Kobal

“What is this?” River inquired.

Her amethyst eyes widened as she gazed at the river of red Hell water winding before us. Jagged black rocks stuck up from the middle of it, forcing the water to flow around them and creating strong currents. Those currents were capable of smashing to pieces anything caught within them. A few feet away from us, calmer water lapped against the rocky shoreline of the pathway we traversed. The color faded from River’s face, her head tilted back, and she blinked at the sharp rocks jutting from the ceiling.

“The River Asharún,” I replied. This place had never bothered me before, but seeing the dread in her eyes and knowing her reaction to wraiths, I didn’t intend for her to be here any longer than necessary.

“Are we here to travel on the river?” First Sergeant Sue Hawkson asked from beside her as he ran a hand through his short, dark brown hair. He stood with his broad shoulders thrust back, and his blue eyes filled with determination as he gazed at the Asharún.

“The Asharún is the quickest and safest route,” Corson replied.

“We will not be traveling on the Asharún,” I said and clasped River’s elbow. “There are other ways to my chambers. Come.”

Her eyes swung toward me. “Why aren’t we going to travel it?”

I pulled her a step closer and cupped her cheek tenderly in my hand as I studied her. She tried to hide it, but I knew being in Hell tired her. As Lucifer’s only living descendent, and with her angelic and demonic abilities, she had been able to make it this far into Hell. However, sweat beaded her forehead and stuck her dress to her body. Her flushed skin warmed my hand, and her exhaustion beat against me, yet she refused to let me carry her as we made our way to my private chambers—chambers where I had once slept and lived when I resided in Hell, but I hadn’t been to them in years. I had no doubt they would still be secure, as few others had known where they were located. Those who had known of them wouldn’t have dared to enter them while I was away.

We’d done nothing but walk since leaving the chamber housing the Fires of Creation behind hours, if not days, ago. I had no way of knowing how much time had passed. Before I’d left Hell, it wouldn’t have bothered me. There was no concept of time in Hell, no sun to mark the passing hours, but now that I’d lived on Earth, I wondered about the time of day.

There were only the constant fires in Hell, and I found myself missing the sun. That was something I never would have believed possible months ago. Then River had walked into my life, changed my perspective on things, and become my home. Before, I had always planned to return to Hell to reign, but now I would take my throne from Lucifer and leave this place behind to live on Earth with her.

I brushed back a strand of River’s raven-colored hair from her cheek. Her eyes closed as she turned into the palm of my hand, her full lips brushing over my skin. The scar at the corner of her right eyebrow was more visible against her flushed skin, as were the freckles on her slender nose. Her sweeping black lashes fell to shadow her eyes as her inherent scent of earth, fresh spring rain, and flowers assailed me.

My gaze latched onto my marks on her neck. The evidence of my four fangs piercing her skin was unmistakable to everyone standing with us and all those we encountered. Even if she didn’t bear my marks right now, every demon would know she was my Chosen. I had claimed her, and I was never going to let her go.

I would keep her protected from the countless things looking to tear us apart and her weaknesses. Unfortunately, that included the Asharún river. Reluctantly releasing her, I lowered my hand to my side again.

“Why aren’t we going to travel it?” she asked again.

“Because, Mah Kush-la, the Asharún is a place for the damned spirits who enter Hell. Some of the souls we feed on become so weakened that they are ensnared by the currents of the water.”

Her full mouth parted on a breath of realization. Goose bumps broke out on her tanned arms before she ran her hands over them to ease the chill. “Wraiths,” she murmured.

“Yes. Countless numbers of them are trapped in the water.” And wraiths weakened her, something we couldn’t afford to let happen now.

“So is this like the River Styx?” Hawk asked.

“Human mythology twisted the Asharún some. It’s not the boundary between Hell and Earth, but basically yes, the humans who glimpsed the Asharún river through veils separating Hell and Earth called it the River Styx,” Magnus replied.

Hawk frowned at the water. “Why did they call it Styx if it’s Asharún?”

“In the human’s Greek mythology there are five rivers separating Hell from the living. They were wrong about there being five of them. There is only the Asharún. However, the Greeks did name one of the five rivers the Acheron, the river of woe,” Magnus said. “But to many humans, Styx became the most popular and well known of the rivers. Probably because it was easier for them to pronounce, and we all know humans don’t like to tax their tiny brains.”

Though River wasn’t entirely human, and Hawk no longer was, they both scowled at Magnus. His eyes shone with amusement when he smiled back at them.

River glowered at him for a minute more before focusing on me. “Okay, so it’s the river of woe—”

“And of anger, forgetfulness, hatred, and hostility, amongst numerous other things,” Magnus interjected.

