and traffic was bad at every turn. Grif took the time to fill Kit in on what’d happened at the bar. Or at least what he knew of it. He’d been as surprised as she was to learn that Scratch could inhabit the living through their negative emotions as well as their addictions. He’d have to talk to Sarge about it, but it made sense in theory.
“The fraction of the Host that turned against God was one-third of all angels. That’s why the fallen are called the Third. They were immediately banished from God’s presence, and cast into a place it would never be felt again.”
“The Garden of Eden,” Kit said.
Grif nodded. “Now the Eternal Forest. They’re reluctant inhabitants, but they’re a part of it, too. Both are withered and decayed, completely lifeless.”
“Except when they possess the living.”
Except, Grif now realized, when the living somehow gave up possession of themselves.
“And so the people who die and end up in the Forest? They’re the same?”
“They’re the only source of energy, entertainment, and power that the Third possess.” Grif pursed his lips tight. “But don’t feel too bad for them. Nothing good or pure can exist when blotted entirely from God’s presence.”
He waited, but Kit remained silent as a violent shudder worked its way down her spine. Her beautiful lips were pressed tightly together, too. She was trying to keep from crying.
“It’s the Forest, Kit,” Grif said softly. “Not a walk in the park. You felt how cold his breath was. Magnify it fivefold. Shelter and food? Nonexistent. Same with water, though the Third despise it anyway. Water is a symbol of life—of baptism and rebirth—and nothing that truly lives can exist in the Forest.”
“It sounds . . .” Her voice trailed off as she tried to let the Forest bloom in her own imagination. Few humans, though, had a place in their minds for this kind of madness. “Hopeless.”
“Hope is a gift from God,” Grif said softly. “The Third rose up in mutiny against God, and humans do it on a case-by-case basis. The perversion of free will, God’s greatest gift, lands you there. The Forest is those perversions made manifest.”
“And what about me, Grif?” She glanced over, and there were tears in her eyes. “It said it wanted me, but I can’t imagine living in a place without hope or love.”
“Of course you can’t.” Grif wanted to comfort her, but there was little he could do while she was driving. “You’re made of those two things, with a healthy dash of grit thrown in just to spice things up.”
She didn’t look comforted. “It can touch me. It wants to possess me.”
“It . . . imprinted on you somehow.” Grif shook his head.
“Like what? Some evil baby chick?” Her nerves were getting the best of her, and she jerked the wheel. Grif reached out, and held it in place.
“You were the first person it has seen in, well, God knows how long. The first who wasn’t evil or dirty or doomed. Or Lost. It said you were bright, and light—”
Kit shuddered, and Grif felt helpless. He opened his mouth, but Kit was already pushing past the moment. “How did you destroy it?”
“I don’t know how to destroy an angel.” But he was damned well going to try to find out. “It’s only banished.”
“So how did you banish it? What was in that bottle?”
“Love,” he finally answered. He glanced over when she only stared. “It’s more toxic to them even than water. In fact, if it were to wash over Scratch like the baptism they so hate, I bet then you could destroy it.”
Kit tilted her head. “How did you bottle love?”
Grif shrugged. “After we found Scratch possessing Jeap, and I knew it was targeting the Lost, I also knew it’d be back. So I harvested some tears.”
Goggling, Kit missed the car braking in front of her, and had to come to a hard stop behind it. While they waited for a green light, she turned to him. “Because tears are made of water?”
“Because tears are made of water filled with emotion. Infused with heartfelt memory. Love is only between mankind and God, Kit. It’s poisonous to beings that were created, not born. They’ve never felt it.”
“Even the Pure still in heaven?” A horn honked behind Kit, but she waited for Grif’s answering nod before driving. “So the human element in the tears that banished Scratch . . .”
“And the Pure element that cured Brunk.”
Kit was silent for a long minute. “They