"You're thinking about him, aren't you?" Jake's voice cut through my reverie like a blade. "I don't blame you. He would never have done anything so stupid-he at least protected you. You must despise me now more than you ever did."

"I don't want to spend my last hours being angry, Jake," I said. "What's done is done-there's no point blaming you now."

"I promise I will fix this, Bethany," he said fiercely. "I won't let them harm you." His refusal to accept the reality in front of us was becoming irritating.

"Look, I know you're used to calling the shots and all," I said. "But even you can't change this."

"We could run," Jake muttered, talking rapidly as his mind desperately searched for solutions. "But all the exits here are guarded. Even if we managed to outsmart the guards we wouldn't get far. Maybe I could bribe one of them to let us into the Wasteland ..."

I wasn't really listening. I didn't want to hear his far-fetched ideas and I wished he would just be quiet for a while.

"We still have time before dawn," Jake continued, talking to himself now. "I'll come up with something."

23.

Blood Sports WHEN the Hades' dawn broke, I wasn't prepared for it and neither was Jake. Voices outside in the hall blasted through the silence and jolted us both out of our trance-like states. I was surprised to find I hadn't closed my eyes all night. I was still sitting stiffly under the covers, with my knees drawn up to my chin. Jake sprang up from his position on the couch, glaring at the door with a venomous expression.

"They're here," he announced in a voice full of doom.

When the door opened it revealed an entourage that included Diego, Asia, and several other demons I only vaguely recognized. No less than four hulking bodyguards accompanied them.

"Sure you've got enough backup there?" Jake growled, his dark eyes flashing with fury.

"Big Daddy anticipated you might put up a fight," Diego gave him a lopsided grin and flicked his head in my direction. "Take her."

The tank-like guards stormed into the room and soon I felt their vast hands close around my forearms, hauling me easily out of bed like a rag doll. I was still barefoot and in my nightgown. I stumbled when they tied my wrists roughly together with rope and used it to pull me unceremoniously across the room.

"Don't manhandle her!" Jake took a step toward me and the other demons sprang, immediately closing in on him. It was appalling to see his brothers and sisters turn on him so quickly. In the chaos, he disappeared from view and all I could hear was a chorus of vicious snarling and spitting. The fear was beginning to well up in me now and I couldn't stop myself from shaking.

"Beth!" I could hear Jake calling to me, his voice filled with desperation. "Beth, I won't let them go through with it!" But I didn't believe him and I could tell he didn't either. All conviction was gone from his voice.

The guards pushed me roughly down the passage and headed for the lobby. The others followed, casually chatting among themselves. When I caught her eye, Asia winked at me. In the lobby, Tucker appeared out of nowhere, his face a mask of distress. I could tell from the haunted look in his eyes that he'd heard the news. I tried not to look at him as we passed. I didn't want to make him feel any worse.

"Beth!" he yelled as the procession passed him. He lunged forward, trying to fight his way through the throng of demons to reach me. Nash snapped his fingers, and with a sickening crunch, Tuck's legs buckled beneath him. He cried out and I heard the sharp crack of bones breaking as he crumpled to the ground. I craned my neck to look back at him as I was shoved through the revolving glass doors.

"It's okay, Tuck," I called. "I'll be okay!" I glared furiously at Nash, who was striding casually alongside me. "Fix him," I said in a thin voice. "Your vendetta against me has nothing to do with him."

"You're really not in a position to be making demands," Nash replied pleasantly.

A fleet of black Escalades was waiting for us in the tunnel outside the hotel. I was bundled brusquely into the front one, sitting between Asia and Diego. Up close, they reeked of cigarette smoke, hard liquor, and pungent perfume. I slid down in my seat and tried to regulate my breathing, telling myself I wasn't truly going to die. Something would happen; someone would come to my rescue. They had to.

"Take us to the Ninth Circle," Diego told the driver. "And take the back route."

"At least you get to check out from Big Daddy's pad," Asia told me. "How's that for VIP treatment?"

I bit my lip and didn't respond. I focused on the gliding of the car as it sped through the pockmarked underground tunnels of Hades. The fear had crept from my belly into my chest now and was snaking its icy fingers up my throat, cutting off my air supply. I swallowed hard, determined not to give them the satisfaction of seeing me lose control.

