38. Two Perspectives - First Part

The two men sat shoulder to shoulder on a narrow outcropping, feet dangling over a drop a mile deep.  They'd been climbing, steadily, carefully, for nearly two hours, stopping only twice at the mouths of two caves.  Leaving Daniel to rest, Dom had edged down the dark passageways, hoping to find a way out that didn’t require clawing their way out of Hell.  One trail had ended at a waterfall of seething lava, the other at a gate with large deformed skulls impaled on the tip of each iron rail.

“The wall is cooler now and the air feels fresher,” Daniel mumbled, wiping the sweat off his face with the ragged edge of his shirt.  At the first place they’d stopped, he’d torn strips off the material, wrapping his hands to ease the blistering from the heated rock, though he couldn’t do the same for his fingers, now burned and raw.

Looking up at the bright, golden haze, then down at the twisted scarlet ribbon of the River of Tears writhing far beneath them, Dom said, “We’re about halfway, I think.”  Glancing at the condition of Daniel’s hands, he focused on the rock wall across the chasm from their perch before he asked softly, “Can you manage?”  The intensity of Daniel’s glower felt like a physical slap on his face.

“You think I can’t handle this?”

“Did I say that?  I just asked if you could—”

“Have I been holding you back?” Daniel snapped.  “Pretty funny, considering an hour or so ago you were just going to roll over and martyr yourself in the fucking Pit of Doom!”

“Excuse me for trying to muster up some give a shit, you bastard!” 

Dom saw the hurt flash in Daniel’s eyes as he bellowed, “Don’t call me a bastard!”

Heedless of the precarious position, they both surged to their feet, but Daniel slipped on a small stone and teetered to the side, forcing Dom to jerk him away from the edge.  Nose to nose, they glared furiously at each other until suddenly Daniel smiled.  “Good save, thanks.”  He cocked his head, still smiling.  “So this brother thing means pissing each other off on a regular basis?”

Dom reluctantly grinned, then shook his head.  “Having to put up with a smartass like you might be worse than staying here.”   He lightly punched Daniel in the shoulder.  “It was just a word.  I didn’t mean it personally.”

“Spent my whole life fighting it.”  Daniel shrugged. “Can’t help taking it personal.”  He looked up the wall, sighed and began to search for his next handhold.  Hissing at the burn when he slid his fingers into a crack, he slowly began to pull himself upward, eager to reach the rim.

“Get down!” Dom shouted.  Before he could react, Daniel found himself abruptly yanked back onto the ledge, Dom’s arm flung across his chest, slamming him against the rock.

“What’s wrong?” Daniel gasped, trying to catch his breath from the blow.

“Something’s coming,” Dom growled, his head tipped back.  Following his gaze, Daniel watched as a small shape fell from above.  Flattened to the wall, both men tracked the falling object as it dropped, its approach preceded by an interminable howling.

 “I don’t believe it.”  Dom recognized the Hound as it drew closer.  Suddenly spying them, it screamed with fury and tried to crawl through the air toward them, stringy ropes of drool streaming from its jaws, eyes febrile as it altered shape from malformed ape, to misshapen man, back to frenzied Hound.  Each mutation strained to reach them until it was too late and the creature soared past in its plummet to the River of Tears.

“Was that your father’s mangy dog thing?” Daniel asked, carefully peering over the edge to watch the beast’s descent.  “How did it end up here?”

                                                     

“I don’t know.  Unless—” They stared at each other, then simultaneously looked above their heads.  “Taurin.”

“Your eyes are obviously better than mine,” Daniel said eagerly, “do you see him up there?”  He felt a momentary sense of relief that rescue might be at hand, even if that hand was intent on making him pay for stealing Lily’s book.

Disgruntled when Dom said there was no sign of the Warden, Daniel turned back to the rock, found his handhold again and was just about to resume his climb, when Dom said softly, “I’ve waited years to see the end of that fucking thing.  Let me savor the moment.”

Daniel stood next to his brother and followed the creature’s flailing movements, listened as the screeches faded into the depths, and felt a profound solidarity with the man at his side, coupled with a bone-deep satisfaction at the imminent demise of the monstrosity that had killed not only their mother, but his father.

