We were about a hundred miles from Berith’s castle. The human crew members decided to stick around the house. We thought it best for them not to get involved in demon business. There were booby traps and scary guards, and humans didn’t boast of immortality. After our goodbyes, the gardener ushered the seven of us to another solar panelled vehicle that was parked in a barn at the edge of the property. The thing was…impressive, to say the least. Lilith had somehow found a military vehicle from the old human days of war. It was a large, black hulking monstrosity with tires that were almost as tall as me. The sides were solid metal and probably bulletproof.

We all piled inside, crammed into the stiff seats. Lilith started the truck, which roared to life like a demon in rage. This was going to be a long drive.

Two hours later, our bodies and our minds had been jarred senseless. Lilith stopped at the end of a long drive that was lined with drooping trees, and the six of us who had not been driving practically fell out of the truck in relief. I suppose the thing would come in handy if we were in the middle of a bullet-laden attack, but a smooth ride it was not.

Regardless, we’d made it to Berith’s castle safe and sound (and relatively unscathed—I did have a few bruises). The massive structure loomed before us, casting dark shadows on the mossy ground. There was a gate between two towers, which was open. Clearly, it was meant to lure unsuspecting passersby into its grasp.

“Before we go in,” Ramiel said, passing each of us a weapon in turn, “what can you remember about our first obstacle, Lilith?”

“I’m afraid I was pretty out of it at the time,” she said. “All I remember is that there are some traps and some demons, but I couldn’t tell you what comes first.”

“Right. Well, we’ll all go in together,” Ramiel said. “No matter what happens, we cannot split up. We will confront this head on as a team, as an Order. If any one of us falls, we cannot leave him—or her—behind. Got it?”

I wet my lips. The full danger of the situation was beginning to sink in. We were walking into what was very likely a trap. Berith would have expected we might come here. He was smart. He always seemed to think two moves ahead. Hell, he’d actually made it kind of easy. Too easy. His old castle was the perfect place for him to hide the amulet, which meant that it would be one of the first places we would look.

And yet here we were, walking straight into it.

“Is everyone agreed?” Ramiel said, his voice firm.

We all nodded and murmured in agreement, though I saw the doubt on Az’s face.

“Good,” Ramiel said. “Let’s go.”

With a deep collective breath, we all turned toward the gate and made a slow trek toward the open passageway that would lead us into the depths of the castle. As we moved, I fell into step beside Az. He held his sword before him, looking like the angel of pain and death he was. I held my twin blades in my hands, taking comfort in the familiar feel of them. In front of us, Ramiel and Sam slowly eased forward with Lilith just in front to lead the way. Lizzie and Uriel rounded out the back.

Together, we made it through the gate and stepped into what must have once been a bustling courtyard but now was nothing more than an empty shell. Cobwebs clawed their way up the stone walls and the water-logged grass was pockmarked by puddles of mud and grime. On the opposite side of the courtyard, I spotted a single red door that seemed to glow in the midst of all this gray. It was clean, bright, and sparkling, as if someone had only recently come by to give it a scrub and a shine.

Lilith slowed to a stop and pointed at the door. “I’m pretty certain that’s the way to the amulet.”

“Of course it is,” I said dryly. It wouldn’t be anywhere else. The door was practically a beacon, begging us all to step through.

“Any idea what’s on the other side of that door?” Az said, his tone a lot more lighthearted than my heart felt. Of course, Az was probably hoping there would be danger. He revelled in the fight, far more than the rest of the Order.

“The booby traps,” Lilith said. “I’ll be honest, I don’t know what’s going to happen when we open that door, so be on your highest alert.”

We made it halfway across the courtyard before the bullets started flying. A storm of them pelted us from every direction, slamming into our bodies at a frightening speed. We all screamed and fell to the ground. Or rather, I screamed. The others just kind of gasped and dropped. My warrior training had gotten a little rusty.

But, as it turned out, they weren’t bullets at all. Not human ones anyway. They were little balls of ice. Sharp and cold and seriously painful. I could already feel the welts forming on my skin. They wouldn’t last long, but they still hurt like hell. Luckily, they weren’t fatal.

Az grunted from his spot beside me and shook his head at the carpet of ice bullets that surrounded us. “This is embarrassing. We’re angelic warriors, for fuck’s sake. We can’t cower from some snowballs. Everyone, get on your feet!”

Ah, this was the Az I’d always known was lurking beneath the surface. The Az who yearned to fight and lead. He respected Ramiel, so he always deferred to him, but I knew deep down he wished he was the one in command.

But it took Ramiel’s words to get the other Fallen moving. “You heard Az. Everyone on their feet.”

We all clambered to our feet, tense and waiting for the next round of bullets. Angelic warriors or not, I wasn’t particularly looking forward to getting stung in a dozen more places by that ice.

“Let’s move,” Ramiel said, and then our group began inching forward once more.

