Chapter 6: Lana

T he gates in front of us look creepy as fuck. Gargoyles are perched on wide stone columns, and the dark, misshapen ironwork is topped with spikes. Not to mention that this area of Hell is so foggy, you could cut it with a knife.

"Is that blood?" Liam asks, a note of apprehension in his voice. He unsheathes his sword with a soft rasp of metal over leather.

I step closer and eye the oozing liquid. "Yep. Definitely blood." Not all that shocking seeing we're looking at the gates to a graveyard in Hell. I use a booted foot to nudge at one leaf, opening it just wide enough for us to enter. Jess bounces on her feet nervously. It's not that I'm immune to the creep factor myself, but we were told there are soul manifestations here, so in we must go.

Simone sidles up to me quietly and continues with the conversation our arrival at the gates stopped. "Can you talk to him again, please?"

By ‘him', she means Maalik. And I'm the one she's asking because the brute in question chose me to lead our group, a decision that baffled me. I don't want to be responsible for the deaths of five people with whom I bonded in training. Apparently, that's exactly the reason why I'm the best woman for the job – words delivered with that sadistic grin of his we've all come to loathe. The bastard. I can't say we don't respect him though; everything he does is to ensure we have the best fighting chances possible.

This is the last mission we're doing together as a team before he sends us all out on a solo patrol, to see if we can handle it both physically and mentally. It's not the same when you don't have anyone watching your back or diverting you from wondering if you're about to be shredded by demons.

"I really did try, honey." I eye the tall tombstones and the bones scattered before them. Were the bodies just not buried in the first place, or did something dig them up? "We all have to do the solo patrol."

Simone's fighting skills have definitely improved, but she's not quite as confident as everyone else. "I don't know why they want me out here. I'm better at healing, anyway," she pouts.

I throw her a sympathetic look which turns into a cringe as the sound of bones snapping under my foot echoes among the tombs. Soul manifestations won't run from us, seeing as they don't have a brain to think with, but we encounter demonic minions as often as those ethereal forms.

"I know. And I'm going to fight to have you stay at the keep and help Daniel with post-patrol injuries."

Simone sighs and nods with resignation. "Okay."

"Oh, Great Leader."

I glare at Ethan. "Don't call me that, fuckwit."

Ethan gives me a shark's smile, then points to the right with his sword. Damn it, I didn't even notice the amalgamation of souls hovering by a dilapidated tomb. At least I think I would have noticed if there were demons around. Now that we know what to look for, it seems my internal Spidey sense is sharper than anyone else's.

"Do the honors, then." I bow and sweep my arms in a grand gesture. Ethan bounces on his feet, then withdraws a throwing knife. He takes a second to aim and the knife sails towards the manifestation, flying straight through it.

That's enough, though, as all that's needed is Celestial metal interrupting the bonds holding the blob together. The souls given form dissipate. Since souls can't be killed, being eternal and all, no one's quite sure what happens to them. Maybe they end up in the Fiery Pits with Lucifer. Maybe they're reincarnated in the mortal realm and given a second chance. My guess is as good as anyone's. Except, you know, God and the big D's.

I snicker, wondering if the Devil has a big dick. Bet he does. Liam looks at me like I've lost my mind. Little does he know, it's not lost – I purposefully misplaced it years ago.

I whistle to myself as I lead my friends deeper into the demonic burial grounds. We rarely encounter more than one target in an outing. This should be an easy, if morbid stroll, and we're not so far from Purgatory that we can't walk home and be there in time for dinner.

I freeze between one step and another. Clearly, I haven't learned my lesson when it comes to jinxing myself.

"What is it?" Kevin asks, looking around and trying to discern any shapes that don't belong through the fog. Good luck with that, with all the creepy statues.

"Demons," I whisper, and take a step back.

Liam's serious voice sounds to my left. "I feel them, too."

"So, we fight them," Ethan shrugs, unconcerned.

"Don't be so blasé," Jess hisses.

"All of you shut up and run," I command through gritted teeth. This isn't good. "They're not weak and there's too many of them."

Ethan frowns, but to his credit, he doesn't argue. Just as we clear the gates, a high-pitched shriek chills our bones, and we dumbly stop.

"W-what do you think it is?" Simone stutters.

"Too damned close, that's what it is." Ethan's words spur us back into movement.

I sense it before I see it, a figure running parallel to us in the fog, darting between the skeletal trees. Before I can decide what to do, it changes its trajectory, now on a course straight toward us.

"Jess, duck!" I shout and she immediately drops, leaving room for Liam's sword to slash through the air at hip height. The creature dodges the blow and cocks its head as it reassesses us.