“Oh shit,” Dom hissed, leaning so far over the edge Daniel’s hand shot out to grasp his arm before he pitched off the ledge.  Far below, he could just make out two skeletal, black-winged beings streaking from a fracture in the rock.  He saw with dawning horror the long, clawed foot snatch up the Hound a moment before it plunged into the fiery river. 

Silently the brothers watched the creatures until they disappeared from sight, then Dom said grimly, “We’ve got to get moving.  That damned dog knows where we are.  We probably don’t have much time before dear old Dad gets an earful.”

“Do those flying skeletons belong to him?”  Daniel asked over his shoulder as he immediately began to lead the way upward.

“No clue.  My father’s been gone for over a century.  I don’t know what kind of power he has now, but even if those bat things aren’t his, they’ll belong to someone.”  He took his place behind Daniel.  “No matter what, we can’t be caught scrambling up the face of this rock when they come back.”

Nothing more was said as they concentrated on the arduous climb, urgency driving them at a reckless pace.

Meanwhile…

37. Wherefore Art Thou?

Leaning against the door frame, Lily watched Katy lace up her worn, scuffed hiking boots.  Katy had used this guestroom so many times, the closet was filled with an assortment of her clothes and shoes.  Deciding to dress for a trek into an unknown landscape, they layered their clothes, wore sturdy boots and planned to carry a few essentials. 

Standing, Katy shook down one leg of her jeans until it settled over the high top of the boot, then hands on hips, she glared at Lily.  “How long have they been gone?”

Lily looked at her watch.  “Twenty minutes.  Granddad said he wouldn’t have any trouble tracking the creature, so it shouldn’t be too much longer.”

“That’s twenty more minutes Dom has been in Hell.”  Katy absently wound her long braid around her hand.  “What do you think is happening to them?” she whispered.  Lily could only shake her head, afraid to acknowledge the nightmares that scuttled at the edge of her thoughts.

 “I don’t know exactly what kind of experience Daniel has had in the Abyss, but he’s spent most of his life in and out of the Ethereal.  Best case scenario, between the two of them, they should be able to hold their own.”  She blew out a breath.  “Worse case?  They kill each other before we get there.”

With a snort, Katy grabbed a jacket and a small pack off the bed.  “Let’s get something to eat while we wait for the bossy and rude Warden guy to show up.”

Lily smiled as they walked down the hall toward the kitchen.  “I can’t believe you’re actually hungry.”

“It’s not that so much as I just don’t want to be tempted to eat any seeds or berries and end up stuck like what’s her name.”

“Persephone.  But Hades had kidnapped her.  I’m sure she didn’t really believe a few pomegranate seeds would be enough to trap her in Hel—”  Lily abruptly stopped speaking.  After a short pause, she murmured, “Good thinking.  Maybe it wouldn’t hurt to eat a little something before we leave, just to cover all the bases.”

They stood at one end of the table, staring down the length.  Bizarrely, it looked as if everyone had just stepped away for a moment, mugs still marking their places.  With a sigh, Katy began to clear the table while Lily took out some bread and the toaster.  They worked silently for several minutes, each absorbed in her own thoughts.

 Katy made one final swipe across the polished wood, then Lily brought a tray loaded with toast, jam, silverware, two mugs and a pot of tea and set them on the clean table.  She went back for two small plates and they settled down across from each other.  Spreading a thick layer of jam on her toast, Katy said quietly, “What do you think about all this, Lil?  I can’t believe that just yesterday morning all I could think about was the Halloween party and being with Dom…”  Her voice trailed off, eyes shimmering in the low kitchen light, toast forgotten in the hand half-raised toward her mouth.

“I don’t know what to think.  There’s so much to take in, even about my grandfather, that I just can’t wrap my head around any of it.”  She reached over and gave Katy’s hand a light squeeze.  “Remember what my father used to say when we were kids?”

Katy frowned.  “Vive la France?”

Lily laughed, the unexpected sound echoing around the kitchen.  It only took a moment before Katy joined in, both women laughing until they were doubled over.  “God, Lil, I really needed that,” Katy was finally able to gasp, “though I guess I don’t remember what he used to say.”

“Être aussi audacieux que le tournesol,” Lily said, picturing her father standing in a field of brilliant yellow giants, arms spread wide as he smiled down at two rapt little girls.

