Into the Abyss (Hell on Earth Book 2) Read online

  There’s that victim word again.

  “I have no sway over you and can’t ensnare you,” she said to me.

  “And how do we know you’re telling the truth?” I asked.

  “I am different from most of the jinn, but I can’t make you believe me. So, we’ll all stay here and get to know each other better while we wait to see if any of those in the Abyss are strong enough to come back to us.”

  Corson didn’t look at all happy with that idea.

  “Has anyone escaped the Abyss before?” Raphael inquired.

  “Some did before the jinn were sealed away. I’m not sure if anyone has broken out of the Abyss since the jinn were freed. I stay out of this aspect of the jinn’s lives.”

  She held my gaze while I stared skeptically at her, Corson snorted derisively, Caim smiled in amusement, and Raphael remained straight-faced. Something about her made me want to trust her, but only a fool believed a jinni, and I was no fool.

  “What do the jinn do with those they have in the Abyss?” I asked.

  “Like you feed on the wraiths, and so do I, the jinn also feed on the life force of those they trap,” she said, “but I suspect you already knew the answer to that.”

  I had known the answer, but I was curious to see if she would admit it to me. “Will there be other jinn in the Abyss?”

  “Most likely.”

  “And they’ll most likely be feeding on our friends.”

  She bowed her head, and though it hadn’t been a question, she replied, “Yes.”

  Corson held Wren closer as I rubbed my forehead. I could well be walking into my death, but Corson wasn’t stable enough to go, and Raphael and Caim were needed here. Plus, I wasn’t sure Raphael would intervene to help someone in the Abyss if he felt he might be interfering with their fate, and I didn’t know if Caim could be completely trusted.

  I was the only option.

  “After Amalia and I go, you’ll have to gather everyone and move them somewhere they’ll all be together and easier to protect. You know the place,” I said to Corson.

  “I do,” Corson replied.

  I refused to say the location or that it was a cave out loud as I wouldn’t give this jinni any clue about where the bodies would be hidden. And I couldn’t stay to help them get everyone to safety without giving away the location to her. They would have to handle this on their own.

  “It’s not only the jinn we have to worry about; they’re all vulnerable to any enemy now,” I said.

  Corson’s jaw clenched, but he didn’t protest my words.

  “We will keep them safe,” Raphael vowed.

  Caim inspected his nails, but when he felt the weight of all our stares, he lifted his head. “What?” he asked.

  “Did you hear what I said?” I demanded of him.

  “Oh, yes, we will keep the others safe,” he said distractedly. Then, he tilted his head to study Amalia. “There’s something about you….”

  When Amalia stared back at him, her eyes lost their reddish hue to become the color of a sunrise. With a start, I realized her eyes appeared to shift with her emotions, and I found myself questioning what each color revealed about her.

  Who cares? She’s a jinni and someone to stay far away from. That’s the only thing that matters about her. Sometimes, I couldn’t deny I was as intelligent as I was good looking.

  “What do you mean; what is there about her?” I asked Caim.

  Caim seemed to rouse himself from somewhere else as he blinked and unfurled his wings. “I should keep watch,” he said before taking to the sky.

  “Is he losing his mind?” I asked Raphael as Caim circled overhead in ever-widening arcs. He vanished over the trees before reemerging in raven form.

  Raphael shrugged and rested his hand on the hilt of his sword. “Caim is as he is, and as he will be.”

  “Angel riddles, delightful,” I muttered before turning to Amalia. “Let’s get on with this. What do we have to do?”

  • • •

  Amalia

  I didn’t tell Magnus I wasn’t sure I could do any of what was necessary to enter the Abyss. Corson was staring at me like he intended to gut me, and unlike the other jinn, I wouldn’t recover if those talons eviscerated me.

  I hadn’t been lying; I’d never entered the Abyss before. Within the seal, our ability to enter the Abyss was shut down, and since being freed, I’d never had a reason to enter the plane. Out of curiosity, I once opened a doorway into the Abyss, but I never went through the portal, and I’d never considered taking a non-jinni with me. I’d heard it was possible, but I wasn’t fully matured, so who knew what I could or couldn’t do.

  But I had to do something before they decided I was useless and killed me. I’d just gotten my freedom, and I wouldn’t lose it now.

  The only thing I could do was open the Abyss, and if Magnus couldn’t enter with me, at least I might have a chance of fleeing into it to get away from them. If I failed, they’d probably kill me, but if I succeeded in escaping, maybe I could do something to help them.

  They hate you simply because of what you are; why would you bother to help them?

  It was true, but as Corson’s anguish beat against me, I knew I would help them because, whether they believed me or not, I was different from most of the jinn and I couldn’t stand the suffering of another.