It's taller than us and has four arms, two on each side. Or it has some sort of arm-like appendages, at least, seeing as they don't end with a hand, but instead curve into a giant hook-like claw. The rest of its features are what we've come to expect from demons: slimy and scaly black skin, super bendy joints, and a teardrop-shaped head sporting a gaping mouth full of razor-sharp teeth and black voids where eyes should be. From Corson's lessons on Hell and demonology, I know they call demons like this one raptors.

Jess rolls closer to the rest of the group and pops up, face set in grim determination.

"Declaw it, then we go for the neck," I order, and we position ourselves into a flanking formation, hours of training having honed our muscle memory to perfection.

As soon as the creature charges, Ethan lifts his weapon into an undercut, aiming for the lowest of the demon's arms on his side. The angelic steel slices through the limb like a knife through butter. As the raptor shrieks in outrage and pain, Simone throws a shuriken at its open maw. It lodges in the back of its mouth – and now it's really mad. Flailing wildly, it runs at us, its hooks audibly slicing the air. We're forced onto the defensive, ducking and dodging, Liam even parrying once or twice, but the claw seems to be made of strong chitin, thick enough to deflect weapons of angelic make.

Finally, Jess drops to her knees and takes off one of the demon's legs, rolling once again before the off-balance demon can collapse onto her. Liam lifts his sword and decapitates the wailing creature, the severed head landing on the ground a second before the rest of its body follows.

"That's one way to do it," I sniff, and run a hand over my sweaty face. "We better go before the rest of them come; it's a miracle they haven't heard this one's screams."

Sweeping my gaze over my crew, I check for visible injuries. I then sheath my swords before we take off towards Abaddon with a story to tell.

???

My first solo patrol went well. In fact, I didn't encounter anything scarier than an imp. I was looking forward to hearing how it went for the rest of my team, but one never made it home.

"It's your fault!"

Everyone is gathered in the atrium, and I'm sitting on a step gripping my hair in a nightmare case of déjà vu. Only this time, we're not having our realities shattered by the truth of our existence. We're here because Simone isn't.

Nick is yelling at me and practically foaming at the mouth with fervor. Like I don't feel guilty enough already. If only I'd tried harder to tell the Fallen that Simone was not ready to be out there alone.

"Please," Kevin sneers at him. "You're only upset we can't find her because she's not here for you to perv over."

We all went out looking for her, even the Fallen. Akira, Corson's team leader and the best of his sleuths, tracked her a couple of hours west, towards the direction of Acheron, miles away from where she was meant to go. Her tracks then disappeared, as if she had simply vanished. No one here is strong enough to use the ether for travel like that, and there were no signs of anyone else being with her.

We've been awake for over a day, and our nerves are frayed, the uncertainty mocking us.

"A few months as team leader and you already manage to lose a member – what does that say about you?" Nick's ignoring the glares everyone is throwing at him, which includes his team leader, Darla. Everyone knows he's salty about the fact a woman got the nod from Ramel, their Fallen instructor. Only a couple of his gorilla-shaped friends are standing with him, arms crossed and looking like they're a hair's breadth away from violence.

"Simone was as prepared for this patrol as the rest of you," Ramel snaps. "Whatever she encountered is something none of you would have been able to overcome."

"So, what now?" I croak, my voice rough from tension and from shouting Simone's name all night.

"We will ask the Council for aid." Daniel's voice is soothing, and I nod like I don't realize it's pointless. What will they do, these mysterious angels and demons who set laws which Hell is only half pretending to follow? If a higher-tier demon killed her, we'll never know.

My team clusters around me, their faces drawn with exhaustion and worry. Jess is silently crying, her face unmoving with grief. She looks like she's too exhausted to sob, but the pain doesn't care – it finds a way out.

Maalik looks at us and sighs. "Try to get some rest."

Despite his alien eyes, it's obvious to me he feels heavy with remorse. Maybe he's thinking he should have listened to me as well. At least I hope he's thinking that and feels guiltier than I do.

"No more solo patrols for a while," Corson tells us, the other fallen angels agreeing with nods. "Pairs at the least."

With the gathering finished, I stand up and turn toward the hallway which leads to my bedroom. I don't blame Maalik in the end. Ramel was right. Simone was capable of handling herself. Logically, I know I shouldn't be blaming myself, either. What ifs and should haves are a bitch, though. Maybe Nick is right. Maybe Maalik made a mistake by picking me to lead this team.

Once in my room, I wash the dust off in a perfunctory way and crawl into my bed naked, too mentally and physically exhausted to bother with dressing. My last thought is that perhaps I should be a bit more optimistic. Maybe the Council can do something and Simone will come back, shaken but unharmed. Maybe tomorrow, maybe the day after.

I was never very good at lying to myself, though.