“That’s right,” Katy grinned, “he was always telling us to be as bold as a sunflower.”  Then she added, “Though he also said Vive la France every chance he got.”  They smiled at each other across the table, tension and anxiety briefly overshadowed by happy childhood memories.  In the quiet, Lily savored her toast and jam, then as she poured tea into both mugs, she said wistfully, “Remember the year my father took us—”

Katy suddenly surged to her feet, staring toward the living room.  “I can smell that foul dog thing,” she hissed.  Without a second thought, she grabbed her butter knife and stormed out of the kitchen.  Lily, one step behind, didn’t even pause as she wrenched the largest butcher knife out of the wooden block on the counter and followed.

Mickey stared in amazement at the two women and their impromptu weaponry.  “What exactly was your plan then?  Chop the beastie into wee pieces, then butter him?”

“More or less,” Katy replied. “Though I was thinking more chopping, less buttering.”

As her grandfather smiled with approval, Lily frowned, waving her hands in front of her face.  “Granddad, you reek of acrid smoke and rotten eggs.”

“I had to hold the filthy git until Taurin caught up.  He fought like a rabid dog and now my clothes will need burning and it will take more than one scrubbing to rid myself of the stench.”  He sighed regretfully.  “I had hoped to postpone the inevitable confrontation with your grandmother, but that prayer won’t be answered.”  He looked down at the dirt and grime.  “She’ll smell me coming before I get within a hundred yards.”

“Where’s that Warden?” Katy asked with a scowl.  “He’d better be coming back.”

“He returned the creature.”  Mickey had a devilish look in his eye and a smirk curled his lips.  “He was heading for the rim of the Abyss, and I believe his intent was to drop the fiend in…er, off and then rejoin us.”  But then his mood dampened.  Somberly, he looked first at Katy, then at his beloved granddaughter.  “I’ve been rethinking this scheme, lassies.  There must be another way to—”

 “There is no other way,” Lily said.  “I’m the only one who can return the book, and I’m not leaving Daniel to suffer a horrible fate because he was tricked into stealing it, or for trying to help his new brother.”

“And I’m the only one who can find Dom.”  Pacing, Katy muttered, “If we can get that blasted Warden back here before Hell freezes over—”

“A good portion of it is already frozen,” a strident voice barked from the broken front door.  Taurin stood at the entrance, angry, disheveled and possibly reeking worse than Mickey.  It was clear his centuries-old calm and orderly demeanor had been replaced by a surly, belligerent attitude.  He glared at Katy, who returned the look as she snapped, “Well, at last, the taxi has arrived.”  Taurin narrowed his eyes and took a step toward her, but Lily quickly intervened.

“Warden, did you see or hear anything of Daniel, or Dominic?” she asked.

He continued to stare at Katy for a tense moment, then turned to answer Lily.  “No, but I wasn’t there long.  I just dropped the hound and came back.”  He looked at Mickey.  “I should have gone to Syrus, but if we’re continuing with this foolishness, I’m counting on the element of surprise to divert his wrath.”

“Syrus will see reason,” Mickey said, “though I reckon it will take some convincing.”  He swept his hand out in a gesture encompassing Katy and Lily as he smiled broadly.  “Let them do the talking.”

“Great,” Taurin muttered.  Resigned, he asked Mickey if he was prepared to leave.  At the affirmative nod, he stood in front of the man and placed a firm hand on his shoulder.  “I’ve never been to your home Warden, so you must guide us.  Touch the medallion when you’re ready.”

“I would love a hug, Granddad, but under the circumstances, if you don’t mind I’ll wait until we get back.”  Lily smiled at her grandfather, suddenly feeling a bit uneasy without him guarding her back.

“Keep your head, lass, and don’t take any unnecessary risks.  Syrus will not fail you, you have but to listen to him.”  Mickey winked at Katy.  “That goes for you too, my girl.”  He raised his hand toward the medallion, but before he touched it, he said softly, “I love you both.  God speed.”  The instant his fingers made contact, both men vanished.

Katy dashed into the kitchen and retrieved her small pack. Wrapping the last slices of toast in a napkin, she stuffed them inside a side pocket.  Wordlessly, Lily handed her two water bottles and a handful of bandages, then lifting her shirt, she picked the book up off the table and tucked it into a pouch that was buckled around her waist.  After checking the other items inside, she zipped it closed and shifted the pouch into a more comfortable position.  As prepared as possible, they walked out to the living room and waited nervously for the Warden's return.

