Tirade (Heven and Hell #3)(85)
Author: Cambria Hebert

The Devourer made a sound and then flew away.

“Let’s go,” Heven said and we all made our way to the dungeon.

“Kimber,” I called when we approached her cell. “We’re here to break you out.”

Kimber appeared in the door and stared at Hecate, who was wrinkled and weak in Riley’s arms. “What happened to her? And who are you?” Kimber said, looking at Riley.

“We need your cell,” Riley said by way of greeting.

Kimber crossed her arms.

Heven stepped forward. “We found a way to bind Hecate’s power’s and trap Beelzebub in your cell. You need to put your soul back in your body so you can come out.”

“I can’t come out.” She protested.

“Yes, you can.” I reminded her. “Beelzebub said you were free. You just have to get your soul.”

“How?”

Heven grabbed an unlit torch from the wall and stared at it until it roared to life with flames. I stared at her until she turned to me. “Power of the sun,” she said. I nodded, remembering what Ana said. The sun was essentially a giant ball of flames so it made sense that an affinity for fire would be the power of the sun.

Heven held the torch up to the cell entrance so we could see farther into the chamber. Her soul was suspended against the far wall. I watched as Heven unlatched the door and stepped inside. “Hev,” I said, reaching out to her.

“It’s okay,” she said softly and brushed her fingertips against mine.

She walked toward Kimber’s soul slowly and then stopped in front of it. I watched her as she took a deep breath and then exhaled. She stared right at the soul, and I could hear the thoughts circle through her mind.

You are safe. You are calm. Go back into your host.

She repeated the mantra in her head slowly as she stared at the soul. I wasn’t sure what she was doing and I didn’t think it would work, but then something happened. The soul seemed to shudder and then began to move. Heven held up the hand that wasn’t gripping the torch and moved it toward Kimber who was standing there watching in awe.

We all watched as the soul went toward Kimber and then absorbed into her body. Kimber stumbled back as her soul reentered her body. She gasped and fell to her knees.

Heven lowered her hand and smiled.

Several moments went by and then she looked up. “Well, that feels better.” Then she looked up at Heven and said, “Who are you?”

Heven looked at me, then back at Kimber. “I’m the Soul Reaper.”

Riley was the first to break the silence. He walked right into the cell and dumped Hecate onto the hard floor. She moaned. Heven took the box that held Beelzebub and sat it in the corner and then walked away, returning to my side.

We all watched as Kimber took a tentative step outside the cell and then she smiled.

I slammed the door shut, the metal making a loud clattering sound. Hecate aroused and saw what we were doing. “You can’t keep us in here forever!” she cried as she got to her feet.

I pulled Heven back away from the cell door when Hecate came forward and lifted her hands trying to use her magic to open the door.

Nothing happened.

“Think it will hold Beelzebub?” Heven worried. “I didn’t feel anything when I walked in and out of it.”

As she spoke, the box burst open and Beelzebub’s soul flung up toward the ceiling and bounced off. Then it shot toward the cell door and we all held our breath. I felt sick satisfaction when the soul bounced back into the room when it hit the cell doors.

“I’d say it works,” Riley said.

“Stand back,” Heven said and we all moved back. I watched in awe once again as the girl I loved seemed to center herself as a wall of flames burst up around the cell. Then she turned and looked at the three of us as we stared. She shrugged. “Just a little added security.”

Gone was the insecure girl that would hide and cringe at the slightest of noise. Gone was the girl who didn’t think she was strong enough to face her fears. This girl had strength that matched our greatest of enemies. This girl was no longer shy and timid, but powerful and confident. My chest swelled with love for everything she had been and everything she had become.

This girl was mine.

Heven

It didn’t seem right that Earth looked the same as we left it only hours before. Because everything was changed.

Nothing would be the same again.

We had all suffered. Pain, betrayal and loss were emotions that cut deep and changed a person irrevocably. Death left a nasty stain on a person’s soul. And I would know… being that I was the Soul Reaper.

I wasn’t exactly sure what it meant, other than making me even more wanted by Beelzebub and probably every single prince of hell down there. But I also knew that I was meant for this. This might not have been the exact path I was to take, but this was the path I chose. I could do this.

We could do this.

I looked over at Sam, who was holding his brother’s lifeless body in his lap. The sorrow that he wore cloaked him and I understood his pain. He deserved to mourn his brother. His brother deserved the respect of a funeral and I was going to make sure he got it. He looked up at me and I gave him a small smile, reaching out my hand and entwining it with his.

Riley pulled the Jeep onto the road that lead to Gran’s and stopped. He looked in the rearview mirror at me and I shook my head. “Keep driving. Right up to the house.”

“But Gran,” Cole protested from the front seat and Gemma turned in his lap to look at me.

“I’m done lying,” I said as Riley drove toward the house.

“Heven?” Sam said, his voice questioning.

“It’ll be okay. Bring Logan,” I said as I climbed out of the Jeep. Gran met us at the door as I was walking up the steps, my friends, my allies, behind me.

“Heven?” Gran said, taking in my horrible appearance, the people she didn’t know and finally Sam, who was cradling his brother in his arms. She looked up at me with tears in her eyes.

“We have to talk, Gran. There are things you need to know.”

Gran stood there a moment and then slowly opened the door. “And there are things I need to tell you.”

Epilogue

Riley

I burst through the castle door with enthusiasm. “Honey, I’m home!”

The place was dark and smelled of stale death. I blinked my eyes, trying to hurry their adjustment to the dark. Every time I had been in this place, it was so dark I didn’t really even know what it looked like.