15. Mayhem

15

MAYHEM

“H ow could she be dead?” Ember’s brows drew together, her eyes rounding. “She’s a Holland. She’s powerful enough to survive the transition across the veil. It wouldn’t shred her. It couldn’t. She sent us a letter. She…”

“No one truly survives the transition to Hell.” I reached for her hand, but she pulled away.

“And you’re just now telling me this?” Her voice held a shrill edge. “The whole plan all along was to summon both of them. To bring Discord and Cinder back to this realm and then bring back our parents. Why…?”

“To be fair, I’ve tried to have this discussion with you on several occasions. I?—”

She shot me a fiery glare that cut the words off in my throat. Perhaps now wasn’t the time for my defense.

“So, she’s dead. Stuck in Hell for all eternity?” She rose and gathered our discarded clothes, dropping them into a hamper.

Gods, she was beautiful. Sunlight filtering through the blinds illuminated her fair skin, giving her an ethereal glow. Three faint scars marred her stomach, claw marks, no doubt, but they didn’t take away from her beauty. They showed her strength.

“Hello? My eyes are up here.” She snapped her fingers, drawing me from the trance her exquisiteness had put me into. “Can we bring her back?”

“It’s possible.” I rose and straightened the bedsheets.

“Care to elaborate?” She crossed her arms.

“It’s true a witch of her caliber can retain her corporeal form when she passes through to Hell. I have no doubt your sister’s body remained intact. Your mother’s too. I don’t know your father’s lineage, so his survival is questionable.”

A pained look flashed across her face. “You really need to work on your delivery.”

“I’m sorry. I don’t know how else to put it.” I strode to the dresser and took out a clean set of clothing. “There is hope.”

“What will it take to bring them all back?” She gathered a stack of clothes and strode into the bathroom.

I followed, pausing in the doorway to dress. “Unless you wish to employ a necromancer—and break every law your higher power has created for your kind—their safe passage to this realm will require the most demanding act of magic you have ever cast.”

“I can deal with that.” She shoved her toothbrush into her mouth and scrubbed.

“It will also require Lucifer’s blessing.”

She spat into the sink and rinsed her mouth. “Lucky for us, we have a direct line to the King of Hell. You can call him up and ask, right? Easy-peasy.”

“If only it were.” I joined her in the bathroom to brush my teeth as she finished dressing. “We’ve been absent from our posts for four centuries because of our involvement with a witch. He is angry with us at best. Convincing him to assist us with yet another witch encounter will not be easy.”

She laughed dryly. “Witch encounter? You make us sound like aliens.”

I shrugged. “To our realm, you are.” I brushed my teeth and returned the toothbrush to the stand.

Ember padded to the bedroom and put on her boots. “And if we went the necromancy route, could we bring them back without his blessing?”

“Yes, but you would face the consequences of your Higher Power if you were caught. You would suffer in this life and then face Lucifer’s wrath when your time here is through.”

“We’ll figure it out. I’ll do whatever it takes to save my family.” She strode toward the door and stopped, turning to me and resting a hand on her hip. “Don’t tell them she’s dead. It’s possible to bring her back, so she’s still alive to us. Got it?”

“I do.”

“And don’t mention necromancy or requiring Lucifer’s blessing. Don’t mention anything because we can’t accomplish any of it without the amulet. We have to focus on one thing at a time.”

“Understood. And I will work on my delivery for future bad news.”

She shook her head. “We don’t have time for more bad news. Let’s go scry for the amulet.”

I followed her to the kitchen, where she filled a copper bowl with water before setting it in the center of the table. She gathered candles and herbs and readied the space for scrying while we waited for the others to join us.

Chaos and Ash were the first to arrive, and Ash went straight to the coffee machine, starting the brew before nodding at Ember’s setup. “I need some caffeine in me before we do this.”

We remained silent, listening to the machine rumble as the water dripped into the carafe.