“Are you scared?” Katy asked quietly, adjusting the shoulder straps on her pack.

“No.  You?”  Lily murmured, fidgeting with the zipper tab on her jacket.

“No way.”

They looked at each other, then laughed.

“Terrified?”  Katy asked, grinning.

“Petrified.”

“I’m glad you both find this so amusing,” Taurin growled, appearing without a sound at the front door.  “We’ll see how funny you find Syrus.”  He stalked toward them with a certain satisfaction at their impending doom and gripped a wrist in each hand.

The front door shifted gently in a nebulous breath of air, then only a hushed stillness remained to fill the empty, silent rooms.
 

36. Or, In English: One Abyss Invokes Another

Daniel stared at the vague shape of his brother's broad back as they walked silently through a roughly hewn tunnel, so dark it seemed like midnight had solidified around them.

“Sure this is the right direction?” Daniel asked quietly.

“Feel the heat?  Yeah, this is the right direction,” Dom muttered.

They cautiously approached a cross tunnel.  Though it was nearly impossible for Daniel to see very far, Dom was having no trouble.  Looking both ways, he started forward then stopped so abruptly, Daniel plowed into him with a grunt.  Around a bend in the left tunnel a pair of creatures shuffled toward them.  Tall, with loose flaps of black skin hanging from skeletal frames, the pair froze as if stunned to find others wandering across their path.  One hissed before a tongue, long and forked, darted out to taste the air, then with a low, hungry growl, fangs descended.  Daniel took a step back when viscous, green globules sizzled and smoked as they dropped onto the stone floor.

Without hesitation, Dom reached back, pulled Daniel forward and had him in a tight choke hold so quickly he wasn’t able to react fast enough to fight.  As he began to struggle, Dom whispered, “Trust me.”

As black dots began forming at the edges of his rapidly fading vision, Daniel wondered if trust was even possible.  The guy was still a Cantrell, still a demon.  Then Lily’s face rose out of the darkness in his mind as she tossed him—a virtual stranger—the keys to her apartment.  To trust someone required a great leap of faith.  He would give his brother the same chance Lily had given him.  He went limp against Dom’s body in apparent surrender.

The two creatures began to sidle toward them, venom dripping like a leaky faucet, their tattered black skin trembling with anticipation.  Dom suddenly seemed to expand just as the tunnel filled with a scarlet blaze that caused the fiends to cower.  Red fire shooting from his eyes, Dom’s voice went inhumanly deep as he growled, “Mine.”

There was a high-pitched squeal, a susurration of dried membranes, and the tunnel was empty.  Dom dropped his arm, releasing Daniel then bent over with his hands on his knees and took great gulps of air as Daniel fell against the stone wall gasping for breath.

“Sorry about that.  You all right?”  Staying hunched over, Dom lifted his head to look at Daniel.

“I think so,” Daniel muttered hoarsely, rubbing his throat.  “What were those things?”

“No idea.”  He straightened.  “But I’m betting they don’t live down here alone.  We need to get out of here.”

As they resumed their trek, Daniel said quietly, “That was some trick, with the glowing eyes and that Darth Vader voice.  I’m thinking it’s not so bad having the baddest kid in the sandbox be my big brother.”  He glanced over at Dom.  “How’d you do that?”

“I don’t know,” he snapped, “it’s not like I come with a manual.”  When Daniel laughed, Dom relaxed slightly and murmured, “It’s like getting mad and saying you see red, only with me it’s actually true.”  Softly, he said, “The voice was new.  I’ve never done that before.”

For several minutes they walked in silence, then Dom asked, “Why did you listen to me back there?  When I said to trust me?”  He stopped unexpectedly and turned to face Daniel, a scowl on his face.  “And what were you thinking, latching on to me in the first place?  You shouldn’t even be here.”

Their gazes locked.  “I’ve been alone my whole life, then I find out I have a brother and you think I’m just going to let him disappear into the Abyss?”  Daniel shrugged.  “Guess I figured you might need some help.”  He stepped past Dom and began to walk, tossing the next words over his shoulder, “I trusted you because you asked me to.”

