Page 40 of The River of Hatred

I look up at him with wide eyes. “Could he have? Do we know which big bad made which bolgia?”

Sadly, he shakes his head in negation. “Nah. And Ash never told me. Maybe he even forgot, who knows? Can’t be easy being older than the dinosaurs.”

I choke on an inhale. “My friend’s being boned by someone who’s older than T-Rex?”

My choice of words makes his grin reach his eyes for a change. “Again, who knows? He either won’t or can’t tell us how old he is either.”

“I don’t think I’d still bother with sex after a few thousand years.” I shrug. “I mean, it has to get boring right? I’d probably even get tired of pizza after a few hundred years of eating it every day, and I love pizza with a passion that cannot be contained.”

Sariel snorts while Ithuriel turns his eyes heavenward. I love teasing them. Their reactions are unique. Predictable but still enjoyable.

“I’d never let that happen, poppet.” Is he talking about pizza or sex? “If you ever feel like giving up on sex, call me and I’ll rock your world.”

I give him a droll look. “Do I dial oh eight hundred S-A-R-I-E-L?”

“No.” His smile turns smug. “Use smoke signals. Or Morse code. It’s dotdotdot-dotdash-dotdashdot-dotdot-dot-dotdashdotdot-dotdotdot-dash-dotdotdotdot-dot-dashdotdotdot-dot-dotdotdot-dash-dot-dotdotdot-dash-dotdotdotdot-dashdotdotdot-dot-dotdotdotdash-dot-dotdashdot.”

Ithuriel frowns disapprovingly, but the Morse code was too fast for my brain to catch up. “Wait, wait, wait! Do it again.”

The angel sighs. “Please, do not.”

Thankfully the Fallen doesn’t listen and this time I sound the letters out. “Sa… riel… is… the… best… lover? Lame.”

The best lover looks affronted. “It’s the truth. I did a survey and every single partner said ‘oh, oh, Sariel, right there, yes, you’re the best’ right before they came.”

I throw my head back and laugh, the sound drowning out the shrieks of the burning sinners in the trench below.

“I was told never to trust anything anyone says when in the throes of an org– wait, Itha, where are you going?”

“Away from you two Jezebels,” the departing angel throws over his shoulder.

Sariel chuckles and wraps his arm around me, the gesture as familiar as it is welcome after days in the trenches. “Don’t worry about him,” he says, tilting his chin toward the silver-haired beauty as we begin to follow. “Hey, how’d you know Morse code anyway?”

“I was a girl scout,” I say proudly, puffing out my chest.

The Fallen scoffs. “Of course, you were. Rich white chick. Gotta get those college credits while still in diapers.”

I pinch his arm, naked due to him wearing only his typical leather vest. I’ll probably wish I was wearing less in a moment, too; the flames are getting closer with each step we take, overtaking the horizon.

“I’m over this place, Sar.” I suddenly feel exhausted. Maybe it’s heat exhaustion? “I feel like we’ve been in the Maleboge for months. You know we’ve hardly been eating since we’re low on food and nothing freaking grows here except shit mushrooms.”

He squeezes my shoulders with a chuckle just as Ithuriel drops back to join us at my other side. “We’re almost through the trenches, Jessica,” he soothes me with his clear, serious voice.

Sariel nudges me and I bump into the angel. “I know,” he says. “What’s the first thing you’re gonna eat once we get to the human realm?”

It takes a moment for his words to penetrate – I haven’t even been thinking about what’s at the end of this proverbial tunnel, we’ve been so occupied with surviving it. “You mean, you have human money?”

The dark-haired trickster scoffs. “Do I have money? I’m one thousand five hundred years old. If I hadn’t accumulated cash I’d be an idiot. Or an angel.” He smirks at Itha who gives him a droll look.

“What would an angel do with money? We do not indulge in any human needs or pleasures.”

As we reach a crossroads of flames, I have to intervene. “As much as I’d love to hear Sariel’s sure-to-be funny answer to that question, I think we should start paying attention to where we’re going, boys.” I point to the flaming fork in the road. “Which way do we go? If we get lost in here, I’m gonna start taking bites out of you two.”

Sariel ruffles my hair. “While you’ll definitely be taking us into that wicked mouth of yours, chewing hopefully won’t be involved.” The angel and I both blush, Itha muttering some choice epithets, while the Fallen continues. “No worries, though, I memorized the way while we stood above the trench.”

“So did I,” Ithuriel pipes in.

“Great,” I huff, swiping away a lock of hair that got stuck to my cheek. “Where to?”

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