back and forth and not be trapped where angels can kill them.”

“There are few Fallen still alive, and even less on Earth. And, I’d bet my bar that very few, if any, remember this entrance. This location was the site we fell through when we were banished. We pushed those painful memories from our minds. I am the only one I know of that has visited since the fall. And, I didn’t cross then. I just wanted to see if it still existed,” Zakara explained as she contemplated the significance of the location for the first time while they walked down the heavily treed path to the entrance.

It creeped her out and spoke to the energy of the location. They were close to a suburban area, and yet, within mere steps, deeply submerged in the middle of a vast forest.

What had she been thinking to agree to take this angel through the site of the original banishment? There was a reason the land was cursed. Nothing good had ever occurred there. Well, except when teenagers made out and partied at the site. The problem was, the negative emotions lingered millions of years after the fall.

Kara stumbled and fell to one knee under the weight of despair. Ramiel’s hand on her arm steadied her and anchored her to the present. She could’ve kissed him as the contact kept her from falling into the pit of memories and suffering.

It took the pooled power of the archangels to force the Fallen through the veil and into the Underworld. Before their fall, Hell was a place without structure or leadership. Sinners were sent there for their transgressions, but back then there was no structure, so it was a free-for-all. Kara wasn’t sure that was better than the organized chaos that occurred now.

The various circles of Hell received designated sinners and meted out specific punishments, but there was so much that happened beyond that, and none of it was controlled or regulated. Heaven splitting followed by those in power forcing her, and thousands of other angels out, created that chaos. Kara struggled with the fact that there were so-called archangels walking around Heaven with holier-than-thou attitudes when they were equally culpable for the suffering of millions of souls.

“So this is where you fell?” Rami asked as he looked around, wide-eyed.

They broke through the newly erected fence and encountered the first gravestones. Some were small stone crosses with the inscriptions worn away while others were pedestals and some boxes or benches. This site wasn’t an organized cemetery with rows and rows of neat graves. More like headstones scattered amidst groundcover and weeds. At least the grounds were protected and better kept than they had been in years.

“Yep. Over at the pond on the far side of the cemetery. I’ve no doubt the angels created the pond to cover the scar on the ground,” Kara replied as she led the way.

“This place isn’t right,” Ramiel observed and she noticed the way his gorgeous wings shuddered, and rustled. For the first time in longer than she could remember, she missed her wings. She stared at the magnificent wings again, this time with envy. She kicked a stone in irritation, and it went sailing through the brush.

“And we had to come here at midnight?” he asked as he watched another rock sail past him.

“Surely you’ve heard of the witching hour. It’s the best time to perform ceremonies and rituals. Delphine!” Kara called out into the silent night. “Stop hiding. We require passage to Hell.”

* * *

“Zakara,” came a disembodied voice that sent a chill through Ramiel. His metal-tipped wings rustled, and the sound of metal scraping against metal echoed through the cemetery.

The figure of a woman wearing a white dress appeared on top of a headstone twenty feet in front of them. She was transparent at first then her form wavered and solidified.

“Well butter my butt and call me a biscuit. About time you came to see me, Miss Zakara. Where have you been hiding, and more importantly, who is this adorable creature?” the woman taunted, smiling at Rami as she posed seductively on her perch.

“You’re as feisty as ever, Delphine. I’m still slinging drinks and bashing skulls at SLS. This is Ramiel, an Angel of Retribution,” Kara introduced.

“Hiya handsome. Haven’t seen one of your kind in about, oh, a gazillion years. You can tell Raphael he still owes me a dance, and that I’m going out of my mind with boredom in this place,” the woman quipped.

“Has anyone been to see you?” Kara asked after she embraced the ghost.

“Nope. Just me and the others that haunt this place. It’s not right, ya know. I offer myself up as Guardian and not one divine being has bothered to check on me, or this entrance. I knew archangels had a bloated sense of worth, but you’d think someone would care enough to visit. Michael goes all weepy, shedding tears as I lay dying and pleads, ‘We’ve sealed this rift, but can’t be certain it will hold, we need you, blah blah blah.’ And what do I get for sealing my fate to this God-forsaken location? Nothing. Not even a postcard,” the ghost ranted.

Suddenly, a car came barreling toward them, and Ramiel jumped, knocking Zakara to the ground. He realized it was a phantom image as the vehicle charged past them. Giggling rang through the cemetery and Rami glanced over to see Delphine clutching her side as she laughed uncontrollably.