Dom followed a few steps behind, his mind in turmoil, his world so out of kilter he felt drunkenly off balance from it.  For more years than he could remember he’d been plotting against his father, revenge the only thing driving him forward.  Then, in one short week, Katy had shaken him to the core, as had the man who’d chosen to walk with him through Hell.  His woman and his brother.  He shook his head in wonder and disbelief.

While Dom was ruminating, Daniel was reliving moments with Lily, already missing her smile, her face.   Earlier, back at her place, when he’d realized Dom’s plan, he hadn’t spared a thought when tossing Lily out of harm’s way or in diving for his brother.  In actuality, he’d expected to land on the hearth with an irate brother beneath him.  It hadn’t even entered his mind that he would end up in the netherworld of the Abyss.  The instantaneous jolt from Lily’s living room to Hell had completely disoriented him for several seconds until the outraged bellow from Dom brought Daniel staggering to his feet.  Just in time to see Dom lunge forward to grasp Razeph; too late, the demon lord vanished in a smoky cloud of brimstone.

Immersed in their own thoughts, the two men walked quietly for over an hour as the heat escalated and the air became singed with an acrid sting.  As they rounded a sharp bend in the tunnel, the way forward was suddenly illuminated with the harsh orange glow of what appeared to be fire.

“What’s that?” Daniel asked.

“I think it’s the River of Tears.  If it is, then I know where we are.”

The heat was intense, almost unbearable, though Daniel followed Dom to the mouth of the tunnel.  Wiping the sweat off his face with his shirt, he stood at the edge and looked across a surprisingly intricate and lovely arched bridge to the opening of a tunnel on the other side.  Then he glanced down.  Far below them snaked a wide, undulating river of fiery lava, and bobbing in the waves and currents were all manner of people and creatures, sobbing and screaming, their cries of anguish echoing and reverberating up the steep canyon walls.

 “Failing the tests at the Toll Houses dumps you into the River of Tears.  From here, you go to your own personal version of Hell.”  He gingerly stepped out onto the bridge and walked to the middle.  Rolling waves of heat rippled around him, making his body look like a desert mirage.

“How do you know this stuff?” Daniel asked.

“Bedtime stories.”

Before Daniel could respond to the horror in that offhand remark, Dom looked up.  And smiled.  Curious, Daniel carefully left the tunnel and went to stand next to Dom on the bridge before raising his head.  Above them, nearly lost in the oppressive miasma, was the barest glimmer of a golden light; a mere speck of salvation from the hellish inferno where they stood.

“Can you climb?” Dom asked casually, as if they were contemplating a short hike before lunch.

Daniel turned to look at the lunatic beside him.  “Seriously?  What do you figure, a couple miles up, with no gear, no ropes, heat that will probably melt the skin off our bones, and a nice splash in the fiery deep if we screw up?  Sure, no problem.”

 
     With a small grin, Dom repeated his question.  “Can you climb?”

“Yes, I can climb,” Daniel barked, “though I don’t know squat about doing it in Hell.”

“Not many do.  In fact, you might be the first.”

Daniel narrowed his eyes.  “What do you mean, I might be the first?  We will be the first.”

 Lowering his head to watch the flotsam tumbling in the river, Dom sighed.  “I doubt I can get out, thanks to my father.  Being half a demon probably counts for full down here.”  He turned to Daniel.  “You should be able to get out though.  And you could do me one last, great favor if you make it.”  He laid a hand on Daniel’s shoulder.  “Tell Katy I will never, ever forget her.”

“No.”

Dom blinked.  “No?  What do you mean no?  I’m going to be stuck in fucking Hell and you’re saying no to me?”

“That’s right.  I’m saying no because you’re coming with me.”  He angrily jabbed Dom in the chest with a hard finger, then sneered, “What kind of half demon chicken shit are you?  How do you know you can’t get out?  You’re not even going to try?”

Slapping his hand away, Dom turned to stare down at the river.  “I knew this was a one-way trip.  The point was to bring my father back here.  I’ve done it, the rest doesn’t matter.”

“I’m sure Katy will appreciate hearing that,” Daniel said as he walked toward the wall, calculating his ascent.

“Hearing what?” Dom snapped.

Absently, spotting his first handhold in a fissure of the rock wall, he said, “That she didn’t matter, that she means nothing to you.”

