are you going to manage that? Even if you can get her back, she’s not going to do a damn thing for you if you betray her, my friend.” Ravish threw up his hands in despair.
“She will if you give her a taste of what it would be like below.” Amish smiled quite devilishly. “What do you think she’ll choose, below or here?”
“Amish.” Ravish grinned. “I’m shocked but quite impressed by the dark side of your nature. Makes me want to shag you quite frantically.”
“Never mind that.” Amish laughed.
“Um, you’d need to sweeten the pot, my friend.” Ravish grinned.
“You are a devil.” Amish laughed again. “I’ll come up with something.” For the first time, he felt hope. “Okay, return below and tell the dark lord I realize I was wrong. I’m going to get her back. And she will be reevaluated here. Then tell him you will return later to ensure I’ve carried through on my pledge. That will keep him quiet for a while.”
Ravish nodded.
“I have a question,” Amish said before Ravish took his leave.
“Go ahead.”
“Do you know how many human years have passed since I’ve been here?”
Ravish put a hand on his shoulder. “At least three, three human years, my friend.”
“Then we need to work fast.”
Amish wasn’t going to waste any more time. He took the escalating stairs going up, carefully slipping in between a group of silent new admissions. At the top, doors opened, and he saw Gabriel. Good. He liked the guy. They’d always gotten along, even if Gabriel was a bit of a showoff, always with the halo and the bright, white wings spread to high heaven.
“Amish?” Gabriel appeared surprised. “Haven’t seen you in some time. I heard you were back. We are relieved. Takes the pressure off us and the nasty one below. What can I do for you?”
Amish watched the souls moving through the open gates. Amish took Gabriel aside. “I made a mistake. I sent you an admission and realized she was not remorseful for some of the things she’d done. I’m in a bit of jam with that one downstairs. Maybe you can help me? I think she should be reevaluated.”
“You needn’t bother, Amish. We’ll do that if we find a discrepancy. If there is any doubt, we’ll send her down to you. You have always been spot-on with these things, but since you’ve been gone, we’ve had to learn how. We are getting pretty good at it now.” He grinned.
“Ah, yes, good but, listen, I’ve not that much to do. It seems our cataloging systems are getting more efficient, bad, good, bad, good. I am bored to tears.”
“We’re working more in a team than we used to,” Gabriel said, waving more souls through. “I think that’s the key. Anyway, if there is—”
Damn it. He had to convince him. “I’d really appreciate doing the reevaluation myself, Gabriel. Please. I kind of promised her that I’d be the one to make sure she had every chance of being here. And I need to make amends with him.” He pointed down. “And you guys owe me, don’t you?”
“Oh, yes, closing the portal out in the desert, fighting off all those demons. We had our hands full, but you really came through there Amish. That’s why your wings turned white. But they are black again now, aren’t they? A shame.”
“Yes. Suited some people. But I still have the sword of Gideon.” He looked into Gabriel’s blue eyes. “Whose sword do you carry?”
Gabriel’s mouth tightened. “Okay, fine. This admission has a number?”
“BV65634,” Amish told him.
“Very well. I’ll locate her and send her down in a few minutes.”
Amish bowed his head. “My thanks.” He flared his black wings, turned and grinned at Gabriel, and flew back down to his domain.
He braced himself for Nanya. He waited, sitting on his chair, which was elevated off the ground, wings spanning around him. Through the darkness, he suddenly saw her, trudging toward him, looking angry.
She pointed up at him. “You think sitting on your throne will save you? I’m not intimidated by those wings. You lied to me. You are the liar, not me. I trusted you.”
“Enough,” Amish said. “I wasn’t thinking. I need you. I need your help, Nanya. They would have sent you down anyway, and not here, all the way down. Perhaps I can save you from that fate.”
“It was nice there, sunny, flowers, good food, even the internet. I don’t want to stay in this rat-infested hole.”
“Then you can always come with me,” a voice