But maybe Ramael had lied to her. Why not? Lord Lucifer had lied to her.

He'd said her brick had been the one to strike Ramael. Perhaps it had, but others had been tossed across the wall at the same time as hers. He had told her Ramael was dead. He had said Lord Michael had refused to help him, had shoved his body into a gutter. He had told her Adonai had allowed it to happen.

All she had done since-the rebellion, tempting the woman in the garden, her cruelty to the angels in h.e.l.l, her derision of Adonai, cheering on the murder of Abel-all of it had sprung from his lies.

Did Lucifer truly need her? Is that why he had lied to her?

Perhaps. No one else, Lord Lucifer included, had raised a finger against Adonai since they had been in h.e.l.l. Perhaps he felt he did need her and his lies were necessary to secure her a.s.sistance.

Or was Dariel right? Had he simply desired her?

When she thought of Lord Lucifer's lies, when she realized how easily she had believed him, she cried, feeling as if she had been one of the star-struck first-years at the Inst.i.tute who had hung on Lucifer's every word-silly little angels who would have believed Palace Square was paved with candy, had he said it was true. She spent an entire morning hurling rocks against the wall of her cave and screaming curses at Lord Lucifer, not caring who heard her.

Finally, she sat at the mouth of her cave and stared vacantly at the plain. If she refused to eat and starved, would anyone ever know? If she hurled herself headfirst down the mountain, would anyone care?

She began to draw again, making her own paper and ink, as she had before. Portraits of the animals, images of the garden, landscapes, and depictions of the angels in h.e.l.l, all decorated the cave. She worked for weeks on a portrait of Ramael-the Ramael she remembered, not the one with the blank face and the dead eyes. She placed it beside her bed so she could see it when she lay down to sleep and as soon as she awoke.

The world turned cold, then warm again, then hot, and, finally the cool nights she had known when she had first taken refuge in the cave returned, and she knew an entire year had pa.s.sed. She visited the garden regularly. She craved meat, but even if she could kill an animal, she would need fire to cook it, and smoke could be seen for great distances.

For several weeks rain fell every day, and the gullies that lined the mountains became streams, and then rushing rivers. When she went to the garden she would find tiny creatures, frogs, she'd once heard them called, whose entire lives were spent during the rainy season, hatching when the first drops began to fall and laying their own eggs before they died as the rain stopped.

Early one morning, a dust cloud to the east attracted her attention. On a number of occasions during the dry season she had seen dust storms roll across the valley to the west, beyond the garden, blotting out her view of the hills in the far distance, but the cloud she saw now was smaller and it moved slowly toward her. By midmorning, she could make out what she counted as a full company of soldiers. Dariel led the way and they were marching toward h.e.l.l.

Since taking refuge in the cave, she had seen Dariel trek across the plain several times, often with two or three others, but she had never before seen this many soldiers.

The entire company followed Dariel through the portal. Shortly, she heard shouting, and Lord Lucifer's angels began to emerge. While a few seemed to leave willingly, many struggled against the soldiers who hauled them through the portal, others argued and hurled curses, all of them covered their eyes for protection from the blinding light of the noonday sun.

She could clearly see them sitting in a circle on the ground-Beliel and Maliel, Ami and Mia, all of her former students, Beliel's recruits, even Robiel and his followers. h.e.l.l was emptied, and all of its inhabitants were herded through the portal to Earth, thrown to the ground, and their legs bound to prevent them from running.

Lord Lucifer was the last to appear. As he stepped through the portal, the soldiers reached out for him, but he shrugged their hands from his shoulders and swaggered to the center of the group. Adryel could just glimpse the look of contempt he bestowed on Dariel as he sank to the ground.

Leaving a few guards, Dariel and the others reentered the cavern, searching for her, she supposed, inspecting every cavern, every tunnel, looking behind every rock, sticking their heads inside every crevice.

She wanted to laugh at the seriousness with which he was following his a.s.signment. She was so close. Had two of his soldiers simply scaled the slope, she would have been their prisoner.

The fact that a ma.s.sive search continued so long after Abel's murder frightened her. She had expected Dariel to grow weary of failure. She had thought that, since she had not been located in over a year, Michael would conclude she was dead.