“I never said she didn’t matter!  She’s everything!”

Daniel spun around, shouting, “If you can’t do whatever it takes to get back to her, then she doesn’t matter!  How stupid are you?”

They glowered at each other, then Daniel turned his back, went to the wall, reached high above his head to slide his hand into the cleft, and pulled himself up into the first leg of the climb.

He smiled to himself when he glanced down a few minutes later and saw Dominic coming up behind him, muttering and cursing.  Then he grinned widely at the threats of death and dismemberment that followed him up the chasm.  He didn’t care what violence Dom promised as long as he didn’t stay in this hellhole.

 

Concentrating on the climb, neither man noticed two figures in the mouth of the tunnel staring with rapacious eyes as the brothers made their cautious way upward.

 

35. Abyssus Abyssum Invocat

     “I swear, Daniel Valentine, if you ever toss me to the floor like that again—”  Lily’s tirade was cut short by an almost inhuman moan of anguish.  She leaped to her feet from behind the sofa just as Katy wrenched herself out of Taurin’s arms and fell to her knees in front of the fireplace.  Puzzled, Lily watched as Katy waved her hands back and forth as if searching for something invisibly just out of reach.

Lily shot a glance to her grandfather and Taurin.  The two men were staring at the same blank space at the hearth where Katy knelt, then they looked at each other.  Lily couldn’t see Taurin’s face, but she read the shock and uncertainty in her grandfather’s.  Suddenly, Lily realized Daniel was missing.  He’d been practically glued to her hip until a few moments ago.  Confused, she shook her head, trying to remember what happened after Dominic threw Katy at Taurin, then grabbed Mickey’s medallion, but she hadn’t seen anything after Daniel had slammed her to the floor and…

Her heart began to race as she watched Katy drop her flailing hands and hunch over, hugging her arms tight around her stomach as she rocked back and forth, a low, rough keening punctuating each forward movement.  “Granddad, where’s Daniel?  What’s happening?”  Lily came around the sofa and bent to wrap her arms around Katy’s trembling body, her eyes swiveling between the two Wardens.

Mickey absently rubbed the abrasion where the chain had scored his neck when Dominic had ripped it from him.  He felt bereft without it, though the ramifications went far deeper than just losing the medallion.  “How did he know?”  Mickey murmured.  He met Taurin’s gaze.  “It wasn’t chance.  He was closer to you; by all rights, he should have taken yours.”

“I’m not following.  Does it matter which medallion?”

Katy stumbled to her feet, pushing Lily aside.  Fiercely she glared at Taurin.  “Oh, it matters.  Dom and I heard what you were talking about before we came in.  The door was open—”

“It was broken,” Lily muttered as she came to stand next to Katy.

“Whatever.  We heard.”  She pointed her finger at Mickey.  “If I’ve got this right, your medallion is a one-way ticket home.”  Turning, she walked straight up to Taurin and jabbed her finger in his chest.  “But yours,” she hissed, “yours goes both ways and you’re going to take me to get Dominic.”

“Where is Daniel?” Lily asked again.  “And what happened to Dom and his…father?”  When no one spoke up, Lily clenched her fists and growled, “I’m not kidding here.  Somebody better start talking.”

Katy turned from Taurin and grabbed Lily’s wrist with a strength that belied her small stature.  “Remember when Dom said if he had to drag his wretched father back to Hell, he would do it?  Well, he just did.  He took your grandfather’s talisman because it means his father can’t use it to come back here.”  Lily was amazed to see a hard, relentless promise burning in Katy’s eyes.  “The damn fool saved the day by taking his cursed father back to Hell.”  Her laugh was harsh.  “And to make it more special, for some reason your damn fool decided to go with him.”  Now she smiled, and with the icy chill of Winter in her voice, she whispered, “But Mister Other Realm here is going to help me find them.”

Taurin sputtered.  “I’m not helping you find anything!”

Katy spun away from Lily and stalked toward the Warden.  “Yes,” she snapped, “you are.  All I need to do is get to the other side and I can find him.”  She narrowed her eyes.  “This is all your fault anyway.”  He scowled down at her, though in the back of his mind he had to admire her courage, misguided as it appeared to be.  How she thought intimidation would work when she barely reached the middle of his chest was beyond his comprehension, and regardless of his admiration she didn’t stand a chance, in this world or the next, in making him do anything.

