Page 71 of Into the Abyss
“I’m sure he’ll deserve it the nexttime.”
She chuckled. “Most likely.”
“Did you have any wish fulfillment inthere?” I inquired.
“No. I roamed for hours or maybe days whiletrying to find a way out.”
“Days,” Raphael said.
“What?” she asked.
“You were gone for nearly three days,” Isaid.
“I see,” Bale murmured.
“Who cares about any of that?” Caim asked.“I found Sloth.”
Ever so slowly, I lifted Wren, disentangledher hands, and set her carefully on the blankets I’d arranged forher. Then, I turned to face the angel. “Where?”
“Well, you see, thewhereis thetricky part,” Caim said as he seemed to savor being the center ofattention.
“Tricky how?” I demanded.
“Because Sloth is in the Abyss.”
My mind spun as the implications of hiswords sank in. A horsemaninthe Abyss?Slothin theAbyss withWren. Taking a deep breath, I tried to clear myhead of the anger and fear rattling it. I wouldn’t do anyone anygood if I couldn’t think straight.
“It’s the perfect place for him to hide, andthe jinn will help him do so,” I murmured.
“I believe there may be other horsemen inthere with him,” Caim said.
“Why?” I demanded.
“Because, as you said, it’s a perfect placefor them to hide. They mayallbe in there.”
“Shit,” Lix said.
“How do you know any of them are in there?”Hawk asked.
“Because Sloth would want to see therepercussions of his handiwork unfold, but I’ve searchedeverywhere, and he’s not in the woods. Also, we wouldn’t have thebodies here if he’d remained in the woods after the jinn sprangtheir trap. There was only four of us who remained free; they couldhave easily taken us down when we returned.”
“They probably didn’t know we weren’t incamp when they set their trap,” Raphael said.
“Maybe, but I think it’s more likely theydid know we weren’t here. I think the craetons would be on thelookout for two angels; we’re not hard to miss, especially notmoi. But I’m just a simple fallen, and that’s merely myguess,” Caim replied and fluttered his lashes at Raphael.
The scowl Raphael gave him was anything butangelic as his hand fell to his sword.
“Enough,” I warned, unable to deal withtheir sibling antagonism.
“I believe it is more likely, they didn’tknow when we would return to camp, and the jinn were unwilling towait before starting to play with their new victims. Or theyplanned to return for us when they succeeded in slaughtering mostof our friends,” Caim continued. “Either way, what could be betterthan watching death and misery unfold from a secure location? TheAbyss offers Sloth, the jinn, and the other horsemen all thesecurity in the world while they unleash their havoc. Sloth is inthe Abyss; I’d stake my life on it.”
My gaze fell on Wren as the chillencompassing me spread into my veins and turned my blood to ice.“We have to warn Magnus.”
“How?” Erin asked. “Maybe Halstar could havetelecommunicated with him in the Abyss, but he’s dead.”
How do we contact him then?As hardas I tried, I could not think of an answer to that.
CHAPTER 30
