Amalia

Magnus, Caim, and some of the jinn carried the dead through the field of grass where Magnus and I first entered. Sloth’s body was at Absenthees with four jinn watching over it. He absolutely would not be buried in the Abyss. We would remove him from this place as soon as the burials were over, and then we would burn his remains.

Before making this journey, I’d gone with Caim and Magnus to the cave on Earth. We gathered the shovels they had in camp and returned to the Abyss. We’d considered removing Sloth from here then, but none of us were willing to let his body out of our sight until he was nothing but ash.

The grass soughed as it blew in a breeze I could now feel against my skin. This time, instead of sounding melancholy, there was an exultant tone to the swaying field that hadn’t been there before. Despite its joy over the Abyss coming back to life, it seemed to sense my melancholy as it caressed my hands in a gesture meant to comfort me. Some of the fronds coiled around my fingers before releasing me.

Butterflies flitted down to land on the feathery ends of the grass, or they perched on my shoulders. Their supple wings caressed my cheeks, and their antennae twitched in the air before they flitted away and another replaced it. I understood my obsession with earth’s butterflies better now. Some part of me instinctively recognized that Earth’s butterflies were a distant relation to these beautiful creatures.

The birds landed in the grass around us, and some of them rose to brush against my hands or brush a wing against the top of my head before soaring away.

Oh yes, I would fight and die for this place. Anyone who tried to take it from me would regret the action and learn what Hell hath no fury truly meant.

Arriving at the side of the water, the others placed the bodies near the shoreline. The water no longer held a red hue but reflected the beauty of the multi-colored sky. I struggled against my tears but couldn’t keep them withheld when the shovels broke the ground. Nine jinn had perished, eighteen left with Pride and Lust, and eighteen remained with us.

My hands fisted when my mind briefly turned to Lust and Pride; I would see them both dead by the time all this was over.

I kept my gaze focused on the water as the graves were dug and the bodies placed inside. In Hell, demons didn’t entomb their dead, but to leave their bodies out to rot in this place or on Earth seemed wrong. Magnus had said the practice of burying and marking a demon’s final resting place was becoming more common amongst demons on Earth.

When the jinn were laid to rest, Rislen stepped forward and said a few words before the jinn and Caim retreated to Absenthees. I remained standing by my parents’ graves long after the others left. My uncle was buried today too, but I’d made sure he was far away from where they lay. I didn’t know if they marked his grave or not, and I didn’t care.

Magnus stood by my side, his arm around my waist as he sought to comfort me. I didn’t know how much time we spent there, but eventually, the sky darkened and an amber moon rose on the horizon. The colors shifting through the sky all day became dancing lights flickering across the horizon.

The butterflies and birds settled into the grass for the night while some nestled on the shoreline close to us, and a few gathered around my feet. Their tiny bodies warmed me as they snuggled close.

From the grass, a few dozen rodent-like creatures the size of a rabbit emerged. Their small snouts and purple eyes were almost lost in the thickness of their fluffy brown coats. They sniffed the air before coming closer to join the birds and butterflies. Their coat was the softest thing I’d ever felt as they nuzzled my ankles and curled up around my toes. With every passing second and new discovery, I was falling more in love with the Abyss.

“I will fight for this place,” I murmured.

Magnus kissed my temple. “You humble me, Amalia.”

“You? Humbled?”

“Yes,” he murmured and lowered his head to mine. “Because of you, I know love and became a man who is terrified of losing it. Because of you, I know I cannot defeat or laugh off everything anymore.”

“You won’t lose me,” I promised.

“No, I won’t,” he growled.

And I knew there wasn’t anything this magnificent demon of illusions wouldn’t do to protect me, but there wasn’t anything I wouldn’t do to protect him either.

• • •

Magnus

We stepped out of the Abyss and into the grove of calamut trees with Rislen and some of the other jinn. Rislen had informed us that Corson and the others had gone to see her and were waiting for us. What they revealed to her finally made her decide to enter the Abyss, but she hadn’t wanted to bring them with her until she knew what was happening.

Caim swaggered through the portal with Sloth’s body draped over his shoulder, and Nalki carried his head. As Rislen had said, the palitons were waiting for us when we exited the Abyss through her portal. When we stepped out, any who were sitting leapt to their feet.

“You’re okay!” Wren blurted.