Another round of ice bullets shot through the sky. Ramiel shouted and broke out into a run. Gritting my teeth, I picked up my pace, wincing every time one of those demon ice things slammed right into my skin. We finally made it to the red door. Lilith threw it open and dove inside without a moment’s hesitation. We all flew in behind her, stopping short when we saw what rose high before us.

I gasped, choking on my own breath.

“You know…I think I’d rather be out there with the ice bullets,” Lizzie whispered.

“Holy forking shitoodles,” I breathed.

A massive red snake rose high before us. It was as tall as a four-story building, and so long that the end of its tail disappeared out an archway at the other end of the hall. Its long, slimy tongue darted out of its mouth as it hissed down at our open-mouthed group. I tightened my grip on my daggers, holding them high before me, like that would do any good if the snake decided to have any of us for dinner.

“Oh yeah,” Lilith breathed. “Now I remember. The booby trap is a giant snake.”

“You don’t think you could have remembered that?” Uriel asked, his voice a tad more high-pitched than usual.

“I told you everything was fuzzy,” she said. “I knew there was something here.”

“Look,” I said, pointing at the podium that sat at the opposite end of the hall. There was a glass dome that perched on top of it. Inside, there was no mistaking the glittering green amulet that Berith had stolen from us. “It’s the Amulet of the Inferno.”

“Right,” Ramiel said in a tight voice. “So, all we have to do is get past the snake.”

“Get past it?” Az grunted and shoved past Sam to stand beside Ramiel. “Fuck that. Killing it would be far easier.”

“You think that thing looks easy to kill?” I asked.

He twisted his head to glance over his shoulder at me. “No, but do you think it looks easy to sneak by it?”

The snake was now currently staring down at all of us, whipping its head from side to side. Obviously, it was contemplating the best way to strike, which meant we probably didn’t have a lot of time to stand around arguing about the best way to defeat it.

Still, I had a hard time believing that killing it was the answer. That seemed so straightforward, albeit difficult. Berith wasn’t the kind of demon to make anything straightforward.

“This is obviously a demon of some kind, right?” I asked. “A demonic creature?”

“Is that a rhetorical question?” Az asked.

“Sam?” I turned toward the quiet Fallen. “Any ideas on how best to approach this snake?”

Az furrowed his eyebrows. “Why would he have the answers?”

Sam met my gaze, and his lips went tight. None of the others knew that he’d spoken to me about Arkas, and I didn’t want to reveal that unless he did. Still, he’d made it clear that Arkas had been a fan of all creatures great and small, angelic, human, or demonic. And he’d helped Arkas, had been by his side through it all. There was a chance he might have heard something important about demonic snakes. Hell, it was worth a shot.

“She’s asking me if Arkas studied demonic snakes,” he said quietly. “The answer is yes. I know he wanted to trap one. Could have been this one, in fact. These creatures tend to like shiny things, like that amulet. It’s probably why Berith chose him to guard this amulet in the first place.”

Az glared at Sam. “You told her about Arkas? For fuck’s sake, Sam. We all agreed that we’d do it on our own time, and when we were all ready, we’d tell her together.”

“She had questions, Az.” Sam sighed. “I didn’t think it was fair not to give her answers.”

“I can’t believe you, Sam.” Uriel stepped forward. “After all this time of not saying a damn word, you spill our worst secret without the rest of us there? How could you?”

“I didn’t tell her everything. I left your parts unspoken.” Sam turned slightly away.

“Enough,” Ramiel said, his voice firm and insistent. “We’ll talk about this later. For now, we have something far more important to worry about. We need something shiny. Otherwise, we will have to try to kill this snake, and I fear we won’t all make it out alive.”

“Something shiny,” I whispered as an idea popped up in my head. It might not work. In fact, it seemed ridiculous to think it could work. But it was kind of fitting, in a way. If this was the key, the answer, Berith was probably cackling in his grave, thinking how ironic it would be.

Without a word, I turned back toward the door and pushed out into the cold. Immediately, more ice bullets came my way, but instead of ducking and shrieking, I waited them out. Then, I scooped a handful up into my arms and dove back inside.

“Erela, what the hell?” Ramiel demanded. “You can’t just run off without any warning. I ordered everyone to stay together.”

“Why do you have a bunch of ice crystals in your hands?” Uriel asked, raising a brow.

I grinned. “They’re shiny things.”

Realization dawned on my companions’ faces in unison. They all rushed out into the cold, returning only a moment later with more ice crystals of their own. The snake had stopped hissing and whipping its head by the time we all had our handfuls of ice. Slowly, I stepped in front of our group, knelt down, and laid the crystals on the ground before the snake.

“Hello, snake friend. We’ve brought you some gifts. Ice crystals. Since it’s pretty cold in here, they should last for awhile. In return, all we ask is that we can go to the other end of the hall there. What do you say?”

I probably sounded nuts, speaking to this snake as if he could understand my words. But then he bowed his head, let out a light little hiss, and then shifted sideways so that we could pass.