Page 131 of Grave Revelations

She threw herself down, hands flying overhead as the ground shook. Enormous creatures landed atop the hill all around them.

Angeliki looked up and dropped in supplication, lowering her head to mud.

“Rise, child,” a voice boomed far overhead.

She shook her head, pressing herself down, making herself flat against the earth.

The rain had stopped, winds dying to a light breeze, and in the silence that followed, she realized there were no screams, no wails. She lifted her head, marveling at the surrounding stillness. Slowly, Angeliki sat up, her gaze trailing the length of the creature, brightly lit, stretching up toward Heaven.

“Father?” she asked. He knelt, took a knee, and shrank to the size of a very tall human, holding out a hand. “No, child. I am Phanuel.”

Chapter 87

Rebecca

Rebecca moved listlessly across her new realm, discovering more of the sphinx-like creatures entombed within twisted trees or inside caves, and as she freed them, they joined in the search. Thousands and thousands of souls were trapped in every pocket and corner of the realm, unable to move on.

They had found her coven members trapped in a cave not too far from Simon’s, and she watched as Sophia hugged Nita, Iris, Phoebe, Georgia, and so many others she’d never gotten to meet in life.

A whimper escaped Rebecca as she rushed forward and threw her arms around Rhea. Rhea released Yai-Yai’s hand, squeezing her, and tears streamed down her face as she hugged the elderly woman close.

They moved on, scouring the landscape, discovering more souls and adding them to their group.

The sphinxes proved helpful creatures, setting off to repair the boat and get Sheol back in working order. One—Asher—had explained in great detail what Rebecca’s duties to this realm would entail.

They were a processing station. Souls came, were shuffled into groups, and moved on. Some needed time to process their death. That’s where Rebecca came in, guiding them, helping them to move on.

Asher told Rebecca of a legend in Sheol that spoke of a queen who would free them from the nightmare they had lived in for more than two hundred years under Sanura’s reign. She would be the last Naphil and would not only slay their tyrant ruler but restore order to the realm.

As he told the story, Simon crept closer, hovering nearby, and her mind stumbled over his earlier words.

Zophiel forced me to keep you safe, no matter what it cost me.

He was wrong. He had to be. Rebecca had never met the angel until just a few months ago. Even in reash life, Allie had only ever dealt with Gabriel.

But…

It was exactly the sort of thing she could imagine Jophiel doing. Thoughts of all the times Jophiel had meddled in Adalaide’s life pressed to the surface, and a shudder rolled through her.

She would find time to talk with him about it later. They would sort it out. Now, she had to focus on finding the lost souls and keeping the tears at bay.

Rebecca’s mind wandered as her gaze swam over a sea of souls trapped by Sanura, forming visions of Azazel’s face among them. She thought she spied him standing with a group of souls, but when she approached them, staring into the eyes of strangers, her heart shattered all over again.

He wouldn’t be here. He had died before of her eyes; no one could survive that much damage. Images of his head ripped from his body ran through her mind repeatedly. The light winking out, the look of absolute terror—for her—as his words cut deep.

Light. Light! Don’t leave me.

A tear ran down her cheek. It had been unbearable before, but some part of her soul felt as though it were living his death for the first time, and memories of a life she’d never lived pressed against the walls she’d erected to hold the pain at bay, threatening to crumble them.

“What will we do?” someone asked, and Rebecca thought absently that she would have been excited to realize she understood the words even though she’d never learned Nepali. Others in the group mumbled beside the girl, asking similar questions.

Sophia disentangled herself from her sisters, coming to stand beside Rebecca.

“My mother, Thalia, and Maria aren’t here,” she said. “I hope they’re still alive somewhere down there.”

Rebecca cast another appraising glance over the crowd. Cassia was standing in a group of souls Rebecca didn’t recognize, watching her sisters with a mournful expression.

“Why is Cassia not with the coven?”

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