River

I woke when the truck came to a stop and lifted my chin off my chest. We’d been traveling with only a few minutes for breaks to eat and use the bathroom for the past six days. We’d managed to scrounge up a couple more vehicles and gas, but more demons and humans still walked than rode.

I hadn’t seen Jackie, Sarah, or Captain Tresden at all in the past six days. I assumed they’d been killed or else Tresden would be trying to lead the humans, and I’m sure Jackie would have complained about something by now. I knew Sarah would have launched herself onto Hawk and not left his side. She had to be dead if she wasn’t following him closer than his shadow.

I had seen Lena waving at me a few days ago from the back of the crowd. She’d been with a group of other nymphs, both male and female who had also waved at me. Verin had stopped crying on day two and mutely followed along with a broken look on her face. Calah and Lopan remained at her side, nudging her onward when she stopped walking and stood there as if she’d forgotten what she was doing.

Since I closed the gateway, the demons had become my new best friends, as had a fair amount of the humans who had mostly avoided me like I had the plague before I’d entered Hell. They all knew I’d been used to topple the seals, there was no keeping that secret in the bag when a fair amount of the demons had been there to witness it. Apparently, my willingness to die for them outweighed the fact that I’d let loose a lot of the things we heard screaming and hunting through the days and nights. I was sure the vast amount of power I’d displayed both times hadn’t hurt either.

Over the course of the journey, I kept waiting for something to jump out of the woods and eat us all. My nerves were stretched as thin as they could get, and I knew everyone else’s were too. It was only when exhaustion completely took over that any of us slept.

Most of the humans, and me, had stopped jumping at each new shriek, bellow, or garbled roar. We’d adapted to our new environment faster than I’d expected, but there was no other choice. It was adapt, turn into a neurotic mess, or die in this world.

Along the way, we’d encountered more akalia vine and other creatures that we’d destroyed. We’d been forced to take a different route because of obstacles that hadn’t been in our way before, but we’d finally made it here. Soon we would be back at the wall; soon I would have my brothers with me again.

I tried not to think about it too much. So many things could happen to them before I reached them. Now that I was so close to getting them back, I felt a growing dread that something would happen to them first. The wall didn’t offer the same protection it once had, not when there were flying monsters all over the place now.

There was nothing I could do though; we couldn’t travel any faster. Caim and Raphael had both saved me, but I didn’t trust either of them enough to fly me home, and I knew Kobal would never agree to it. I wanted my brothers back, but I couldn’t risk falling into Lucifer’s hands by rushing out to them.

I also had to know about the fate of the ghosts.

Wincing, I rubbed at my sore neck before blinking at the gas pumps. My gaze traveled to the plate glass windows of Pearl’s Truck Stop. It had been night the last time I was here, and the place had been creepier than a tomb. Now, the sun shining off the windows made it almost inviting.

“I hope I can’t see them,” I said.

“Perhaps,” Kobal said from beside the open passenger-side window. He’d been walking next to the truck, and me, when I’d dozed off.

“I hope we can’t see them either,” Hawk said from the driver’s seat.

“You’re a demon now,” Kobal said to him as he opened the door for me. “You’ll see them no matter what.”

About a mile away from us, a burst of fire from the drakón surged into the air before dying down. “They’re going to set the world on fire,” I murmured.

Kobal’s gaze followed mine. “Their fire won’t spread unless they fan it. They’re only using it to hunt and not to destroy, for now.”

My cramped muscles protested movement when I swung my legs out of the pickup. Kobal gripped my arm when my knees nearly gave out on me. After the first night, Kobal and I took turns walking with everyone else. The raw skin on my feet rubbed against my boots, and ooze from a popping blister squeezed between my toes.

I repressed a wince as I looked at the ragtag group gathering closer to the truck stop. The demons stared at the building like it was a puss-filled space monster, but demons weren’t overly fond of ghosts. The humans appeared curious while the hounds sniffed at the air as they patrolled the parking lot.

“Let’s get this over with,” Lix said and rested his sword against his shoulder.

“I don’t think that’s going to work on the occupants,” Erin said.

Lix lowered his sword to rest the tip on the ground. “But we all wish it would.”

“They’re not that bad,” I protested.

“Hmm,” was the grunted response from the demons surrounding me.

