toss a look over my shoulder, seeing Vudu take up position in front of the barred tunnel, and I give one last plea to the universe that somehow we’ll pull this off. I won’t say goodbye. I refuse. So for now, I shove all my emotions into tidy little boxes to be unpacked later when shit isn’t about to hit the fan.
Leaving the wine cellar, we find an empty hallway, and all four of us go on high alert as we walk swiftly but quietly down the stone corridor lit with low burning sconces.
“You know where you’re going, Gatekeeper?” Delta asks, our steps rushing to keep up.
“We’re in the Sin of Gluttony’s palace. The Ophidian used a very detailed compulsion, so I know where to go.”
“Where?” I ask, holding up my skirt so I don’t trip.
“I’m going east and outside to the Origin Stone. It’s the shortest dimensional distance from Heaven and Hell.”
We reach the end of the corridor, and it spills us out into a large, empty room with nothing but four different flights of stairs, two leading up and two leading down. “You three need to go upstairs. Just follow the noise, and you’ll find the party,” Toreon tells us.
“Got it,” Delta says as she and Medley hurry over to the first stairway that leads up, leaving Toreon and I to have a moment alone.
Toreon spins around and grips my cheeks, though his feet won’t let him stop moving. “I wish you had your real face right now, but I’m going to kiss you anyway,” he says, and then he does just that, with so much heart in it that it makes my toes curl. And then it’s over, way too soon. “Kill that bastard and then come find me.”
“I will,” I answer with unwavering determination.
In a flash, he pulls away, his body immediately disappearing down a flight of stairs, and I have to swallow down a lump of emotion.
“Sable, hurry,” Medley calls, and I turn and race after my sisters, not giving myself time to worry about Toreon or what he’s about to do. I just hope he got enough of a power charge through the bond with Vudu so that he can do whatever he needs to do without getting hurt.
Taking up the rear, my sisters and I head up the stairs. While I hold my annoying skirt up, Delta and Medley are busy trying to hold theirs down. “If I flash y’all at some point while we’re runnin’, you’re just gonna have to deal with it,” Medley says. “This outfit ain’t fit for scythin’ or runnin’ around faster than a raccoon chasin’ a rollin’ trash can, I can tell you that.”
Delta laughs. “I already had to bathe naked with you tonight. What’s a little mooning after that?”
I smile and shake my head at the easy banter, thanking my lucky stars I’m not having that problem. I look down at myself, remembering that I just kneeled in Vudu’s blood and wondering if I look like something right out of the movie Carrie. I don’t spot a speck of blood on my skin, which surprises me at first, since I know I should have plenty of it on my hands and arms, but then I realize that I probably just soaked it up like Toreon and Vudu do with mine. Neat trick.
“Can you guys tell I have blood all over the bottom of my dress?” I ask as we hike up another flight of stairs, and then at the landing we start to jog down a long corridor that looks to have more stairs situated at the end of it. At least we weren’t forced to wear heels tonight. Small mercies.
Delta looks at me over her shoulder. “No. Thank fuck you’re wearing black, though.”
This next staircase is a little more promising than the plain stone steps we just ran up though, because there’s a carpet running down the center of it. Hopefully we are getting closer to civilization.
“You were a total badass back there, Sable,” Delta tells me. “You scythed the fuck out of those demons. It made me all giddy and shit.”
I let out a surprised laugh. “Umm, thanks.”
“It’s awesome, isn’t it? When you’re holding the scythe? It makes you feel…”
“Powerful,” Medley finishes for her, and I nod in complete agreement.
“Did you name your scythes yet?” Delta asks us, our steps in sync as we continue to climb.
I blink at her back. “Are we supposed to?”
“Yep. Our scythes have feelings or something. They like to be