Lily walked to her grandfather.  Frowning, still trying to assimilate what Katy had said, she quietly asked, “Is this true?  Dom took your medallion and was somehow able to disappear with his father…and Daniel went with him?”

Mickey nodded.  “I’m not sure I understand what just happened myself.  I thought they hated each other.”  He shook his head.  “Maybe Daniel was trying to stop Dominic, maybe he didn’t realize he would be taken too.”

“No,” Lily mused, “he knew what he was doing.”  She looked at Katy, who was having a stare-down with Taurin, then met her grandfather’s eyes.  “And I think I know why,” she said.  At his questioning look, she murmured, “Earlier tonight I saw him looking at the wall of photos in the kitchen.  His feelings were easy to see on his face.”  She sat on the edge of the coffee table, remembering the loneliness in his eyes.  “Then later, like some twisted wish finally granted, he suddenly finds out he has a brother.”

Taurin retorted, “A demon brother!”

“Hey, that demon brother just did your job!” Katy exclaimed hotly.  “And he’s only half a demon.”

Ignoring them, Lily whispered, “I think he wanted to help Dominic.  His family.”  She looked between the two Wardens.  “What did Daniel actually do?  He threw me down so I missed the whole thing.”

Katy gave Taurin one last glare and turned to Lily.  “Dom tossed me at this one,” she nodded her head sharply toward Taurin, “reached out to Mickey and honestly, it happened so fast I didn’t even see him take the medallion, then he tackled his father, held him in a bear hug and shut his eyes tight.”  She closed her own eyes for a moment, then said softly, “Just as they started to turn all…misty and foggy, Daniel made a weird noise, I heard you fall on the floor, then he leaped like a freaking deer over the sofa and at the very last second clamped his hands around Dom’s ankle in a death grip and…”  Eyes brimming with tears, she and Lily locked gazes, then Katy whispered, “and then they just vanished in a puff of smoke.”

Taking Katy’s hand, the two women brushed past the Wardens and went down the hall into the bathroom.  She pulled several tissues from the container and handed the wad to Katy, waiting silently as her best friend wiped her face and blew her nose.

“If we can get there, do you really think you can find them?”  Lily asked.  “I know you have a weird talent in finding lost things, but this goes way past a set of keys, Katy.”

“Yes,” she answered, “I can do it.”  She shrugged, then said evenly, “Though I’m not sure how we can just waltz into Hell and not run into a little trouble.”

Lily started laughing, then Katy joined in.  They were still laughing helplessly when there was a light tap at the door.  Lily handed the other woman a cloth and as Katy turned on the water to wash her face, Lily opened the door to see her grandfather’s look of concern.  “You all right?” he asked.

“We’ll be out in a sec, Granddad,” Lily said, giving him a light peck on the cheek.  As he nodded and began to turn away, she stated calmly, “and after a few questions, we’ll be ready to leave.”  She shut the door in Mickey’s panic-stricken face.

Five minutes later Lily and Katy stood in the living room confronting the two furious Wardens.  Mickey and Taurin stood together at the fireplace in a manly gesture of solidarity, faces stony in obstinate refusal to cooperate in any scheme the women might have hatched.

“We need to go,” Katy said mildly.  Then she glared at Taurin, the one she blamed for the entire fiasco, “Now.”

“I’ve already told you, I’m not taking you anywhere.”  He glowered.  “Either of you.”  Lily opened her mouth, but before she could speak, he barked, “You’re mortals, you can’t just pop in and out of the Ethereal, let alone the Abyss.”  Narrowing his eyes, he hissed at Katy, “You have no idea what lurks in the depths, little girl.”

“All the more reason to get going then,” she snapped, “because two mortals are already there.”

“One and a half,” Taurin sneered.

Katy started forward with a snarl, but Lily put a hand on her arm and murmured something under her breath.  Katy bunched her fists, but stayed in place.  Reaching for the emerald green book, still laying innocuously on the coffee table, Lily held it in her hand, running a finger along the gold lettering on the cover.

“This needs to go back, Taurin.  It doesn’t belong here.”  Lily’s voice was gentle, serene.

“I’ll be most pleased to return it to—”

He stopped abruptly as Mickey let out a harsh growl, followed by a resigned, “Shite.”

