Page 91 of Hell Gate

I catch up to Alder and lean into his side. “More lost souls?”

Valerian shakes his head. “The lesser beings of Hell. They’re recognizing a superior power. Yours.”

I slide my lips together. “Let’s hope their gossip doesn’t spread before I break the seal. We wouldn’t want the council to find out we’re sneaking in before we’re ready to take them down.”

“It’s far too late for that, Lilith.”

Fuck.

Our group tenses, whirling at Cessair’s nasty voice. He appears through the trees, materializing out of thin air much like Rainer did the first time he found us when he drops the spell to hide his presence.

Cessair is joined by four others in matching pompous white suits. One is stout with large horns curving back from his head, his sagging face in a permanent moe of sadness, and another with long, pointy gray horns has a venomous air about him, wrapped on his broad shoulders like a cloak. His thick lips curl back, baring his fangs at us.

“Shit,” Rainer utters. “Brone and Samael.”

Cessair defers to the tallest of the four, a man with pale skin stretched over unsettling angular features. His translucent skin is cracked with thin black lines that spread from his short, sharp red horns and around his fathomless dark eyes. His long white hair parts for pointed ears. The sight of him sends a chill down my spine.

“Alastor?” Matthias hisses. “You? But—you’re Lucifer’s closest friend! How could you betray him like this?”

Alastor’s mouth forms a grim, hateful line. “It’s simple, boy. I want what he has. Hell should be mine, not the arrogant, spoiled king’s.”

Valerian growls. “You aren’t fit to rule the realms, you scheming bastard. None of you are.”

“And yet we have the people’s trust.” Brone, the stout one, gives us a smile that’s more of a grimace. “We have been at work putting the pieces into place. You won’t stop what’s in motion.”

“We’re primed to take our prize after centuries of planning,” Samael says in a harsh, terrifying voice.

“Cessair.” Alastor waves him forward with a clawed hand.

“You thought I let you win because you came to her rescue? We had spies watching you once I left the mortal realm.”

Cessair holds out a hand and the whispers around us increase. The air crackles with static electricity and a small creature with delicate fairy wings materializes, landing in his palm. It’s not cute or pretty like the fairies in my fantasy stories—its bared teeth are like needles and its fish-like eyes glow a sickly green.

“We’ve been waiting for you to arrive so we can end this as we should have long ago. It was clever of Valerian to think of the soul river. It probably would’ve worked. You’ve proven to be quite difficult to be rid of, Lilith. Even after we separated your body piece by piece until you were finally weak enough to bind, it seems you’ve still managed to fight your way past it instead of dying like a good little bitch.”

My mates growl dangerously. Gritting my teeth, I surge forward, desperate to attack the bastards who did this to me. Alder’s arm blocks me, tucking me behind him. They knew. They’ve been waiting, ready for us this whole time to stop us from reaching the river.

Keep them talking. Vale’s voice echoes through the bond in my head. Matthias and Alder give barely perceptible nods, shifting in front of me while he moves behind me.

“You’ve broken sacred laws to satisfy your own ends,” Alder says darkly.

Alastor laughs, the sound brittle and disconcerting. “Laws only stand in the way of those too weak to take the power they seek.” He snatches a creature from a low hanging tree branch and crushes it in his fist without mercy. “We have no use for them. We’ve done whatever was necessary. Once we take Hell from its weak ruler, we’ll restore the underworld as it should have always been. The treaty never should have existed.”

“You can’t mean destroying the barrier separating us from the mortals?” Matthias jerks his head in disgust. “That would be chaos.”

“Precisely,” Samael says.

“We won’t allow you to continue,” Alder counters.

Lily, get to the river. It’s right past the trees. Valerian’s urgent order enters my head while the others distract the council members.We’ll hold them off.

“No,” I hiss. “I’m not leaving you.”

He fists my jacket and mutters against my ear. “Damn it, Lily—”

“I won’t,” I vow firmly. “I’ll never leave you alone.”

“Then you need to do it now without the river. Break the seal.” His grip tightens and he hauls me closer. “You can do it. You have to.”

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