It seemed not.

As the day ended, Lord Lucifer and the others were driven back into the cavern, and a stone was placed over the opening. She did laugh as she watched them roll it into place.

Did they truly believe a stone would keep anyone inside? Not that it really mattered. In all of the time she had spent at the mouth of her cave, she had twice observed Ami venturing out, whether in search of Adryel or to torment the humans she did not know. No one else had even stepped through the portal. Certainly Lord Lucifer had not come looking for her.

Adryel had tried to plan for the future, but she knew little of the earth, where she might go, where she might hide. Was Dariel searching everywhere, or did he only search near the portal, returning time after time?

She frequently dreamed of Ramael and the life they'd had. His eyes had been so empty when he had told her she was dead to him. Was he happy now? Had he paired with another? Did he wonder why she had not been found? Did he think of her at all?

She had tried to tell him how sorry she felt. She had wanted to explain what had happened, to tell him she had been wrong about Lord Michael, about Adonai, and about Lord Lucifer. She had wanted him to know she loved him.

As she watched the soldiers march away, Adryel decided that telling him all this was the only thing that mattered to her any longer. She needed to see Ramael, and she needed to go to him on her own, not to catch a glimpse of him as Dariel dragged her through the palace to be judged and sentenced by Lord Michael, not to look up at him from the lake of fire as he stood beside Lord Michael, watching.

The angels had arrived so quickly after Cain's unacceptable offering that their portal must be near the humans' settlement, most likely in the strange little hill where Mari had seen them. She could leave a message at the portal, a promise of surrender, but only to Ramael.

Or she could use the portal herself, and find Ramael in the city.

The next afternoon, Adryel gathered those things she wanted to take on her journey to the city. She did not have much she valued-her water flask, her bag, and her books. During her time in h.e.l.l, she had kept an account of what had happened and what she had done. During the last year, she had recorded her thoughts about Earth, about h.e.l.l, about Lord Lucifer and Adonai, about herself. Perhaps someone would want to read them. Her drawings, she left behind. Except the one of Ramael. That she folded carefully and tucked inside her bag. If things did not go the way she hoped, at least they might allow her to hold on to this picture as she watched the lake fires rise and fall around her for all eternity.

As night fell, Adryel picked her way down the slope and set out for the garden. She knew the route well and, even in the dark, easily found the spot where the wall had collapsed. She walked deep into the garden, stopping beside the river.

As she pa.s.sed the wall, the moon had risen large and round, and she could see the river and the trees along the bank almost as clearly as if it were day.

Her robe was filthy, and it stunk, so she slipped it off and scrubbed it in the river, hanging it over a tree limb to dry. The smell washed away, and much of the dirt, but she could still see the mud stain on her right knee. It had refused to come clean even though it had been washed repeatedly since she had crawled under the pile of straw to hide from Dariel. The robe itself was a dingy gray now, rather than the sparkling white it had been when she had lived in the city.

Adryel lay on the gra.s.s to sleep. She planned to spend the next day in the garden and to set out toward the east after the sun set. She expected to see no one, since the soldiers had just left, and she knew of places she could hide if anyone did appear.

She left the garden at nightfall and traveled quickly, wanting to pa.s.s the humans' settlement before daybreak, since she would not be welcome there. She would need to locate the portal once she reached the hill. Even if she had guessed correctly about the location, she feared it would be well hidden since the angels would not want the humans-or someone like her-to pa.s.s through it, even if only by accident.

It was still dark as she approached the settlement, and she noticed a dull glow over the crest of the hill. Circling around, rather than over itshe had intended to avoid the settlement anyway-she spotted an encampment. Dariel's soldiers had not returned to the city. They slept just outside of the settlement, near the small rise where she believed the portal to be.

She stared at the encampment. The group was even larger than the company she had observed a few days earlier. It appeared to be a full battalion, four companies, at least. Dariel was quite serious about finding her.

Adryel glanced back at the settlement. The sheep were gone. Rotting stalks of grain were bent double in the field. One of the tents had collapsed and a couple of blankets lay balled up where the fire pit had been. The altar was in ruins.