Lily lightly rubbed her palm across the front of the book in small, caressing circles as she gazed placidly at her grandfather.  Taurin looked from one to the other, confusion in his voice when he asked, “What?  What am I missing?”

“Think, man.”  Mickey took two long strides toward Lily.  He held her gaze for a long moment, then carefully, slowly, touched the book.  There was a brilliant flash of light and the cracking sound of a thousand crab shells being stomped by an enraged giant.

Taurin helped Mickey to his feet.  “You okay?” he asked, the knowledge of hopeless defeat in his voice.

“Well, lass, it seems you’ve managed to outmaneuver two ancient warriors.”  Mickey smiled ruefully, then shook his head.  “If your grandmother doesn’t kill me, your mother most assuredly will.”

“We won’t tell either one, Granddad.  Besides, Katy and I will have enough protection with both of you—”

“No, my girl.  That’s the problem.  I can’t go back.  If I do, that’s where I stay.”  He went to Lily and put a big, broad hand on her shoulder.  “Even if Dominic had taken the other medallion, I couldn’t go with you.”  He pushed the hand clutching the book away from him and pulled her into his arms.  “I don’t want this, child.  We can put the book in a safe place, we can lock it—” 

“It doesn’t belong here,” she said against his chest.  Raising her head, she looked at him, taking in the craggy features, the long tangles of auburn hair brushing against his shoulders, his vivid, mossy green eyes.  “And Daniel doesn’t belong there,” she whispered.

“I can’t just take two mortal women back with me!  It’s just not possible,” Taurin protested.

“Oh it’s possible lad.  Although it might be best to talk with Syrus first, in this situation a fait accompli seems more prudent.  Besides, Lily’s book must be returned and she’s the only one who can touch it.”  He smiled at Taurin.  “Bring that point up before he starts yelling.”

“And I’m the only one who can find Dominic, and Daniel who we have to hope is still hanging on for dear life to his brother’s ankle.”  Katy turned to Taurin.  “Can you take us to…”  She hesitated, not exactly sure what to call it. “Hell?”

Taurin shook his head in disbelief that things had come to this.  “We call it the Abyss, though it has many names.  The hardest part will be finding the right Toll House.  There are twenty of them, each a realm of its own.  It would take too long to investigate each level, so we can’t make a mistake.”

“What are these places?” Lily asked.

Mickey and Taurin looked at each other as if at a loss to explain, then Mickey said quietly, “Imagine a great seething blackness, a turmoil encircled with violent storms, roiling with endless nightmare.  In a ring around the mouth of this vast darkness are twenty gateways, the Toll Houses, run by demons.  After death, for three days and three nights, a soul can try to escape the Abyss by countering each sin committed with a good deed done.  The demon lord for each house poses the questions, while his minions continually taunt and tempt with the very sin that brought the soul to that particular gate in the first place.  If they survive the test, they're free to go.”

“What sins are at each gate?” Katy asked thoughtfully.

“Every sin that man is capable of,” said Taurin.

“So, if Dom didn’t know any of this and just randomly thought of a terrible place to take his father, would his father’s House connection somehow be able to draw them back to that gate?”

The Wardens looked at each other, then stared at Katy.  “What?” she asked, not comfortable with their scrutiny.  “Was that a stupid question?”

“It was a brilliant question, lass,” said Mickey.  He turned to Taurin.  “Do you remember which gate?”

Taurin shrugged.  “All of them would signify.  He’s the worst of the old lords.”

“Is there a gate for murder?” Lily asked.  “He killed who knows how many women, then his wife and Daniel’s father, so that’s a sin he’s familiar with.”

“How about pride, or cruelty?”  Mickey murmured.  “Or being a supreme arse?”

“No,” Katy said.  “None of those are bad enough for this guy, though the last one comes close.”  She pursed her lips, tapped a finger on her chin, then smiled.  “Is there a sin for being evil?”

Smiling back at her, Taurin said, “You would make a good Warden, little girl.”

“Okay, so the plan is, we drop off Lily’s overdue Library book, talk to your boss,” she nodded at Taurin, “then Lily and I are going to need a lift to the gate of evil.”  She smiled cheerfully at the others.  “Any idea what a girl wears on a trip to Hell?”