dim replica of the groundskeeper buildin’, except it’s about ten times bigger.
Did we shrink?
I look around and see the odd desk and chair in a far corner, and it looks normal, which means we’re the same size, but the inside of this buildin’ grew like it took some potion and is destined to fall down a rabbit hole.
“This way,” Alder announces, tugging me forward as Delta and Rafferty match our steps.
“Is this Hell’s Embrace?” I ask, my head on a swivel as I look around and take in the eerie space.
“Yeah. Creepy, huh?” Delta whispers in the silent space. “The Hellgate is up ahead.”
Together, we walk carefully through the extra-large Hell-side groundskeeper buildin’, all of us on high alert. Just as we step out of the doorway and into a long cavern, an ear-splittin’ gong sound explodes all around me, the noise so loud that it makes my teeth vibrate and my body quake.
We all cover our ears and crouch down as though we can hide from the assaultin’ din, but it does nothin’ to save our eardrums.
“What was that?” I shout with fear as I look wildly around, seein’ Delta grimace as she rubs her ears.
The noise slowly starts to die away, and Delta shakes her head. “I forgot about that,” she confesses, and Rafferty nods in agreement as he looks around warily. “That happened the first time I came down here too,” she explains, confusion swirlin’ in her eyes as her shoulders lift up in a confused shrug.
Alder looks worried as he and Rafferty scan everythin’ around us like they’re anticipatin’ an attack. When nothin’ jumps out and all is quiet again—minus the ringin’ in my ears—Alder plucks a white flower from behind his ear and once again grabs my hand. I squeeze his just a little tighter.
We all stand up again and cautiously continue to move further into the cavern. At first, it’s just gray and plain. Then, I see a patch of grass growin’ through the cracked ground. Then a larger patch with purple flowers. The further in we get, the less sparse and sporadic the vegetation becomes. It goes from odd patches of green to thicker blankets of grass and flowers. Trees start to pop up and multiply as we make our way through until I see that a third of the entire cavern—the entire right side—is covered in this lush, beautiful, wild lookin’ garden, extendin’ from the ground and spreadin’ right up the wall.
It’s strange lookin’—a strip of beauty on the right side, buttin’ up against a completely bare and desolate landscape in the middle and the entire left side of the cavern. It’s as though someone forgot to water the other side or somethin’.
I can’t take my eyes off all the plants flourishin’ down here of all places, but as we pass even more of it, my attention gets stolen away, my gaze landin’ on the massive, fiery double-doored Hellgate at the end.
Well, I’ll be.
“The fire is purple just like your wings and hair,” I observe, my tone filled with awe. I can practically feel the power of the Hellgate and the heat reachin’ out to me, beggin’ me to come and play.
A grin crosses Delta’s face. “Yeah, it used to have red flames, but after I did my thing, it changed,” she says, lookin’ smug and satisfied about that. “It’s so pretty, don’t you think?”
“It’s been the talk of Hell,” Rafferty says quietly as we continue to walk toward it. “The authorized demons who’ve passed through recently can’t stand not knowing why the color of the flames suddenly changed.”
Delta’s grin widens. “Secret Annulus tricks.”
“I like purple,” I say, noddin’ to my hair and wings. “But I still wish I could’ve gotten green wings. I miss my pretty mint hair.”
“I like you in any color, Petal,” Alder says, pressin’ his lips against my temple and makin’ me go all gooey inside. “But this purple suits you.”
“You’re just sayin’ that because I almost match you now,” I tease with a smile as I nod to his lavender skin. He winks at me.
“Aww, you guys are cute,” Delta says, and I’m grateful for the levity of this conversation, since it’s really helpin’ to calm me down and distract me from the fact that I’m about to face the actual Hellgate and try to fix the damn thing with nothin’ but the blood in my veins and the apparent power that I’ve inherited.
Reality is crashin’ down hard, and I suddenly find the whole situation intimidatin’. What