I didn’t get a chance to respond before the calamut leaves rippled overhead and an ominous creak filled the air. Silence descended over those in the clearing. Grabbing Amalia, I tugged her against my side and sheltered her there seconds before the trees burst into motion.

The branches of the calamuts rose high before slamming into the ground all around us to create a cage. When the earth heaved, it staggered most of us back, though everyone managed to keep from touching the trees. Jarred by the sudden movement, prury fruit broke loose, fell to the ground, and shattered.

Then, more branches shot through the cage as the trees struck out at us.

Caim yelped and ducked out from under Sloth when multiple limbs plunged into the horsemen’s body. The trees pierced Sloth from shoulders to feet, covering every inch of his back and holding him suspended five feet off the ground.

Then, the branches groaned again, and rising higher, they ripped the body to pieces. When more branches slithered through the cage, Nalki threw the head in the air. Before it could plummet to the ground, limbs punctured it through the eyes and mouth and yanked it apart.

No one dared to move as the trees continued to creak and sway. Then, numerous roots tore free of the ground; they dripped dirt and worms from them as they pulled themselves free of the Earth. Anyone unfortunate enough to be standing on one of the roots danced back as if their feet were on fire.

The fine black hairs lining the thick roots enveloped Sloth’s shredded pieces and dragged them beneath the ground. Amalia released an explosive breath when the branches settled back into place. The freshly upturned soil was the only indication they’d broken free as the leaves danced overhead.

“Holy shit,” Wren murmured; her skin was paler than normal, but so were the faces of everyone in the grove.

No one else spoke for a few minutes, no one dared to move, and then Lix unscrewed his flask and gulped down some of its contents. “You know,” he said to Erin, “that makes me think of a riddle.”

Erin’s eyes widened before she gave a small smile of sadness and joy. The skelleins had tried and failed for months to stump her with a riddle, but now Lix was the only skellein who remained in the Wilds. I doubted he’d been much for puzzles and games since losing so many of his friends and family.

This small reversion to his more jovial self was a relief to see considering he’d removed all his accessories and wore nothing but the flask strapped to his side. He looked as he had in Hell when the skelleins were almost interchangeable.

“And what is that?” Erin asked.

“An apple tree has apples on it. A storm comes through, and there are no longer apples on the tree, but there aren’t any apples on the ground either. How can this be so?” Lix asked.

Erin rubbed her chin. “Let me think about it.”

“Take your time,” Lix said and took another swallow of his brew. “So how did you off Sloth?” he asked me, and I gave everyone a brief account of what happened in the Abyss.

“We have to report to Kobal and let him know everything that happened,” Corson said.

“Since Halstar’s dead, we’ll have to send someone back,” I said and looked at Raphael.

Raphael’s jaw clenched, and his hand fell onto the hilt of the sword at his side. “I am not your carrier pigeon whenever you need to communicate with your king.”

“He’s your king here on Earth too, and it’s either you or Caim,” Corson said. “We have to get word back to him soon, and traveling by foot will take too long. Not to mention, Kobal and River have probably moved on from where they were the last time you saw them at the wall. Wings will make finding them far easier.”

“Send Caim then,” Raphael stated.

“Oh no, brother, I’m not to be trusted!” Caim said and threw up his hands. “There are way too many temptations for a wicked angel such as myself. I might never come back. I might not even arrive there!”

I didn’t believe that, not after what I’d seen Caim do for Amalia in the Abyss. We’d all distrusted him from the beginning, and with good reason, but I believed he was an ally.

He had to be an ally if Amalia brought him into the Abyss; she wouldn’t have done so if she felt anything secretive or distrustful from him. However, Caim looked highly amused right now, and I suspected he was enjoying pissing off Raphael.

Raphael's nostrils flared, and his hand tightened on his sword. “What shall I tell Kobal?”

Corson smiled at him before giving a rundown of details for him to tell Kobal. “With the number of fighters we’ve lost, I don’t think it’s wise for him to send more troops back. We can’t risk losing more of them, but we do need another telepathic demon so we can communicate with him,” Corson finished.

“And we’re keeping this one alive,” Raphael growled from between his teeth. Before anyone could reply, he shoved off his feet and streaked straight into the air so fast the calamuts barely had time to move their leaves out of his way. The leaves shuffled with annoyance when they settled back into place.

