Page 40 of Into the Abyss
“Do you miss Hell?” she asked.
“Not at all. Do you?”
“No. I’ve fallen in love with Earth,especially the butterflies.”
Lifting my hand over the flowers, Iconstructed an orange monarch to perch on top of them. Thebutterfly’s wings flapped, and Amalia laughed.
“It’s wonderful, and the flowers arebeautiful,” she whispered.
“Take them,” I encouraged.
She frowned at me before gripping the stems.Her mouth parted as she lifted the bouquet and held it before her.Leaning over the flowers, she inhaled deeply and sighed. Then, sheskimmed one finger over the butterfly’s wings and gasped.
“It’s… it’s real!” she cried.
“It’s more real than any of the others,” Isaid. “I hated removing myself from the war, despised theyconsidered me a coward, but I became far stronger in the threehundred years I remained in self-imposed exile. I can makeillusions a reality now, somethingnoother illusionarydemon couldeverdo. It takes some time to constructelaborate illusions, but I can weave small ones into existence farfaster. Before me, my father was the strongest illusionary demon toexist, but I have grown stronger than he was, in many ways.”
“Three hundred years? Why so long?”
“That’s how much time it took for me tostrengthen. Then, one day, Kobal’s queen stumbled into my corner ofHell, and I knew it was time for me to return to the war.”
“In what ways aren’t you stronger than yourfather?”
I wiped my palms on my thighs and stood.Extending my hand to her, I waited for her to take it and rise,before speaking. “I’m not very good with cloaking illusions. I cando them, but they’re draining for me. My father was a master atthem.”
She glanced at the flowers in her hand andsmiled. “I’d rather have something real than nothing at all.”
I couldn’t stop myself from bending to brusha kiss against her temple. When the increased beat of her heartthudded in my ears, I remained leaning forward for longer than I’dintended before reluctantly pulling away.
“Can you make a duplicate image ofyourself?” she asked.
“I can.”
Her eyes widened. “Can you make it as realas these flowers?’
“It would take some work, and the duplicatecouldn’t talk or reveal emotions, but it would be solid until itwas destroyed.”
“Amazing,” she breathed as she gazed at mefrom under the lowered fringe of her thick, multi-hued lashes.
“And what of you, Freckles, why do you likethe human world so much, aside from the butterflies?”
“It’s far better than the four walls of aseal,” she said with a laugh as we started walking again. “And whatI’ve seen of it is interesting. The jinn haven’t traveled far sincebeing freed, so I haven’t seen as much of it as I would like to.For a time, we lived underground, but after some of the jinn metwith Astaroth, we moved.”
I stiffened at the mention of the fallenangel who had risen to take Lucifer’s place. “Why did youmove?”
She lowered her bouquet. “I don’t know. I’mnot exactly kept in the loop. The other Faulted had already splitoff when the meeting occurred, so I’m not even sure they know aboutit. I didn’t expect the jinn to align with anyone as their loyaltylies with each other, but a lot of them are pissed about beinglocked away. After eighteen thousand years behind the seal, thejinn were accustomed to their surroundings, they had no otherchoice, but now that they’re free, they want revenge.”
“And are you pissed about it?”
“It wasn’t the greatest life to have, but itwas all I knew. I couldn’t be pissed about missing out on somethingI’d never experienced before like the other jinn were. Sometimes,I’d dream about what it would be like to be free, but I knew it wasa waste of time, and that it would destroy me if I did it toooften.”
Stepping in front of her, I blocked her fromcontinuing and gripped her shoulders. “You shouldn’t have enduredthat.”
“You didn’t put me there, Magnus, and youdidn’t keep me there.”
“No, but if Kobal had known there were jinnsuch as you who existed, he wouldn’t have kept you thereeither.”
“You’re so sure of that?”