“Oh, good. Coffee,” Miles said as he and Shade entered the room. “I was thinking…”

“Careful…” Ember took six mugs from the cabinet. “Too much of that can get you into trouble.”

He chuckled. “Right?”

Shade sat at the table. “Doesn’t it seem odd that the griffin showed up exactly when it did? It was too random to actually be random.”

“You think someone summoned it?” Ember poured the coffee into mugs and handed one to me.

“It’s just a thought.” Miles carried two mugs to the table and sat next to Shade. “Chrys summoned the basilisk to slow us down. Maybe Adrian or the fae summoned the griffin.”

“I’m still impressed that you fought such a beast.” I poured sugar into my coffee and stirred it with a small spoon before taking my seat at the table. “Taking on the griffin will be easy-peasy.” I winked at Ember as I used her expression.

She fought a grin and sat next to me. “Assuming the griffin still has the amulet. If Ignacus or Adrian summoned it, they could’ve already taken it and sent the griffin on her way.”

“Well, then…” Ash sat down and gulped her drink before holding out her hands. “Let’s find out.”

Ember slipped her palm into mine, but Shade hesitated, his gaze flicking from my face to my hand.

“What’s wrong?” Miles asked, taking Shade’s and Chaos’s hands.

“My energy overwhelmed him in the vault,” I said.

“It didn’t overwhelm me.” He laid a tight fist on the table. “I’m just not used to it like she is.”

“Let’s trade places.” Ember tapped me on the shoulder. “I’ll filter it for you.”

“Perhaps Chaos and I should sit this one out.” I rose and pushed my chair beneath the table.

“We can’t do it without you.” Ember twisted in her seat and grabbed my hand, the desperate look on her face giving me pause, making me want to sit down again and hold her hand. To hold on to her for eternity.

But the only way I knew to make that happen would be whisking her away to the Underworld. I took a breath, imagining the centuries we could spend together. Then I thought of what our passage through…that of a demon prince and an elemental witch…would do to the veil. What it would do to her world and everyone in it.

“Yes, you can.” I tugged from her grasp. “You’ve been scrying without us for years. You don’t need our help.”

Hurt flashed in her eyes, and I quickly continued, softening my delivery. “I say this for your team’s sake. You were built to handle every part of me, my magic included. Think of what it felt like when you channeled Chaos’s power and double it…quadruple it. That’s what it feels like for them.”

She stared at me, not saying a word.

I rested a hand on her shoulder. “Your team needs you to do this without us.”

“You’ve gotten used to the extra power boost,” Shade said, “but once they’re gone, you’ll have to live without it. Might as well get used to it.”

Ember’s neck stiffened, her shoulders drawing inward slightly. She tried to mask her reaction to Shade’s words knifing her heart, but she could not hide her feelings from me. Anger at his callousness simmered in my chest. This was what Ember meant about delivery. Shade had stated a fact about which there was no dispute, but his choice of words and tone of voice had caused my witch unnecessary anguish.

I was tempted to plant my fist on his jaw, but I refrained. Acting on my instincts in such a way would only make our quest harder.

“Shall we, brother?” I motioned toward the door before I lost my ability to abstain.

Chaos stood and rested his hands on Ash’s shoulders, bending to kiss her cheek before following me into the kitchen. “We’ll be downstairs.”

We left the witches to their scrying and descended the steps, stopping in the library. He picked up a stack of tomes and carried them to a bookcase, but he didn’t put them on the shelf. Instead, he set them on the floor and retrieved the feather duster lying haphazardly in the middle of an aisle.

“How did you and Ember stop us all from fighting in the cemetery? Even I felt the urge to make peace when you channeled her magic.” He swiped the feathers across the shelf, making dust billow in the air. Frowning, he dropped the duster and opened a cabinet containing cleaning supplies.

“We mimicked you.” I shrugged and paced in front of the desk. “She held my hand and focused her magic into my mark. It mixed with mine, and I sent it outward. Same as you and Ash.”

My brother sprayed a fine mist onto the shelf and used disposable towels to wipe away the dust. “We can only affect one person at a time. What you did was nothing short of impressive. Good work.”