I couldn’t help but smile after the angel, and when I looked around, I found almost all the demons smiling too. Ruffling the feathers of the arrogant, golden angel was fun.

“I know the answer to the riddle,” Erin said to Lix.

“And?” Lix inquired.

“The tree only had two apples, so when one fell in the storm, the tree and the ground both had only one apple. So neither had apples, but they each had one apple.”

Lix grinned at her. “Right you are, as always.”

“You’ll get me one of these days,” Erin said.

Lix’s smile slid away. “Perhaps.”

“He’s so sad,” Amalia whispered to me.

Pulling her close, I kissed the top of her head. “He will learn to cope with the loss.”

“As will I,” she murmured with a hitch in her voice. Then she pulled away from me and smiled. “I think it’s time to show you all the Abyss.”

“I don’t think that’s wise,” Rislen said.

“It is,” Amalia stated in a tone that didn’t tolerate any argument. “Because if we need help to defend the Abyss again, then they have to know what we’re asking them to protect. We will help them against the craetons trying to destroy us all, and they will help us.”

My eyebrows lifted at Amalia’s stern command. She may be the youngest jinn, but she’d been the first to breathe life into the Abyss, and she was like a mother protecting her young. Despite her age, I suspected none of the jinn would be able to push her around or give her orders again.

When it came to the Abyss, it was hers, and I could see that understanding dawning in the eyes of the jinn. But then, she also belonged to the Abyss. I’d seen the way the grass and the creatures in there reacted to her, none of them behaved the same way with the other jinn.

“And the palitons may occasionally require somewhere to hide; we will allow them to do so in the Abyss,” Amalia continued and gave the jinn a look that dared them to argue with her.

Pride swelled in my chest when they all remained silent.

“Come,” Amalia said, and stepping from my hold, she waved her hand before her to open a portal. She edged away from the portal and gestured for the others to enter. “For some of you, it is far different than the way you left it.”

The others started forward as Amalia stepped back and into my arms again. Closing her eyes, she rested her head on my chest. “I will protect the Abyss and you,” I promised her.

“I know,” she said.

The last to come forward, Corson and Wren stopped beside her. Corson rested his hand on her shoulder as he spoke. “I’m sorry for the way I behaved toward you in the beginning.”

“I understand why you did; you didn’t know about the Faulted or really anything about the jinn other than the destruction they can wreak,” Amalia said.

“True,” he said. “But I still shouldn’t have treated you that way. Thank you for helping to bring her back to me.”

Amalia ducked her head. “No Chosen should be separated from their partner.”

“No, they shouldn’t,” Corson agreed and released her shoulder. “Magnus is a lucky man.”

“He is,” Amalia agreed, and I chuckled.

“I’d like to thank you too,” Wren said and held her hand out. Amalia stared at it for a second before clasping it in hers and giving it a small shake. “I’m Wren.”

“I know,” Amalia said with a small smile, and Wren grinned at her before releasing her hand.

Corson and Wren entered the portal as some branches of the calamuts dipped low and their leaves stirred. Their movement created a breeze that tugged at Amalia’s hair and ruffled mine. Caught up in the wind, seeds from the broken prury fruit danced on the air before sweeping into the portal.

“Oh,” Amalia breathed.

“And it seems the calamuts will help protect the Abyss too,” I told her.

“Yes.”

Taking her hand, we crossed back through the portal to discover the others gazing in amazement at the Abyss and Absenthees. The prury seeds floated through the air before some of them settled onto the stones surrounding Absenthees. Others drifted higher and further away as they spread out to protect a land I’d initially believed to be a horror, but the Abyss had proven to be as magical and proud as the woman standing beside me.

Wrapping my arms around her, I lifted Amalia off the ground and spun her around. I couldn’t believe I’d once considered her weak in her immortality and reluctance to fight. She was one of the strongest creatures I’d ever encountered, and she was my Chosen.

“I love you,” she whispered, and the shifting lights in the night sky danced as if they heard her words.

“And I love you, Freckles.”

Love was something I’d believed myself incapable of feeling; I’d been arrogant enough to think myself above it, but I’d only been waiting for a young Faulted to fly free of her cage and turn my world upside down. Placing her palm against my cheek, Amalia kissed me tenderly, and I lost myself in the wonder of her.

THE END

Kiss of Death (Hell on Earth, Book 3) will focus on Hawk and will be releasing in 2018/2019!

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