She hurried to the settlement and entered the closest tent, the one that had belonged to Cain's brother. Reaching at the opening, she froze, listening. She detected no voice, no movement, none of the sounds made by one who is asleep. The tent seemed empty.

Pulling open the curtain which hung across the entrance, she peered inside. Most of the interior was shrouded in shadow, and she could make out only a couple of large clay bowls and several blankets piled just inside. She stepped in, tugging the curtain back across the opening, hiding her from any soldier who might pa.s.s by. As she stood in the dark, wondering how she could possibly hunt for the portal in the midst of a camp of armed soldiers who were hunting for her, soft laughter floated from the shadows at the rear of the tent.

Adryel dropped the bag she was carrying and whirled around. She stared into the darkness, straining to see who was hiding there. Her muscles were tense, her right hand raised, ready to strike.

"Well, praise Adonai. You're not dead." Ami's sarcastic voice made her wince. "Of all places, what are you doing here, Mistress?"

Adryel took a deep breath. Ami would willingly call the soldiers' attention.

"Where should I be? Cornered in h.e.l.l like a rat? What are you doing here? And them," she jerked her head toward the soldiers, "what are they doing here?"

"I'm following the soldiers. They are looking for you. Why two days ago. . ."

"They spent most of the day tearing h.e.l.l apart. I know."

Ami raised her eyebrows questioningly.

"I was not far away. I watched all of you huddled at the foot of the mountain, blinded by the light, perspiration pouring from your bodies, nothing to eat, nothing to drink. . .Dariel is so kind isn't he?"

Ami didn't reply.

"Why are they still here?"

"They are here because you outdid yourself. I'll tell you, Lord Lucifer was quite impressed when he learned of your exploits, impressed and so pleased. I was too. Truly." She chuckled. "They really want to find you. Make an example of you so none of us will ever be tempted to play with the humans. Did you truly sleep with one of them?" She smirked. "Must have been an adventure. . .Dariel was quite vexed when he didn't find you, and he has returned to the city for further instructions."

"How do you know all of this?"

"Let's just say I've met some of the soldiers here and I've been very, very nice to them."

"Why are you following them?"

"Why? They must have a portal. I want to know where it is." Ami looked at Adryel questioningly. "And you. Why are you here?"

Adryel didn't reply.

"Just stumbled past and decided to visit?" Her eyes never left Adryel's face. "You're looking for it too," Ami exclaimed. "The portal. You want to find it so. . .Why would you want to find the portal? Unless. . ." Her eyes lit up. "You miss home? You miss Ra-ma-el?"

Ami began to laugh. "Pity. Pity. Pity. You can't go back. You'll never, ever see Ra-ma-el again," she sang.

Adryel glared at her.

"You've spent almost four hundred days hiding from Dariel. You are not planning to throw yourself at Lord Michael's feet and beg for mercy, are you?" She paused, watching Adryel's face. "You are! How funny."

A smile spread across Ami's face, and Adryel wanted to slap it off, but she held her arm.

"He won't, you know. Give you mercy. Do you remember Pariel?"

Adryel shook her head. "Not really."

"The soldiers tell me he tried to get back to the city. Found the portal, climbed through it. Found himself about ten miles from the north gate. Guess what happened." Ami vibrated with excitement.

Adryel shook her head.

"Oh, guess. Go ahead."

"The. . .wild dogs ate him."

"A real danger, to be sure, and I'll guess he wished they had." Ami laughed. "No. He waited until a caravan arrived and slipped through the gate with them. But," she raised a finger, "the guards had been watching him since he appeared on the plain. They cornered him as he entered the city, dragged him directly to Lord Michael." She shook her head, looking sad. "He tossed Pariel into a dungeon. Did you even know there was a dungeon in the palace? Left him in it for four days. No food. No water. . .Just terrible." She sighed.

"That night, they carried him into the square. Five thousand angels stood watching as Michael cut his head off. . .Actually, he hacked it off. Took him half an hour."

"You're such a liar."

Ami smiled. "Maybe. Maybe not. You'll never find out though."

Adryel sighed now. She was tired of listening. "Why not?"

"You'll never get to the city."

"You're sure?"

"Yes. I'm sure. You see, once you step through the portal, well, it's the line you cannot cross, you know. I'll report back. . .Have you ever seen Lord Lucifer really angry?"

