out of here. Now.”
A blinding white light split the dark, widening a fraction. I rushed toward it, afraid it would close at any moment, and then I was squeezing through the gap and falling into light.
It took a moment for my eyes to adjust to the brightness. I was in a corridor that ended in a set of double doors. A red light blinked above it in warning. This was some kind of access route to the reception and into the Beyond proper. I’d asked Celestia to let me out, but she’d let me in.
There was no going back now. I strode down the corridor and tried the door. It opened without resistance.
Fuck. This place was totally falling apart.
I made to step through, then stopped as Azazel’s voice filled my head. His words from a week ago. He’d said we couldn’t go into the Beyond properly as it would burn us up because we weren’t pure celestial, but…Uriel had lived in the Beyond, and he was definitely not pure celestial. Unless the celestials lied about whether they could be possessed or not.
Fuck.
Okay, think.
If I didn’t go forward, I’d have to go back into the darkness and be trapped there. There was no guarantee that I’d find my way out of the portal. If I went back, then I’d be leaving without answers. Time was ticking by too fast. What if Cassius had met the same fate as Uriel when he’d demanded answers?
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