To get to the Ninth Circle we had to travel deeper underground and when the cars stopped I saw that we were in a vast and ancient amphitheater at the very core of the earth, its center strewn with red sand. The stands were packed as if the entire populace of Hades had been invited to witness this momentous event. Lucifer and the seven other Originals occupied the sheltered seats in the highest tier, where they watched the proceedings with zeal, as if they were expecting a show. Human servants refilled their goblets and offered platters of food. On a raised platform in the center of the arena rose a tall wooden stake. Its base had been driven into the ground. A pile of dry sticks and straw had been arranged in a pyramid around it. The flammable material reached halfway up the stake, around where I calculated my waist would be.

The executioner was not a hooded medieval figure as I'd expected but a man in a business suit, his clothes so understated he might have passed for a bank clerk. It was only his sunken gray cheeks and colorless lips that made him look like death personified. When his scabby hands reached for me my skin crawled at his cold touch. Although he was withered looking I was no match for his wiry strength. He untied my wrists and pinned my arms behind me so that I was pressed against the stake. I remained motionless as he used even thicker ropes to bind my arms, waist, and feet to the stake. He pulled the ropes so tight they chafed and cut into my skin. The sticks and straw bit at my bare feet and ankles, but I couldn't move an inch. The crowd watched the proceedings with a sense of mounting excitement. I tried to keep my eyes turned upward and to dissociate myself with what was happening to my body. But I couldn't keep my thoughts from taking a gruesome turn. How long would it take for a victim to burn-minutes or hours? Did the body burn in sections from the feet up? Would I pass out from the pain before my skin began to melt? Would physical burning or asphyxiation be the actual cause of death?

When he was satisfied that I was securely tied, the executioner stood back to survey his work. Someone in the crowd passed him a rusty can of gasoline and he began to douse the straw with it. The caustic smell wafted up and burned my nostrils. My heart was beating so fast, I thought it would explode through my rib cage. The metallic taste of fear filled my mouth, but I didn't cry out, scream, or beg for mercy. My mind and body were churning relentlessly, but I didn't let the terror show on my face.

"This," the executioner croaked in my ear, "is what happens to those who serve the wrong master. Heaven's gone bankrupt, haven't you heard?" He jumped off the platform.

Lucifer rose to his feet and the crowd fell instantly silent. He looked around for a moment, his eyes seeming to absorb everything, down to the last minute detail. He didn't speak, just slowly raised his hand as a signal for the execution to begin.

It was the simplest, most casual gesture, but it resulted in the crowd letting out an uproarious cheer. His power over them was absolute. It was frightening to watch how they both feared and adored him. When he motioned for silence the result was instantaneous and every sound was extinguished as if someone had flicked a switch. A deep hush fell over the crowd as the executioner struck a long match, held it aloft for a moment, and then dropped it with a theatrical sweep of his arm onto the gasoline-doused construction. The flames roared up with lightning speed. From his seat, I saw a smile of satisfaction cross Lucifer's face while Jake thrashed desperately against the demons restraining him. Asia was biting her lip, but only to keep her excitement in check.

The flames rose around me like a hundred hungry mouths, quickly devouring the sticks and straw at the base of the stake. I squeezed my eyes tight shut, waiting for the suffocating heat, the inevitable agony to start. I sent a quick prayer to My Father, not in the hope of being spared but seeking forgiveness for all my failings. Then I waited for the flames to do their work.

I felt nothing. Had the torture begun but I was in too much shock to notice? Several more moments passed without any change. I looked around to see coils of flame leaping in every direction ... only they weren't touching me. The flames rose and seemed to part around me so that two columns of fire burned on either side of my body. But I was not burning. Not even a strand of my hair was singed. All I felt was a warm prickling sensation as the fire snaked around me. My flesh should have been melting from my bones, but the fire refused to harm me. If it chanced to touch my skin it seemed to bounce off and veer in a new direction. It was as though I were wearing invisible armor. For one fleeting moment, I thought I heard a choir of angels singing. The sound was gone in an instant, but it was long enough for me to know I hadn't been abandoned.

It took a while for the spectators to realize what was happening. Once they did the cheers changed to howls of disappointment. Some shook their fists to indicate how cheated they felt. In the VIP stand Jake had stopped struggling and stared at me in open wonder. Lucifer looked momentarily confounded and then rose slowly to his feet, eyes flashing. Speculative whispers broke out all around the amphitheater.

I couldn't believe what was happening. Could this be the work of Heaven protecting me? Had someone enchanted the flames or was it my own powers keeping me safe? I had no idea, but I murmured hasty thanks to whatever higher power had chosen to spare my life. One look at Lucifer's face told me how humiliated he felt before all those assembled. He'd intended my death to demonstrate his power and I had unwittingly shown him up. The flames seemed to be subsiding around me now.

