Page 35 of The Road to Hell

“Without them, my father can’t make more hellspawn!” I practically shouted. Laughing, I plunged my fingers into my hair and raked the strands back from my face. How had I not thought of this before? “Lucifer uses their essences to create more hellspawn. With them, his army is infinite. I could kill hundreds of them. He’d just make more. But without the fallen?—”

“We can destroy his numbers,” she surmised.

I snatched her for another hug. “Have I told you you’re a genius? Because you are!”

She laughed and slowly extricated herself from me. Then she held me at arm’s length and studied me with a stare. “Glad to be of assistance. But just promise me something. No more asinine plans, no more schemes to assassinate your father, okay? Don’t be the reckless hero who thinks they’re making a noble sacrifice, when really, they’re making a stupid move. We’ve all read about that person. We don’tlikethat person. Okay?”

“Okay,” I said, my mind still spinning.

Cutting down the fallen to cripple my father’s army—it was so obvious, so painfully simple, I had no idea why it had never crossed my mind before. Maybe because I’d never bothered considering a different strategy. Either way, I was an idiot. A really tired idiot who had dragged a lovesick vampire, a too-smart-for-her-own-good siren, a chaotic imp, and a judgmental cat into the bowels of Hell.

But the more I thought about it, the more this plan took shape. Finally, it felt like we stood a shot. Not to mention, offer me a chance at a little retribution. Any plan that involved killing my father’s fallen, I was down for.

A strong gust of wind swept through the cave entrance, carrying with it the dry, acrid scent of Hell’s air. I instantly reached for Inferno’s Kiss, but my fingers released the hilt when Rathiel flew into the cave.

He landed and immediately folded his wings against his back, his eyes sweeping over me, as though to reassure himself I was fine.

Eliza jerked her head toward Rathiel. When I didn’t move, she sighed dramatically and shoved me hard enough to send me sprawling sideways. My hand shot out to catch myself before I face-planted into the rocky floor, and I glared up at her.

“Go,” she ordered, like I was the difficult one here. “You two need to talk, because I’m not traveling with sulking companions. Sort your shit out while I rescue your sad excuse of a pack.”

I shot a glance at the poor, abused bag and winced. It slumped like it had lost the will to live, half my things spilling out in defeat. Fine. Maybe I’d been a little rough on it.

I stood, brushing the dust off my hands, and turned to find Rathiel staring at me. His tight expression told me he was still angry.

Sighing, I strode toward him and said, “Can we talk? Somewhere private?” I abhorred the idea of having this discussion in front of all the extra ears surrounding us. Vol and Eliza didn’t need to be privy to this conversation.

Rathiel jerked a nod, then without a word, scooped me up and with a crack of his wings, launched us out of the cave and into the air. But instead of down, he carried us higher, to the top of the Blazing Cliffs.

We landed, and Rathiel immediately released me and stepped back, putting space between us.

Oh yeah, someone was pissed.

For a few seconds, neither of us spoke. The wind screamed across the cliffs, carrying with it the scent of sulphur and scorched stone. But between us, the silence was deafening.

Rathiel watched me, his expression blank, but I knew him too well to miss the tension in his jaw, the way his hands curled at his sides like he was waiting for another fight.

But I didn’t want to fight. Not this time.

I sighed and dragged a hand through my hair. “You’re not going to make this easy, are you?”

Rathiel’s brows lifted slightly. “Make what easy?”

“This.” I gestured between us. “Talking. Fixing this. You’re still pissed.”

His wings shifted slightly, his posture rigid. “I have a right to be.”

I blew out a breath and turned, staring at the endless molten sea on the other side of the cliffs. I took a moment to relish the view—it was a sight Earth never could have offered—then faced Rathiel once more. Time to bite the bullet and get this over with.

I scraped my teeth over my bottom lip, hesitating. The words felt foreign, heavy, but I forced them out anyway. “I was wrong.”

That got a reaction.

His head jerked slightly, his eyes narrowing like he was trying to determine if he’d heard me correctly. “Say that again?”

I scowled at him. “Don’t make me repeat it.”

Eventually, a slow, almost disbelieving smile tugged at the corners of his mouth. “I think Hell just got a little colder.”

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