I tipped my head back when a shadow passed over us. Raphael swooped down to land effortlessly on the asphalt ten feet away. Stretching his wings, he shook the extra dust off before settling them against his back. A raven landed behind me on the roof of the truck. The large beak and talons shifted away as Caim took on his angel form. He crouched on the truck, his hand gripping the edge of the roof and his wings tucked securely away.

Caim rose and strolled down the windshield, across the hood, and jumped off to land on the ground. “Ghosts!” he declared. “What fun!”

Seeing him here made me recall the question I’d asked Kobal the first night. “When you were on Earth, before entering Hell, did you feed on ghosts since there were no wraiths or Heavenly spirits or souls or whatever to feed on?”

“Angels call the ones who enter Heaven spirits or souls,” Caim replied. “And I’m afraid not. Ghosts don’t fall into the same realm as wraiths and souls do. Ghosts are already getting what they deserve and have no reason to be rewarded or punished further. They provide no nourishment for any of us.”

“Then what did you feed from while you were on Earth?”

The tilt of his head caused the vast array of colors in his hair and eyes to stand out more. “We didn’t feed on anything. We starved. We cut off our wings in the hopes that we could become more human and sustain nourishment from food like they did, but it didn’t work. Human food made us sick. We were dying when Lucifer opened his gateway into Hell.”

“Oh,” I breathed. “You didn’t cut off your wings so you would be able to fit in better with the humans?”

“No, never,” Caim replied. “You have no idea the pain we endured during the removal of our wings. No idea what it did to our already battered connection to life. It was a desperate, last resort.”

“Why did all of you cut them off? Why not have one do it to see if it would work?” Magnus inquired.

“Because we are brothers and sisters; the suffering and degradation of one would be endured by all,” Caim said.

I couldn’t help but shoot Raphael an angry look. More than a few of the humans went, “Aww,” which caused all the demons and Raphael to either roll their eyes or shake their heads in disgust.

“Are they really having sympathy for the fallen?” Magnus muttered to Corson.

Corson gawked at the humans before running a hand through his black hair. “Unbelievable.”

Caim smiled at all the humans in a way that made a few of the women smooth back their dirty, tangled hair and flutter their lashes. Kobal looked like he was contemplating killing them all.

Caim focused on me as he continued speaking. “We didn’t remain on Earth long afterward, but the fallen believe the severing of our wings is what twisted us enough that some of the offspring we produced afterward were capable of wielding fire. We felt a shift in us when we lost our wings, felt something within us becoming darker. The fallen remain unable to wield fire, but it became something we could pass on, as Lucifer did to you.”

“You were able to have sex after you cut off your wings?” Erin asked in disbelief.

“Of course,” Caim replied with a smile. “We weren’t crazy enough to cut off our cocks.”

“Oh, for fucks sake,” Corson said.

“Enough, let’s get this over with,” Kobal commanded.

I fell in beside Lix and Erin as we followed Kobal and Corson toward Pearl’s truck stop. Hawk and Vargas flanked our backs. Everyone else remained in the parking lot, keeping watch and passing out the slim pickings of food left.

“This place makes me think of a riddle, my dear,” Lix said to Erin. The tip of his sword clicked against the concrete while we walked.

“Let’s hear it,” Erin said.

“It cannot be seen, cannot be felt, cannot be heard, cannot be smelt. It lies behind stars and under hills and empty holes it fills. It comes first and follows after, ends life, kills laughter. What is it?” Lix asked.

Erin kept her gaze focused on the building. I tried to figure out the riddle as I placed my hand on my forehead and squinted against the sun’s glare coming off the windows.

“Whatever it is, it’s depressing,” Vargas said, and I couldn’t help but agree.

“It’s darkness,” Erin said after a few more seconds of pondering.

“It is!” Lix declared and spun his sword in his hand. “And what are most ghosts afraid of?”

“The dark,” Hawk, Erin, Vargas, and I all answered at the same time.

Ghosts being scared of the dark was still one of the strangest things I’d ever heard, and that was saying a lot given everything I’d been through these past five months.

“Have they managed to stump you with a riddle yet?” I asked Erin.

“Not yet,” she replied with a smile.

“She’s the reigning champion,” Vargas said and threw his arm around her shoulders.

“They’ll get me one day, I’m sure,” Erin said.

“Doubtful,” Vargas replied.

Kobal opened the door and entered the truck stop diner with Corson following behind him. I held my breath as I stepped inside with the hope of seeing nothing within.