"Cut her loose," he commanded in a voice like steel.

The executioner obeyed, climbing the platform and wielding an axe to hack through the ropes, which were too hot to touch. Once free, I stepped out of the fire completely unmarked. As soon as I did, the flames rose up to devour the wooden frame, which was quickly charred to cinders.

"What the hell is going on?" Asia leapt forward, looking wilder than ever. She whipped around to face Jake. "She should be fried to a crisp! What did you do?"

"Nothing ..." I thought I heard Jake's voice tremble. "I ... I don't know what happened."

"Liar!" Asia screamed.

"Silence." Lucifer held up a ringed finger. "Arakiel had no hand in this. It seems the angel has been holding out on us. Her powers are greater than we know."

"What now?" someone asked.

Lucifer's listless blue gaze met mine and this time I didn't flinch away.

"Arakiel," he said tonelessly. "Kindly escort Miss Church to the chambers until we decide what to do with her."

As it turned out the "chambers" were Hell's version of a prison cellblock and they made Hotel Ambrosia look like paradise. The bodyguards hustled me out of the arena into a car and before I knew it I was being thrust into a space in the wall barely large enough to contain me. It was made of rough, cracked stone and rusted iron bars secured the entrance. When I sat down, my elbows scraped against the walls and my legs began to cramp after five minutes. There was total darkness in the chambers, but strange noises like the shuffling of feet and the clanging of metal pipes filtered through, along with mute cries of despair. The smell of damp was overwhelming.

Once the bodyguards left I heard Jake's voice through the bars. Although I could barely see him I could hear the mixture of relief and confusion in his voice.

"How did you do it?" he asked in a hushed tone. I heard his rings clink as he wrapped a hand around the bars. "Tell me the truth."

"I don't think it was me."

"Well, don't admit that to anyone, got it?" Jake said sharply. "It's the only bargaining chip we've got left."

"What are you going to do?"

"I don't know yet, but I'll speak to my father-try and persuade him to let you go. Maybe things will be different now he's seen how special you are."

I didn't respond-I was too drained from the day's ordeal. "Leave it to me," Jake said.

A few moments later I heard his retreating footsteps and I was left alone in the darkness.

24.

Tennessee Blues WITH Jake gone, there was only one way to take my mind off my physical discomfort. I shoved all troubling thoughts out of my head and focused on projection. I squeezed my eyes shut, willing my thoughts to shift away from this nightmarish place. The transition happened easily, like flipping a channel in my head. There was a rush of wind and then I had the feeling of my body dropping away like a stone as I rose in my spectral form. Before the darkness cleared, a voice reached me, distant at first but growing clearer. I could feel the familiar chug of an engine beneath me and smell leather mixed with sandalwood. I would have known that smell anywhere. It belonged to a certain 1956 Chevy Bel Air convertible. I felt the knot of tension in my chest instantly unravel and I breathed a deep sigh of relief. I was in Xavier's car.

As my astral form took shape, I realized I was hovering in the backseat of the Chevy between Xavier and Molly. They seemed to be angled as far away from each other as was physically possible, both gazing sullenly out the windows at the passing landscape. Any rift mending that had occurred in the last few hours had evidently been only temporary. Ivy and Gabriel were sitting tight-lipped up front, clearly relieved to be at some distance from whatever dispute was in progress. As I watched the highway speeding by, I realized that we were in unfamiliar territory. My family must have already left Venus Cove far behind them. They sure weren't wasting any time.

"We're almost there," Gabriel said sounding like a parent hoping to placate restless children. His voice, deep and resonant, reminded me of a low chord strummed on a guitar. Hearing his voice triggered a sharp pang of nostalgia for the way life used to be before Jake showed up and shattered everything. "We're about to cross the Tennessee state line."

"I don't see why we couldn't have gone by plane like all normal people," Molly grumbled.

"We weren't going to fly to cross one state," Ivy replied calmly, though I could sense that her patience was wearing thin. Molly shifted and her elbow went right through my rib cage. The sensation was uncomfortable like a bar of heat spearing through my side. I guessed it was the life force of her human body colliding with my spectral form. I automatically wriggled away from her.

"Ugh, I knew I shouldn't have eaten all those Junior Mints on the way over here," Molly complained rubbing her stomach. I noticed she was wearing pink sweatpants and a matching cropped hoodie. Her auburn curls were pulled up into a high ponytail on top of her head and a hot pink duffel bag had been shoved under the seat in front of her. I couldn't suppress a smile, knowing that Molly would claim she'd dressed sensibly for the occasion. Nobody responded to her comment. I supposed there wasn't much to say about Junior Mints when your mind was preoccupied with demonic kidnappings and apocalyptic signs. The Chevy coasted along the highway and Xavier laid his forehead against the window. He looked edgy, like he needed to be doing something more than lounging in the back of a car.