"Once."

It had been her first night in h.e.l.l. Lord Lucifer had taken her to his room, and in the middle of the night a drunken angel, one of the students, had wandered in, flopping on the bed beside her. Lucifer's screams had awakened the entire company. He then tossed the poor boy all the way to the lake.

"I'll stand across the cavern when I tell him." Ami walked around the opening to stand in front of Adryel. "He'll send Beliel after you. He'll pick up your scent and run you to ground before sun up tomorrow. He's wanted the chance to be alone with you for so long. He'll finally have it. . .Then he'll carry you back to h.e.l.l.

"You were on Earth, I think, when Yariel tried to run." Ami shook her head. "Lord Lucifer a.s.sembled the entire company, and we all watched as he dropped poor Yariel into a pot of boiling oil. One horrific scream and it was done." She threw her hands open in a gesture of completion.

"You missed the lesson. . .Now, Yariel was of no account. I doubt Lord Lucifer knew his name even." She leaned close to Adryel. "But you. . .your desertion will hurt. Losing the Mistress of h.e.l.l. . .that will hurt. As a result, you'll have to hurt. Badly."

"But you won't make the report."

"Why would I not?" Ami raised her eyebrows in surprise.

"Reporting me does nothing for you, and it may hurt you. Badly." Adryel paused.

"Go on."

"You may have some pleasure from seeing me suffer, true. But what if Lord Lucifer decides to kill the messenger?"

"No, he. . ."

"What if he blames you? Why didn't you force me to go back with you, he'll ask. Did you know about my plans? Or he may simply begin to think of me whenever he sees you. You'll find yourself exiled to the edge of the lake." Adryel stared into her eyes. "Though, Mia might be pleased," she whispered.

She continued before Ami could reply. "If you say nothing, you'll return to his bed." She laughed at Ami's expression. "Of course I know you sub for me when I'm away, but every morning for the past year when you've awakened, you've wondered, 'Will she be back today? Will I be with Beliel tonight?' But if I go through the portal, return to the city, then no matter what happens to me, you'll know I'm never coming back."

Through the Portal.

Early the next morning, before the soldiers had awakened, Adryel opened the tent's flaps just enough to peer out and confirm she was surrounded. To reach the hill where she believed the portal to be located, to retreat to her cave, to go anywhere, she would need to pa.s.s numerous campfires and dozens of soldiers. All of them would question the presence of a female, and some of them might well recognize her. Her best hope was that they would leave during the day, either be recalled to the city or sent off to search for her in some other location.

By noon, the sun beat down on the tent. Even though the night had been cool and she had wrapped a blanket around her body when she lay down to sleep, Adryel now felt as if she had camped next to the lake of fire. With the flaps closed, not a whiff of air moved inside the tent, and she found it difficult to breathe. Perspiration flowed down her body and soaked her robe.

She started at every sound, no matter how small or far away. After avoiding Dariel and his soldiers for over a year, the thought of being surrounded by them made her stomach churn. A soldier could enter the tent at any time, without a reason. She berated herself for not searching for the portal the night she had arrived, rather than inspecting the humans' camp, but she had been so surprised at finding the soldiers that she had not been able to formulate a plan.

Ami sat in a corner, staring vacantly at a pile of animal skins in the rear of the tent. Adryel had feared she would go out and talk with the soldiers, perhaps bring one back to the tent. She didn't even approach the opening, though, indicating to Adryel that Ami, too, feared the soldiers and felt trapped in the tent. Quite likely she had exaggerated, or lied, when she had reported flirting with them.

She shared her water with Ami and offered her a piece of fruit.

"It's not poison," she said when Ami hesitated to swallow the water. "I just drank some of it."

They heard the soldiers moving around the campsite, and a group of them sat just outside the tent, eating their midday meal and grousing about their a.s.signment.

"Can you believe the humans actually lived in these fleapits?" One of the soldiers slapped the side of the tent. "I stepped into one of them and almost pa.s.sed out from the stench." He coughed. "And the heat. It was sweltering. How do they survive in this heat? It's as hot as. . .well, as hot as it was in h.e.l.l."