in reply, his dark tattoos rippling as he flexes his biceps. “I’ll be damned if they catch us up there,” I continue. “Especially with Katrina waiting at home.”
Before, I wouldn’t have given a damn about what happened to me. Sure, I would’ve fought tooth and nail to save my murder, but me? My fate? I didn’t care too much, so long as my men were safe.
Now I have something to fight for, something to live for, and no fluffy-winged fuckers will take that away from me.
I push away from the van and place my fingers to my lips, releasing a piercing whistle. Immediately, all of my men glance in my direction.
“Let’s go, boys,” I instruct gruffly, already moving towards the field. I swear the flowers are pulsing as if they have a mind of their own, as if they’re sentient beings instead of merely petals with stems. On the other side…I guess they are. In the divine realm, this field is full of literal miniature blooming suns that are so full of energy, they might as well be sentient.
Kastros moves to stand directly behind me, already on alert, while Van and Zolroth fan out on either side of me. And Akor…
I hear his deranged laugh from somewhere farther back, and I know that he has finally gotten his lazy ass out of the car. I’m pretty sure the crazy fucker stuck a bunch of razor blades in his hair, as well as a couple of grenades. And no, I’m not being sarcastic or over-exaggerating. I literally saw him shove one through his mohawk before we left.
We keep our eyes peeled as we move through the throng of flowers, their yellow petals caressing our waists. They’re some of the tallest flowers I’ve ever seen. Most reach my waist, but some surpass even me in height, blocking out the sun.
This particular meadow is located right near an abandoned highway—a portal to fucking Heaven, though the humans are oblivious to its presence. Rumor has it that it once served as the Garden of Eden before the devil herself fucked Adam and then convinced a distraught Eve to eat from the forbidden tree.
God doesn’t forgive people who destroy his damn plants.
But that was eons ago, and all that remains are waist-high sunflowers.
“There!” Zolroth points a short distance ahead, where a glimmering portal rests amidst the petals. It appears to be a combination of starlit silver and a light blue, twinkling like a glitter bomb exploded in its depths.
“A portal to Heaven,” Van breathes, and behind me, still lagging behind like a dumbfuck, Akor snickers.
Heaven is full of idiots. Who the fuck leaves their front door wide open like this? Un-fucking-locked? Okay, fine, Lucillania has a few portals too, but let me tell you, no random shmoe is gonna just walk through those. And if they do…well, it usually only takes a human experiencing one glass storm to send them running back through, with pissed pants and burns that will mark their soul forever.
We begin to trudge faster with our destination now in sight. Kastros takes his huge ass katana sword and slices at each stem with wild abandon, forging a path for us.
The closer we get to the portal, the more…magnetic it becomes. That’s the only word I can think to use to encapsulate the pulsing white-blue light. It’s as if we’re nothing but metal, helpless to resist the forward pull of the second strongest attractive force known to man—losing to my sweet Center.
Which is odd. One would think that a portal to Heaven would reject deviants like me and my murder. We’re the definition of bad, scary, and psycho.
“Bloody hell,” Zolroth breathes as he glances at the portal with wide eyes.
I can’t peel my own away. Fuck, the need to stick my hand into the portal and disrupt the tranquil surface is nearly irresistible. I physically have to ball my hands into fists to contain the urge.
“We need to be careful,” I warn them all. “In and out. No fucking around. Got it?”
“Yes, sir,” my murder responds immediately. No one bothers to argue with me. They know this isn’t the time to mess around.
“Kastros?” I nod towards the giant, who’s already placing his blade back into its sheath.
He knows exactly what I’m asking of him, and without preamble, he steps through the portal. It almost seems to swallow him whole, like waves licking at the shoreline before being pulled back towards the middle of the ocean.
I wait until he’s disappeared completely before turning