I peered through the window and watched the Georgia countryside fly by. I was struck by how scenic it was. The earth seemed to have a life of its own and lush forestland spread out before us like a cloak. Vivid red maples grew thick and fast, forming shady canopies where their branches interlocked. I caught sight of butterfly weed and delicate purple prairie clover among the velvet greenery. As we traveled I watched as the earth became carpeted with sycamore twigs. The sky above us looked vast and open, only a handful of clouds scudded lazily across it, like lilies drifting across a clear blue pool. Things seemed simpler out on the open road and I felt close to the natural world. I was reminded of my old home in the Kingdom. Something about this place made me feel more connected to it than I had in a long time. I let out a heavy sigh and Xavier, who'd been resting against the window, sat up straight and glared at Molly.

"What?" she demanded when she noticed him staring at her.

"Please don't do that," Xavier said.

"Do what?"

"Breathe in my ear like that."

Molly looked insulted. "What kind of freak do you think I am? Why would I want to blow in your ear?"

"I said breathe."

"Oh, I see, so I'm not allowed to breathe now?"

"That's not what I meant."

"You do realize, I'll suffocate if I'm not allowed to breathe."

Xavier leaned forward. "Seriously, guys, let me drive," he implored. "Someone else can sit back here and be tortured."

"I'm not even talking!" Molly protested angrily.

"You're talking now," Xavier groaned.

"We'd be there already if we'd gone by plane."

"The pilot would have crashed after five minutes of listening to you talk."

"It'd still be safer than driving around in this old bomb."

"Hey!" Xavier could not have looked more offended had someone insulted his manhood. He always got worked up when people took shots at his car. "It's vintage."

"It's a vintage pile of crap. I don't know why we couldn't take the Jeep."

I'd been wondering that myself. I got the feeling that taking the Chevy had been Xavier's idea. Maybe it made him feel more connected to me. We'd shared plenty of memories in that car, and maybe he'd wanted to take those with him when he left his old town and his old life completely behind. But Xavier wasn't about to share that information with Molly. Instead he said, "You wouldn't know a classic car if you fell over one."

"Jerk," she muttered.

"Airhead."

Ivy whipped around and glared at them both. "Were you two born in a barn? Knock it off."

Molly looked sheepish while Xavier sighed loudly and sank down in his seat once again. A few minutes of blissful silence followed until Gabriel pulled into a gas station. Xavier couldn't get out of the car fast enough and vanished inside, almost before my brother cut the engine. I considered following him, but I knew he was only going to fill in the time sulkily inspecting packs of gum and dated magazines until it was time to pile back into the car. Molly threw him a dirty look as she trotted off to find the restrooms.

I followed as my siblings made their way over to a man in oil-stained overalls, squinting beneath the hood of a rusted pickup truck. I noticed that beneath the smudges of grease on his face he had a twinkle in his eye and a cheerful demeanor. He was chewing tobacco and an old Hank Williams tune crackled from a portable radio nearby.

"Hello," Ivy introduced herself. "It's beautiful weather you're having."

"Hi there," the man replied, dropping his tools to give Ivy his undivided attention. "Sure is." He thought about shaking her hand, but reconsidered when he glanced down at his grime-caked fingernails. Up close, he had gentle blue eyes and a crooked smile. "How do you do?" His husky voice was made melodic by his flowing Southern accent. It was beautiful to listen to and of all the voices in the world I thought none sounded quite so musical.

"What's your name?" Gabriel asked and Ivy shot him a look. His way of skipping over small talk sometimes made his style of conversation sound like a flat-out interrogation.

"Earl," the man replied, wiping a hand across his brow. "How can I help you?"

"We're looking for the Abbey of Mary Immaculate in Fairhope County," Ivy told him. "Do you know it?"

"I sure do, ma'am. It's near on seventy miles from here."

Xavier, who had sauntered out of the shop to join the discussion, did a quick mental calculation and sighed.

"Great," he muttered. "That's another hour on the road."

Ivy gave him a dismissive glance. "Is there a place to stay near the abbey?"

"There's a motel on the highway," said Earl. He looked Ivy up and down from her fawn trench coat and riding boots to her immaculately groomed blond hair. "It's none too flashy though."

"That's not a problem," my sister said demurely. "Can you tell us anything about the abbey itself?