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eyes. He was afraid. What types of things scared angels?

His voice was deep and came out in a whisper, "The Valefar couldn't have opened the portal without you. You have the key." His eyes burned into me as his gaze intensified. "One Valefar can pass through a portal without your key, but that wasn't what happened, was it? Demons tried to escape. Valefar went in. And Kreturus tried to come out. You tell me that you aren't helping him, and yet you're the one who opened the portals, you are the one who has the key, and you are the one who gave him part of your soul." He inched towards me as he was speaking, like he was scolding a child. His face was inches from mine. His eyes blazed with fury.

I bristled, "You don't know what you're talking about. You weren't there. I told you that I don't want this. If you had the means to break the prophecy and make it so that it didn't exist, I would tell you to do it right now - no matter what it cost me. You don't think that I feel guilty about everything that's happened? You don't think that I tried to stop it? When you found me, I was half dead. I gave up my life to end all of this! You're blind if you can't see that." Somehow my angry speech made me stretch to my tip toes, so I could scream in his face. Breathing hard, I noticed how angry he made me. I didn't care if he was an angel or not. I knew who I was, and what I wanted, but he had no clue.

There was silence. Neither of us said a word. I backed away from his face, but I didn't look away. Lorren ignored me for a moment and gazed at the wall. Finally, his eyes cut to me. "I believe you."

What an ass! My jaw dropped open in disbelief. He acted as if I needed his approval - as if I cared what he thought. When words finally formed a coherent thought, my voice was sharp, "I don't care what you believe." I pushed past him and into the labyrinth. "I'm leaving."

He called behind me, "I'm here to draw out the rest of the poison when you need me." I didn't turn around to acknowledge him. My hands clenched into fists at the thought, If I needed him. Shit! I totally needed him. If I didn't get the sapphire serum out of me, I'd make the prophecy come true that much faster.

And it'd be that much worse.

But, the part that bugged me most was that I didn't know how this all ended. That last prophecy was missing. There was no way to know if I could fix all my mistakes. There was no way to know if I died, and there was no way to know if Kreturus took all my powers and went on a rampage in my world and then wiped out the angel's realm. Lorren was an ass. I hated him. But, he was a key component in how things would end. And for some reason, he was helping me.

CHAPTER SIX

I wandered through the Lorren until I found the place where Eric died. The maze was much easier to navigate since it wasn't blasting me with mind-altering mist and tempting me with Collin's kisses. When I first stepped foot in the Lorren, I thought it was beautiful. I thought the golden flowers dripping with jewels were stunning. I couldn't take my eyes off of them. As soon as I realized what they truly were, I was horrified. How could Lorren sit in there and allow all those people to die in that place? I didn't understand how something that was supposed to be good, could tolerate injustice. Then I paused, realizing that maybe the people who were turned into flowers were given justice. Maybe they were supposed to be there. Either way, the golden tomb made me crave the inky sky and dank air of the Underworld. I couldn't wait to be out of the false warmth.

As soon as I stepped outside the golden walls, I'd be a sitting duck for demons, Valefar, and other evil things. I kicked the ground with my toes, sending loose bits of rock skittering at the mouth of the Lorren. What was I supposed to do now? Pressing my eyes closed tight, I fell to my knees. I blinked hard, fighting