“What the hell?” blurted Zakara.

“You should’ve seen your face,” sputtered Delphine as she pointed at Rami. “That was priceless.”

“No wonder no one wants to visit you,” he mumbled under his breath as he got to his feet then helped Zakara stand. “Sorry about that. I didn’t know we had to watch for ghosts from the DOT,” he added, embarrassed by his mistake.

“No worries, it’s my fault. I should’ve warned you,” Kara answered as she brushed dirt from her clothes.

“I’m surprised by you, Zakara. Keeping company with angels. What would Lucifer say?” Delphine tsked, ignoring his comment.

Ramiel’s blood boiled. There wasn’t time to stand around and talk niceties. Isobel needed him and he couldn’t be fucking around with some deranged, and disgruntled apparition.

“This one presented…arguments I couldn’t resist. There’s a little girl he’s determined to save from Lucifer’s clutches,” Kara explained. “And, I’m helping because this child is the incarnation of Morrigan’s Triskele Amulet, so it benefits me to get Ramiel inside. Lucifer isn’t happy with me for abandoning his quest.”

The angel’s face softened at the mention of Isobel, and she placed one hand over her stomach and muttered, “No child should die such a horrible death. My Ahia died with me, and I only get to see her once a decade. The archangels claim she can’t visit more often or her soul will wither and die because of the energy of this site.”

Ramiel understood what she meant. If he didn’t possess a part of Zakara’s Darkness, he would be forced to leave or suffer damage to his spiritual and physical selves. The connection they shared prevented the worst of it, but he felt tearing at the edges of his spirit and knew it was only going to get worse. Idly, he wondered if it would heal after he rescued Izzy.

The cynical voice in his head reminded him this was a suicide mission and he wasn’t making it out alive. He didn’t care given the vast void in his existence. Izzy and Zakara’s faces flashed through his mind. His life wasn’t entirely empty.

“I will allow you both to pass. No more children will suffer if I can stop it,” Delphine continued.

“So this site isn’t sealed like the others?” Ramiel tried again.

“No,” Delphine said, finally answering him. It seemed he’d earned her respect with his mission to recuse Izzy. “Thousands of years after the Great War the energy changed. It was still there, but it was no longer an iron barrier, blocking the Underworld. That’s when portals between Hell and Earth opened for the first time, and I knew my location was no longer sealed. I expected to be inundated and hoped to have a purpose in my afterlife. But, Lucifer, like the rest, still don’t consider the area. I have no idea why. Maybe I smell,” she confessed and sniffed her armpit. This woman was out there alright.

“They’re idiots and, no, you don’t wreak,” Zakara replied with a chuckle. “What do I need to do to open the gate?”

Delphine once again became transparent and started floating away. Rami and Kara fell into step behind her. “You don’t need to do anything,” Delphine told Zakara. “His tears of suffering will open the portal.”

Ramiel stopped in his tracks. The women continued, halting by the side of a pond about fifteen feet in front of him. Both turned to face him when they realized he wasn’t with them. The moon didn’t reflect off the water of the pond. It wasn’t a natural pond, and he sensed the scar beneath the surface.

“I don’t have tears of suffering,” he stated. And, it wasn’t a lie. The pain and anguish he’d experienced for so long were gone. He rarely felt anything besides anger and rage.

Delphine pinned him with her glowing green eyes. “You are mistaken, Angel. The depth of your suffering staggers even me. Come,” she commanded, and he found his feet moving to obey her.

When he stood in front of her at the edge of the pond, she grabbed his shoulders and kissed his lips. He tried to pull away, but there was force drawing them together. Before Ramiel knew what hit him, he doubled over, bracing his weight on his knees. His wings flared and wrapped around him, sealing him in a protective cocoon. If only they could keep the spirits of those buried on the grounds from entering his psyche, but they didn’t.

One being after another entered his mind, carrying with them their suffering. Delphine and her infant daughter were the first to pass, leaving an unbearable ache. Countless humans followed them. Some died from illness, others old age, but most had been killed and buried in secret. When he was human, he heard the stories about the mafia in Chicago and how they murdered and buried anyone that crossed them. Never before had he given the stories much thought until now.

