My head is still fuzzy from the drugged darts that mute our abilities. The same drug they used on Conah all those weeks ago. Of course, Mammon would have it in good supply. He’ll need it to overcome Lilith’s army. Another factor to consider when we finally raid his hideout. This drug needs to be destroyed.
“How long before this shit wears off?” Mal asks from across the carriage.
He sits with his back to the wall, one leg up, arm braced on his knee. He looks relaxed, as if we’re voluntarily locked in a box and on a nice sojourn somewhere.
I don’t know how he does it.
“I don’t know. Could be hours.”
“And they’ll probably drug us before then.” He sighs as if being drugged is a mere inconvenience.
I grit my teeth and take a breath through my nose. I’m being unfair. This isn’t his fault, and this…this is just Mal dealing in the way Mal does.
“I don’t recognize any of the demons Mammon sent.”
“Grunts,” he says. “Faceless fucking grunts.”
“Well-trained grunts.”
They have the cadets, and Master Luena, the traitor, is in on this. I recall her smile as we were dragged, semi-conscious, to the carriage. She will die for this. I’ll make sure of it.
Mal caresses the wood. “It’s laced with obsidian,” he says. “Won’t be easy to get out of.”
“It will once we have access to our scythes.” Which might be never if they keep us drugged. I peer through a gap in the wood out at the dirt track and then up at the moon. “I think we’re headed east. They’ll need to stop soon to rest the drake.”
“That could be our chance to escape,” Mal says.
I do value his optimism. It fuels my determination, because I know if we fail, if these bastards get us to Mammon, then nothing will save us.
“I kinda wish I’d stayed longer with Fee,” Mal says softly.
We’re both thinking the same thing: what if we never see her again?
“Can you get a message to her?” Mal asks. “Let her feel we’re alive?”
I shake my head. “The drug’s messing with the soul bond right now.”
He sighs and drops his head back against the wood. “Yeah, makes sense. Let’s hope the messengers we dispatched made it out.”
I don’t have the heart to tell him I saw one take an arrow to the leg and the other…I watched several of Mammon’s demons chase him.
If either made it out, it would be a miracle. But maybe a miracle is just what we need right now.
“Fee will have made it, though,” Mal says. The moonlight lancing in through the gaps in the wood highlights his wistful smile. “She’ll fucking make it, Az. That woman is resilient as fuck.”
I close my eyes and picture her face. I can’t give up. I won’t.
I will find my way back to you, Fee. Or I’ll die trying. And then an idea forms in my mind, so obvious I want to kick myself for not having thought of it sooner.
My eyes snap open. “We need to move about.”
“What?” Mal asks.
“Metabolize this shit in our systems. Come on.”
“There’s not exactly much room in here.” Mal’s eyes light up. “But all we need to do is get our heart rates pumping. Exertion will do it.” He grins. “Fancy an arm wrestle?”
Chapter Fifteen
Fee
“I’m not leaving you,” Uriel said. “I let you down in Limbo, I know, but I won’t let you down again.” His expression was a mixture of determination and shame.
Oh God, did he think that was the reason I was sending him back? “Uri…” I grasped his hand and looked up into his face searchingly. “You did not let me down. That is not why I’m asking you to head back.”
“It isn’t?” He looked confused. “Then why?”
“I need you to let Grayson and Cora know what went down. They need to know the power is free, and they need to know what Keon and I are about to do in case…in case we fail. I need you to make sure that the power is doing what he’s meant to and that the Righteous keep their end of the bargain.” His shoulders dropped, and I lifted his hand and clasped it to my chest. “I need you to do this for me.”
“Of course,” he said. “But if you’re not back in a few hours, I’m coming after you. I’ll find a way into the Underealm.”
I believed him. I pushed up on my tiptoes, wrapped my