No, I had to go forward.
And what if you burn up and die?
You have to try.
The thought pierced through everything else.
Just do it.
I stepped through the door quickly. No fire raced over my skin. No power cut me down. Nothing. Relief flooded me. Thank fuck. Right, so I was in another corridor, wider than the last, and there was an intersection up ahead. The lights flickered, giving the place a broken, creepy vibe, and silence reigned.
Where was everyone?
Only one way to find out. I set off, taking a left then a right, past signs written in a language I couldn’t understand, the written version of Enochian probably. Light spilled out from what looked like an elevator. Yeah, not going in there with the power on the fritz.
There had to be some stairs somewhere.
Left or right. Which way? Surely I should have come across a celestial by now.
A scream sliced through the silence. Movement to my left. My body reacted by going into fight mode as the blood-spattered figure ran at me, blade glinting in the flickering lights.
Dread.
My hand tingled, signaling the arrival of my scythe.
Don’t.
Wait.
The tingle stopped.
No, what the hell? I called my celestial weapon, swinging it in time to eviscerate the Dread. He fell back, and I swiped again, this time taking his head.
Another scream from behind me.
Shit.
I spun to face two more Dread. But two metal-winged figures rushed out of the corridor in front of me and cut down the Dread with fiery swords. They turned and advanced on me.
Dominions like Cassius.
They thought I was one of the Dread.
“Whoa!” I held up my hands, sans scythe, because the damn thing had gone out once the threat was gone. Except these guys were a threat.
I pulled my daggers out instead, backing up, ready to fight. “Listen, I’m not one of them.”
They attacked.
“Stop!” a male voice bellowed.
The Dominions immediately fell back and parted to let a third one through. This Dominion was larger, blood-spattered, and feral.
“Cassius?”
He sheathed his sword and glared at me. “What are you doing here? I said I’d come to you once I had the information we needed.”
“Yes, you did. But it’s been three days and—”
He blinked sharply. “Three days?”
“Yes.”
He ran a hand over his face. “We’ve been fighting them for three days…How?”
“Cassius, we’re running out of time. The foyer is gone, and so is Celestia. You’re losing power rapidly.”
His jaw ticked. “The Dread’s presence is draining our reserves quicker than anticipated.”
“Then you need to speak to the Righteous and get me answers so I can help.”
The power in the corridor went out, leaving us standing in darkness. If not for the light from the elevator, I wouldn’t have been able to see shit.
The questions surrounding Uriel and the cores in Purgatory would have to wait for now. We needed the location of the power source, and we needed it stat.
Cassius must have realized this too because his jaw hardened and he nodded curtly. “Come with me.”
Chapter Six
Cora
Plexus Gymnasium is a dive. It looks like a drug den from the outside, the kind they show in movies, but yes, this is the address Dayna gave me. Dillon owns this place, and when not working on reaper stuff can be found here. Apparently, most of the reapers have regular jobs and live in Necro, finding it easier to stay in the city than travel back and forth from the Underealm.
But this part of the city is less than pleasant. We’re in Crimson Pack territory. Biker gang, Loup domain. Why would Dillon choose here to open a business?
A car swerves way too close to the curb as it passes me, and someone lets out a wolf whistle, and then there’s silence again.
There are only a few stores on this block, and business is slow. Not a soul on foot, well, no live soul anyway. I do spot a young man hovering outside the 7-Eleven holding out his hand for loose change. I can see the sandwich board and the words buy one get one free through him.
The dead sometimes get stuck re-enacting moments of their lives, and it seems that this one never registered. I’ll need to let Dayna know about him too.
It begins to snow as I cross the street, and by the time I’m at the doors, it’s a full-on blizzard.
Bloody hell, the weather in this city has a mind of its own. I push on the thick glass and step inside. It’s warm, and the smell of sweat and rubber hits me.
Nice.
There’s no reception. No foyer. Just a huge, high-ceilinged, open-plan space filled with workout equipment and gym mats. There’s even a boxing ring in the center where two guys are sparring.
Grunts and pants and the whirr of machinery fill the air.
Now, where is Dillon?
Is he one of the two guys in the ring? Or one of the couples wrestling on the mats. There’s a man on the treadmill, and then there’s another punching the shit out of a punching bag hanging from the ceiling.
Fuck this. “Dillon?” I walk into the room. “I need to speak to Dillon.”
The guy at the punch bag halts its swing with the palm of his hand and looks over at me.
“Yeah? And who the fuck are you?”
I guess this is Dillon.
He doesn’t look like a reaper. He’s not built like Azazel, Mal, or Conah. But there’s an air of power about him. His body is lithe, compact muscle, the kind you find on a sprinter. His face is lean, and he looks kinda mean.
He reads the message on the comm and shrugs. “Nothing new there. Humans go missing all the time.”
“You need to meet up with Ursula.”
“Where’s Azazel?”
“Underealm on important business.”
His mouth twists, and something dark crosses his face. “Saving Lilith.”
My heart stills in my chest. No one knows about Lilith. The guys are keeping it under wraps so as not to incite panic, so how the fuck does this reaper know?
Dillon slings a towel around his neck and crosses his arms. “My days of dancing to Azazel’s tune are over, and soon demons everywhere will be free to make their own choices, to be the gods we were meant to be and have”—he opened his arms—“everything and anything we fucking desire.”
“A Mammon supporter.”
He inclines his head. “And I’m not the only one.” He turns his back on me. “Now get the fuck out of my gym.”
I make it outside before the anger can make me do something stupid. Mammon has supporters here in Necro City. Sleeper agents ready to be activated when the time comes. The news Azazel and Mal are trying to keep under wraps is already out. Mammon could have reapers loyal to him on every reaper team.
Oh, fucking hell.
He could have them at the Academy too!
I need to get a message to Keon. Now.
Chapter Seven
Keon
I wasn’t sure about the celestial joining me at the Academy to help with the training, but I think he needs this. Needs to feel back in control after everything that’s happened.