Chapter 4

Abby

T he moment I step into the cave, the temperature drops drastically. One moment it's hot as Hell, literally, the next it's ice cold.

Shivering from the chilled air, I wrap my arms around myself, rubbing my hands up and down to try to keep warm.

This place is nothing like I expected. It's beautiful.

Thick layers of ice coat the stone walls giving off this light blue glow and sharp deadly icicles hang from the ceiling.

My boots crunch against the frost forming on the ground as I make my way deeper inside.

The deeper I get, the more this place gives me an off feeling. Allowing my powers to emerge, I shift into my demon form. Fire bursts across my body, my tail emerging as well as my horns.

Worried my hellfire would melt the ice around me, I rein my powers in. Out of curiosity, I take a step towards the wall and run my blazing fingers over it.

The ice is cool against my fingers, the contact making a crackling hiss against my skin. But as I pull my hand away, there's nothing. No melted ice, no marks left behind.

My brows furrow. This is hellfire, it should be able to burn through anything, yet it does nothing. What the hell is this? Is this from one of my father's powers or is this something entirely different?

As I continue on my way, I start to wonder if Beelzebub sent me to the wrong place on purpose, to try and steer me away.

But as I make my way over the slight hill, I slow to a stop, the sight before me causing me to pause.

"Wow," I whisper inawe as I take in the sight before me.

In the center of the massive cave sits the pool of souls.

For the most part, this cave has been silent apart from my own sounds, so silent it has me on alert.

Despite the inner war going on, I stand here, not moving, my breathing soft, when I can hear something.

To my left is a walkway that leads down to the pool. Carefully, I make my way over. As I stand at the edge, looking down, I hear and see the cause of the noise.

Hundreds, if not thousands, of murky grey figures swim around, like fish in a pond.

Souls. All of them are souls.

Each and every one of them was once a person. Human, demon, dark, or fallen angel. Even species from other realms come here when they die, if they're souls are dark enough.

But they don't matter, only one does. Zed.

He's in there, somewhere, and I'm going to find him. I'm not sure how this is supposed to work, but I'll make it.

Bending down, I dip my fingers into the cloudy substance. A sharp pain shoots through my fingers, causing me to hiss and pull them back with a quick yank.

It feels like I held onto an ice cube for too long.

"Fuck," I hiss, shaking out my hand. My fire dances along my fingers, warming them up.

An idea flickers through my mind. With my hand still ignited, I slowly bring it back to the pool. As it slides into the water, but no pain comes.

Huh. So I guess the only way to survive this is if I go in covered in hellfire.

Standing up, I close my eyes and bring forth my powers in full force. My whole body ignites in flames.

Whatever this is, it's not regular water. I'm not sure how long I'll be able to stay under. But I'll stay until I no longer can.

"I'm coming for you, Zed," I whisper into the silent cave before diving head first into the pool.

My flames protect me as I swim deeper and deeper. As I move, I pass figures of souls. They're blurry and not quite whole.

I come to a stop, using my arms to keep me swimming in place as I look around. I try to examine every soul I see, but it's not easy. I can't see very far in front of me.

One swims up to me, shimmering in place. The longer I look, I get flashes of their once full forms, like a flicker of a clear image.

The first one looks like a lower level demon. Using my hand, I wave it off and it scurries away.

One after another comes up to me, getting a little too close for my liking.

It doesn't take long before I'm surrounded. Panic fills me as they swarm me, and I dive deeper to escape.

I'm here for one soul only, no one else will be saved. At least not by me.

I feel like I've been swimming for hours, and I can't find him. Just an endless amount of souls trying to grab onto me in hopes of a free ride out of here.

Closing my eyes, I try to feel for him, for that pull of our bond.

"Zed!" I scream inside my mind. "Zed! I'm here. Give me a sign, anything."

I wait, blinking through the murky water. Nothing.

As my chest starts to grow heavy, I know that I'm not going to be able to stay down here for much longer.

Disappointment and frustration fill me as I start to swim to the top. I'm mad at myself for not finding him. I'm scared that he's down there, lost, afraid, wondering if he will ever be found.

Can souls even think? Do they have feelings?

I don't fucking know. I don't have any idea what the hell I'm doing because the only person who knows about all this stuff won't help me.

I get it; my dad doesn't want to see me get hurt, but doesn't he see that this is causing me more pain? That he could make it all fucking better by reaching in here and grabbing Zed's soul for me.

As I break the surface, I gasp for air. Wiping the water out of my face, I swim to the pool's edge.

"Fuck!" I scream, smashing my fist against the ground. I'm vibrating with anger as I pull myself up out of the pool.

Chest heaving, eyes blazing, I feel like I want to rip this whole fucking cave apart, sending it crumbling down.

Then I see her. Frankie stands a few feet away from me, her face sad, and I feel like I've let her down too. I've let Zed, Libby, and Megan all down.

All the anger leaves my body, my powers retreating, the flame that covers me flickering away until I'm standing there, chest heaving, fists clenched at my side. Tears spill down my cheeks as my failure to find Zed sinks in heavily.

Frankie opens her arms, and I run over to her, allowing her to wrap them around me. She holds me as I cry, whispering sweet words in my ear as she smooths down my hair.

"I tried." I pull back, angrily wiping away my tears. "But it wasn't enough. I can't see shit down there, and there's thousands of souls. It's like finding a needle in a fucking hay stack. I don't know how long I was down there, or how far I managed to get. Fuck!" I run my hands through my hair, grabbing fists full. "If my dad could just fucking help me!"

"Abby, baby. Maybe—"

"Don't." I shake my head. "If you're going to tell me, maybe I need to accept that he's not coming back, don't bother. I'm not going to stop trying. Not when I know there is a way to bring him back. I will come here every fucking day and swim for hours until I find him."

"I wasn't going to say to give up." Frankie steps forward, cupping my face in her hands. Her touch is comforting, needed, and helps melt away a little bit of my anger. "I was going to say maybe I can talk to your dad, get some more information on finding a way to make this process faster. Maybe even convince him to help."

"You would do that?" I ask, my heart racing the longer she touches me. The need to bond her is strong. But now is not the time. Not until I know Zed is safe. Everything else will have to wait.

"I'd do anything for you, Princess." She smiles, leaning in to press a soft kiss to my lips. I let out a contented sigh, kissing her back.

I've craved Frankie's touch for so long. Finding out she was my mate was a big shock, but not an unwanted one. I've liked her pretty much from the moment I saw her.

We haven't had time to really process the bond. After I found out, that's when everything started to go downhill.

"Let's get you back to the castle and cleaned up. I'll see what I can find out," she offers, then laughs. "You look nasty."

My eyes dart down and my nose crinkles when I see I'm covered in a white substance. "Eww."

"Don't worry. I still find you hard to resist." Frankie winks. "But I will, until you're clean."

Despite feeling like a complete failure, Frankie manages to make me smile.

She grabs my hand, lacing her fingers with mine and we walk out of the cave.

At the entrance, I stop and look back over my shoulder. A feeling takes over me, like I'm leaving a part of me behind. "I'm coming back, Zed. And I will find you. Please, hold on."