“Enough,” I growled at him, and his mouth clamped shut.

“But it’s the safest and fastest way for us to reach your chambers?” River asked me.

I lifted my head to glare at Corson for mentioning it in the first place. Corson’s citrine eyes warily held mine as he stepped away from me. Magnus and Bale inspected the ceiling while the skelleins all studied the blades of their swords and the hellhounds padded away to explore the water.

Corson had nowhere else to look as I pinned him to the spot with my stare. In the dim light playing over this part of the river, Corson’s hair appeared midnight blue. His pointed ears stood out from the curls falling over them. Thankfully, since we’d entered Hell again, he no longer had the earrings of the human women he’d slept with dangling from his ears.

At six foot four, Corson’s lithe build and usually easygoing demeanor often caused others to underestimate him, but as an adhene demon, he was one of the deadliest creatures I’d ever encountered. He was also one of my most loyal followers and closest advisors.

“The Asharún is full of wraiths,” I said to River. “I’d prefer not expose you to them any more than necessary. We will stay on land.”

She glanced back at the swirling water as a wraith broke the surface. A hand rose into the air, its fingers opening and closing as it sought to grasp something. The shifting currents of water spun the wraith around before sucking it under once more. Trapped by the flowing waters, some of the wraiths took on their human form again, while others remained the twisted spirits they became after demons fed on them for long periods of time.

When River started rubbing her arms again, I knew she recalled how cold the wraiths made her feel. I knew she was remembering discovering that her father, a man she’d never known when he’d been alive, had been sent to Hell when he died. In his wraith form, her father had used his abilities to help Lucifer bring down the seals one at a time.

“I’d prefer not to be around the wraiths, but if it’s going to be quicker and safer to travel the Asharún, then we should,” she stated. “Are we supposed to swim it?”

“No.” The tips of my claws dug into my palms as I glanced from her to the water and back again. “We don’t swim. The ferrymen are called to take travelers on their journey.”

“Call them then.”

“River, the Asharún is not a good place to be.”

“Kobal, we are literally standing in Hell. I don’t think anywhere is a good place to be.”

“No, it’s not,” I grated through my teeth. “Can you handle being that close to so many wraiths?”

“Yes.” She rested her hand on my arm. Her fingers ran over the symbols marking my flesh as she spoke. “If you’re with me, I can handle it. Your presence helps to shelter me from their cold, and these are weakened wraiths; they won’t affect me as badly as the others did, or my… father.”

Her nose wrinkled at the last word, and her mouth pinched together as if she’d eaten something unpleasant.

“You can’t know that they won’t affect you as much,” I told her.

“Maybe not, but I do know that avoiding the best route because of me is dumb. Besides, it’s hot as Hell in here; I could use a little cooldown, and the wraiths do provide that for me.” Her mouth quirked in a teasing smile, but no amusement shone in her somber eyes. “I’ll be fine. How long will we have to be on the Asharún?”

“It will probably feel like a few hours of human time, at least.”

No one else would have seen it, but I didn’t miss the twitching muscle close to her eye. She said she would be okay, that she would handle it, but I felt her uncertainty.

“A few hours is nothing in the grand scheme of things,” she murmured and turned away from me. “Call for the ferrymen, send up a smoke signal, knock down a rock from above, or whatever it is you have to do to get their attention. We’re going boating.”

I glanced over at Corson who stared at River with a pained look. When his gaze lifted to mine, I didn’t see fear there this time, but more guilt and a reluctance to do as she’d instructed. “Call them,” I commanded.

Corson bowed his head and stepped closer to the Asharún. Water ran over the tips of his boots, turning it from a blood red hue to a pinkish one when he knelt beside the river.

“You can change your mind,” I said to River. “No one here will blame you for that.” I didn’t bother to look at the others; they would have no choice in the matter.

Her hair waved about her shoulders when she shook her head no. “No matter what it takes, I want this over with. The sooner Lucifer is dead, the better we’ll all be. If this will get us to your chambers and eventually to Morax, Verin, and the rest of your followers faster, then we are going to do it.”

At River’s words, Corson rested his fingers in the water. Closing his eyes, he drew energy from the wraiths caught up in the Asharún’s currents. As weak as they were, it was easy for him to feed on numerous wraiths at once.

River winced and stepped back when a wail reverberated through the air. The forlorn cry of the wraiths echoed off the rocks until the sound became an inescapable cacophony that vibrated the ground.

“It will stop soon,” I promised her. Releasing her elbow, I wrapped my arm around her waist and drew her against me. I cradled her head to my chest as thousands of wraiths broke the surface of the water.