Bombarded all at once by every soul that passed through the cemetery, Ramiel’s pain rose to the surface, and pain and loss overcame him. Tears spilled from his eyes in a torrent. The worst part was having his body hijacked. To shed any tears pissed him off, but that didn’t help him stop the collective agony that accompanied the emotion.

It felt as if a giant fist punched through his rib cage and squeezed his heart and lungs. His heart raced and beat painfully in his chest. He couldn’t catch his breath. Squeezing his eyes shut as suffering filled every cell in his body, he tried to breathe and stop the torment. Nothing helped. Once again, he wished his existence ended that fateful night when Jag had attacked and killed him.

Reminding himself that he couldn’t change the past and undo his making took a colossal amount of effort. Pasting an image of Isobel in his mind, he tried to wall off his heart. It wasn’t until he remembered Zakara in the throws of climax that he could gather himself and stand tall. His tears were forgotten in the next second when the ground rumbled and the pond shuddered.

Delphine rose in the air, and Ramiel picked Zakara up and hovered above the ground with her in his arms. All three kept their eyes riveted to the pond as Zakara wrapped her arms around his neck. Rami liked the feel of her close to his chest.

Before their eyes, the ground split and the pond separated around the opening. A staircase appeared, and the malevolence exiting caused Ramiel to fall to the ground and drop Zakara. He’d barely turned his head to the side before his sandwiches were making a return trip and decorating the dirt.

“Ewww,” blurted Delphine and her nose scrunched in disgust.

“Pull my Darkness to the front of your mind. Shield your Light with it,” Kara encouraged as she panted next to him.

“How the fuck do I do that?” he growled before he heaved again. The world spun around him, and he gripped his thighs while his wings beat steadily to keep him on his feet.

“Should be easy, seeing as I’m the center of your world,” Kara teased, sounding better by the second.

“The center of my world, huh? And, here I thought your world revolved around me,” he said as he recalled the pleasure he’d experienced in Zakara’s bed. For the first time, Rami hadn’t missed Elsie or thought of her beyond the passing realization that sex hadn’t been like that with her.

“The sex wasn’t that good, Virgin,” she snorted and stood straight.

“Ouch, that hurt,” Delphine commented, but he ignored her and glanced at Zakara.

A smile bloomed on his face when he saw she was teasing. “Yes, it was. I rocked your world, Salsa, and you want more,” he informed her as he stood and wrapped his arms around her waist.

Tracing circles on his pecs, Kara refused to meet his eyes. Her lower body pressed against his and her heat scalded him. There was no denying how sexy this Fallen was with those curves and that mouth. Her strength was her sexiest attribute. This female was no simpering princess that would cry and complain when she broke a nail or got dirty. That was one personality trait he’d always liked in a woman.

“Don’t fool yourself. I scream like that for all my partners. It wouldn’t matter if it had been you or a demon,” Kara told him. Her words were a knife to his heart and reminded him that he had no business flirting with her when Izzy’s life was on the line, and he had shit to do.

“I forgot you fuck anything that moves. Won’t make that mistake again,” Rami vowed as he averted his gaze and examined the stone steps leading to the Underworld.

“Fuck you, Virgin. You don’t get to judge me,” Zakara snarled and stomped in the opposite direction.

“This is better than watching a movie. Oh, how I miss buttered popcorn,” Delphine muttered to their retreating backs as Rami followed Kara.

He feared she might back out of their agreement. Rami was about to apologize when a horse-drawn carriage floated to the surface of the pond.

The vehicle was one of those old-fashioned black cars with big wheels. The paint was peeling, and it looked centuries old. And the horse wasn’t a typical animal. It was clear the being was demonic, with red eyes and flames snaking from the corners of its mouth. But, it was the skeletal appearance and sharpened hooves that spoke of its evil nature.

“Our ride is here,” Zakara yelled over her shoulder and headed to the carriage. Good. She hadn’t changed her mind about helping him.

“Aren’t we going down the stairs?” he asked.

“Nope. I’m royalty in Hell. One of the ancients and I don’t need to suffer the traps those bastards set again. Been there, done that. But, you go ahead. They say it builds character,” Zakara said dismissively.

Ramiel tucked his wings and hurried to join her before she took off and forced him to take the stairs. He’d pissed her off and put some much-needed distance between them. The problem was, he needed to make it up to her. He’d never make it through the Underworld alive without her help, and she knew it.

Fucking females. They were nothing but trouble.