I opened my mouth, ready to retaliate with a quip, but I closed it again, turning on my heel and pacing away from him. I couldn’t remember a time when he’d paid me a compliment. I had no idea how to respond.

“We must find a way to return to this realm after we mend the veil,” I said. “I cannot exist without Ember. She is as essential as the air I breathe.”

Chaos lined the books on the shelf. “I’ve been considering our options for weeks.” He sprayed another shelf with cleaning fluid and wiped the dust. “The outcome will be grim at best.”

“There must be something we can do.” I continued pacing, clasping my hands behind my back. “The witches belong to us. With us. Fate would not send the missing pieces to our souls only to rip them away. Perhaps Lucifer…”

Chaos laughed dryly. “We’ve been away from our posts for too long. We’ll be lucky to receive his blessing to bring Cinder back.”

My heart sank. “I know.”

Silence descended upon us, only the sounds of my brother’s cleaning and my footsteps filling the room as the gravity of our predicament pressed harder on our shoulders.

If the fate of our eternal happiness rested on Lucifer’s whims, we were…as Ember so eloquently put it…royally screwed.

“I believe he’ll allow Cinder to return for the simple fact that he wants the veil to remain intact,” Chaos finally said. “I highly doubt he’ll allow their parents safe passage. They made a deal with a demon and must face the consequences.”

My stomach soured. “Cinder did as well. Ash and Ember too.”

Chaos stopped cleaning. I stopped pacing. We stood there, our gazes locked, each of us waiting for the other to spout a brilliant solution. My heart sank deeper and deeper, taking a swim in my stomach until the vise yanked it back to my chest, clenching it until I was certain it would burst.

I peered at the floor, willing an idea…or even an inkling of one…to form in my mind. Aside from dropping to our knees and begging Lucifer for mercy, I had nothing.

“I love her.” I forced the words over the lump in my throat.

“I know.” He tossed the towels into a trash bin and sank into the desk chair. “I love Ash too, but the only solution I can think of is taking them to Hell with us.”

“Ember would never agree to that.”

“Neither would Ash. I already asked her.” He opened the drawer and pulled out the small, rolled parchment Cinder had sent across the veil. He used two fingers to unroll it, but he let it go, allowing it to return to its previous state.

“I am sorry for the Cerberus incident,” he said, “and for joining Discord in mocking you. You’ve shown immeasurable restraint in this realm. Your strength is formidable, and I’m proud to call you my brother.”

Again with the compliments. My gut reaction was to throw an insult his way, but I had noticed a change in him as well. Being in this realm had changed us both.

No, the realm had nothing to do with it. “Ember makes me a better man.”

“As Ash does me.” He unrolled the parchment again and scanned the words. “Hopefully Discord has a plan. He’s been in touch with Hecate at the very least.”

I stood behind him and read the letter over his shoulder, scanning the last three sentences repeatedly:

There’s an amulet somewhere on your side. You have to find it and summon Discord so he can return it to its rightful owner. I can’t come home without it.

“He’s already done it.” I leaned forward and tapped the final lines. “The rightful owner is Lucifer. Discord has bargained for Cinder’s safe passage home, and the amulet is the price he’ll pay.”

“Maybe.” Chaos returned the scroll to the drawer. “But the amulet belongs to Hecate as much as it does Lucifer. The goddess has been holding the veil together. Perhaps Cinder bargained with her, promising the amulet in return for her assistance while Ash and Ember complete their quests in this realm.”

My heart sank yet again. That idea made more sense. Hecate was livid when Lucifer lost the amulet to Discord, and she had held the grudge for centuries.

“Speculating is pointless.” I walked the width of the room before turning around and striding back. “At this point, it doesn’t matter to whom Discord plans to give the amulet. We don’t have all of it, so we should focus on retrieving the final piece.”

“Hey, guys,” Ember said, descending halfway down the stairs. “We found it. Come on up.”