Page 108 of Carved
“Yes.”
“Interesting,” Vargas murmured as he rubbedat his cross.
My fingers went to my necklace; they ranreassuringly over the shells as we stopped at the end of the halland stood before another wooden door. Kobal rested his hand againstthe knob as he watched me.
“This is it,” he said.
I thrust my shoulders back, bracing myselffor the Hell beyond that door. Glancing behind me, I dimly heardthe enthusiastic play of the piano as the skelleins continued theircelebration. There would be no music beyond this point, of that Iwas certain.
Turning the knob, Kobal shoved open thedoor.
CHAPTER 45
River
I could only stand and stare at what laybefore us. The entire drive had been nothing but burnt-out andbombed homes, towns in ruins, cities crumpling, broken bridges androads, and bones dotting the landscape, but life had been steadilyrebuilding in those areas. Plants, animals, and humans had beenreclaiming their land. Green grass had begun to flourish. Birds hadsung and chirped. Insects had returned, and somehow, life hadcontinued.
But here, here there was nothing but deathand melancholy encompassed within four walls that looked as if theywere going to fall over at any moment. The walls had been slappedhaphazardly up around the hole. There was no door, no way out otherthan the one I stood in. There also wasn’t much of a roof. I tiltedmy head back to let the rays of the sun filter over my face, givingme some warmth when all I felt was chilled to the bone.
Staring at the broken boards above me, I knewthere had once been a solid roof but it had been shredded anddestroyed by something.Gargoyles,I realized when my eyes landed on a distinct, gargoyle shaped holeabove me. They’d torn the ceiling apart when they’d been freed fromtheir seal and flown out of the gateway.
My gaze slid back to the haphazard walls, andI wondered how many times the creatures fleeing their seals hadtorn them apart. How many seals had fallen?
There was no way to know without going intoHell, and the only way to stop them from escaping was to close thegate.
Would Lucifer come here if he discovered Iwas here?
I realized the answer to that question as itflitted through my mind. He wouldn’t come here. He had no faith inme being able to close this hideous hole and was counting on mehaving to go to him. I knew what he sought from me too: Kobal.
Kill two birds with onestone.
I’d been trying not to look, but my eyes weredrawn to the pit before me. The top of the hole was at least tenfeet by ten feet wide and was a gaping maw of blackness. I’dexpected flames or something to be shooting out the top of the holebut it remained free of any spurting fire. From where I stood, Icould see something that looked like a trail leading down theinside of the hole, one that had been carved into the rock wallswinding away into nothing. Though nothing threatening loomed fromthe pit, the longer I stared at it, the more I felt as if all ofthe air was being sucked from the room.
“I pictured bigger,” Erin murmured.
“It was, at one point. I was able to close itmore than halfway, but I’m unable to close it any further,” Kobalreplied.
“I don’t understand how the skelleins cankeep anything from going in or coming out of that,” Hawk said.
“They’re a lot more vicious than they look.They may not be able to contain what is coming out of the seals orthe fallen angels, but they’ll massacre a fair amount of thelower-level demons and any higher-level who dare to try to escape,”Bale said. “They’ll also stop most of them from trying to get backin.”
I couldn’t tear my gaze away from thegateway. The blackness of it, thenothingnessof this hole made me feel as if myheart pumped ice through my veins with every lumbering beat. Myhand pressed against my mouth as despair welled up to the point oftears.
Bleak and brutal, everything vile and wrongwith the world sprawled out before us. I could feel the weight ofthe souls that had been entrapped there, feel their wretchedness asif it were my own. I bit back a wail as my heart swelled within mychest and my shoulders hunched in on themselves.
“River?” Kobal asked softly.
Kobal seized my cheeks and tilted my head up.His face swam before my eyes as I briefly saw two of him. “Easy,”he murmured, his thumbs brushing over my cheeks. “Focus on me.Breathe.”
I realized he was blurring before me becausetears were pouring down my face and I couldn’t get them to stop.Choking sobs tore at my heart and twisted my stomach into a knot.He pulled me against his chest and enveloped me in a hug. Myfingers dug into his back as I gasped for air and tried to ease theanguish rattling my body.
Lifting me, he carried me toward the door andflung it open. He walked with me back into the hall. His hands ranover my hair, soothing me as he knelt and settled me into hislap.
“Hush, Mah Kush-la, you’ll never see itagain,” he whispered.
“What’s wrong with her?” Erin asked.
Kobal didn’t answer; I didn’t think he knew.Ididn’t know, but my tears werefinally easing and the sorrow in my chest was lessening. I inhaleda tremulous breath. My teeth settled against the mark I’d left onhis neck last night. Acting on instinct, I bit down on it, openingit once more. A sigh of pleasure escaped me when I felt the renewalof the connection between us.
