"Look, everyone - it's the ones who lost the war for us," Danel had said. He had been one of their oldest friends, a warrior, tall and golden and proud, beautiful as ever except for the ugly scar that bisected his face. Now he sneered at them. "If it wasn't for you..."
"Traitors. Thieves. Turncoats," came the silky voice of the angel Barachiel. "Welcome to the underworld. You will find you are right at home here." He smiled.
"You are kidding yourselves if you think you can return to his service so easily," hissed Tensi, a formidable avenging angel who had led the charge from the left flank all those millennia ago, when the world was young.
But in the end the angels left them alone. They still feared Abbadon's hammer, still cowered at the flaming sword of Azrael.
"We have no place here," Mimi had said to Jack later in their private quarters. The twins had merited a lavish suite in the palace, a rival to the ducal estate that Kingsley had once called home. "Michael and Gabrielle never trusted us - and neither does this sorry lot."
"They will come around. They have no choice."
Jack had turned out to be right. While the Silver Bloods were strong in number, they were also fearful and scattered. They still remembered the power of the White Fire of Heaven, the wrathful armies of Paradise, how they had been cast out of Elysium and into hellfire. Since Leviathan was tasked with assembling the demon army in the deep bowels of Hell, Jack had stepped into his former position as the head of the Dark Fallen.
Every night Jack drank and feasted with them, singing old war songs, drinking the blood ale, skirmishing in the training courtyards, testing his strength against theirs, gaining their trust, their respect, their admiration, and whatever tenderness was left in their Corrupted souls that passed for love. He impressed them with the depth of the power at his command. Abbadon had truly returned to Hell, they said. Abbadon, Destroyer of Worlds. Hell's true son.
How strange that after their long and twisted history, Mimi and Jack were only just friends now, with a deep and abiding affection between them. They would always share their past, but their future together was unknown. She still loved him, she would always love him, but it was the kind of love that was muted, safely seen through the rearview window, like a place you used to call home but no longer visited. There would always be a wound there, but the healing had begun.
All because of Kingsley Martin, the boy who loved her.
How could she have lost her heart to a Silver Blood?
If she was to have a future with anyone, she would have it with Kingsley. She held on to her love, to the memories of his wicked smile, to the feel of his strong arms around her, his soft tears on her cheek. She had broken him, he had broken her, there was no more posturing, no more lies. They had pledged their love to each other. It made the deception and the fear easier to bear. What a na**d fear it was. Azrael, Angel of Death, who was afraid of nothing and no one on earth, was afraid. She was afraid for her life, for her love. If the Dark Prince knew the truth...
Lucifer could unmake her. He could unmake her and Jack both...would do to them what they had failed to do to each other.
Was it worth it?
All this for love?
All this for Kingsley?
Yes. Yes. Yes.
Mimi sighed. The last time she'd seen him she had been soulless, and she had screamed at him to get away from her, had laughed in his face and mocked his love. Did this mean they would have to start all over again? She wondered what he was doing now. Having a great old time, probably. Kingsley Martin was never down for long.
At least she and Jack had done something right. They had arrived in the underworld at just the right time. The demons of Hell had discovered the secret to a weapon that would stand up to the White Fire of Heaven - they aimed to create a godsfire of their own. But there was a catch. None of their tools, which had been wrought in the underworld, could be trusted to hold and direct the blaze.
The Dark Prince needed the Holy Grail to hold his weapon. Only the sacred chalice would contain the righteous flame. And so Mimi and Jack had been dispatched to fetch it. There were many cups, many grails in the history of the world. The task was to find the right one.
Once they crossed into their world, Mimi would make her way to a chapel in Scotland, while Jack would travel to Spain. And if they were successful in finding the Holy Grail, what then? Would they turn it over to the Dark Prince? Mimi wasn't sure what Jack was planning, although he'd assured her he would never let that happen. If they found it, they would lie and say they had not, and Jack was counting on the knights to have hidden the grails well. Mimi was certain Lucifer would not be so understanding of their failure and would suspect treason, but Jack was adamant in his belief that it would all work out, that they would figure out a way to get what they wanted without forfeiting their souls or destroying Heaven and Hell in the process.
The train reached its destination and stopped at the crossing. They disembarked, walking to the same barriers guarded by the same handful of trolls that she had encountered during her journey with Oliver. Once they got past the First Circle of Hell, then they would slip through the gates and find themselves back in mid-world.
A troll slouched over to block their way. "Papers?"
"Papers?" Mimi said, affronted. "Do you know who we work for?"
"Helda hasn't approved your transfer," the troll sneered. "You'll need to go back to get the right papers if you mean to leave the kingdom of the Queen of the Dead."
Without a word, Jack raised his hand and stunned the troll, sending him flying, crashing against the barrier. The other troll guards lifted their spears, but Jack stood his ground. "Let us pass. I shall not be so gentle next time."
Mimi was impressed. She was sure he would have turned back and done the right thing. But that was the old Jack Force. The former Venator, the one who used to follow the rules. There were no rules now.
The trolls backed off, fear in their ugly faces.
The Force twins stepped through the Gates of Hell.
"Admit it, you enjoyed that. You like being evil again," Mimi teased.
Jack did not reply, but the sly smile on his face said it all. "Come on. Let's find this thing and end it once and for all."
Chapter Three
Bliss
merging from the Passages of Time was always a disconcerting experience, as if your entire being had been taken apart and then re-formed, the molecules and the memories haphazardly patched together. Bliss Llewellyn felt the familiar dizziness and disorientation, but it was worse now, since they were not just traveling through time but back to the underworld, back to her father's domain, back to Hell, where the wolves were turned into Hellhounds, where Lawson and the pack had been kept in chains.