  Then, a possible way to help those affected by what the jinn did today occurred to me. However, none of those around me would go for it, so I decided to keep it to myself. If they didn’t kill me, maybe I’d get the chance to put my idea into action later. And if they did kill me, then screw them for not giving me the opportunity to help because they despised my kind.

  I’d prefer not to die for the sins of my brethren though.

  Taking a deep breath, I threw back my shoulders and lifted my hand before my face. I closed my eyes as I drew on the well of power flowing through the veins of all the jinn. While I concentrated, the creaking branches, bird song, and whisper of the wind faded until there was only the Abyss and me.

  Even though I’d never entered the Abyss and only opened a portal into it once before, I knew the jinn were the Abyss, and the Abyss was us. Even locked behind the seal, I’d felt it in my being.

  The power of my connection to the Abyss spread warmth through my arms, down my thighs, and into my fingers and toes. Turning my hand sideways in front of my face, I made a weaving motion with it as I ran it down to the center of my chest.

  The fabric of the air pulled silently back when I opened a doorway between this world and the next.

  Opening my eyes, I stared into the portal before me. Roughly the size of a doorway, it was a gray canvas blocking out the scenery beyond it and revealing nothing of what lay within the Abyss. No breeze flowed in or out of the portal; no noise sounded in my ears in this world or the next, but the Abyss beckoned me to enter it.

  When I opened the doorway before, the unknowing of what lay beyond was too frightening for me. I’d quickly closed it before something could escape or something that didn’t belong inside it could enter. The unknowing still unnerved me, but I no longer had a choice; I had to step into the Abyss.

  Tearing my eyes away from the portal, I turned back to find Magnus’s gaze riveted on it. “Can you see it?” My voice rang louder than normal in my ears.

  Magnus strode forward to stand beside me. “Yes.”

  “We all can,” Raphael said.

  Easily eight inches taller than me, I had to tip my head back to meet Magnus’s eyes as I spoke to him. “I’m not sure if it’s necessary or not, but I think I should hold onto you while we enter.”

  Uncertain of how he would react, I hesitated before slipping my hand into his. I started when a small current of something ran through me, but instead of disrupting the flow of my power, it swelled my ability within me.

  I couldn’t stop my fingers from stroking his hand. His skin warmed mine, and for a second, I almost stepped closer to him as a frisson of need rocked me. Magnus’
s emotions caressed my skin as his surprise faded to curiosity then desire. When he met my gaze again, his thumb stroked the back of my hand.

  “Are you ready, Amalia?” he inquired.

  The way he said my name sent a shiver down my spine, but was I ready? Throughout all of this, I hadn’t stopped to think about the consequences of my actions. I was bringing an outsider into the Abyss, and not just any outsider, but a paliton close to the king. The jinn would be furious with me, but they would forgive me. Would they forgive me if something went horrifically wrong though?

  “I won’t tolerate the jinn being hurt,” I said to him. “We are going to find your friends, not to fight the jinn. I’ll bring you back immediately if you try to hurt them, and know that I am your only way back here. None of the other jinn would allow you to go free, but I will.”

  Magnus’s silver eyes narrowed at me. “I won’t purposely hurt anyone, but I will defend my life and the lives of my friends if it becomes necessary.”

  I absorbed the emotions coming from him. He was uncertain about this, but his words were true, and that was the best I could hope for.

  “Okay, let’s go.”

  Keeping his hand in mine, together, we stepped into the Abyss.

  CHAPTER 6

  Amalia

  I didn’t know what I’d expected to discover in the Abyss: nothing, fog, chaos, floating brains, or conscious thought streaming through until one mind couldn’t be separated from another, but none of that unfolded before me.

  Instead, I found myself standing beside Magnus in a meadow with waves of waist-high, violet grass flowing around us. No breeze caressed my cheeks, but the grass bowed and swayed as if currents of air stirred it. Before us, the grass covered a steep hill rising into the air until it seemed to touch the red sky.

  When I glanced back through the portal, I spotted Corson and Raphael leaning close together with their eyes narrowed as they watched us. Then, the edges of the portal started closing in on each other until the door-sized hole became nothing but a pinprick before fading completely.

  Beyond where the doorway was located lay a large body of reddish water. I couldn’t tell if that was the natural color of the water or if it was reflecting the sky. Pink sand surrounded the shore of the lake stretching as far as the eye could see in that direction. Beyond the twenty feet of shoreline, the meadow started, but unlike the grass, the water was as still as glass.

  The second the portal closed, noise returned. I still didn’t feel a breeze, but the sighing sounds of the feathery grass ends filled my ears as they danced. Something about the music they created sounded melancholy, and a twinge of sadness tugged at my heart as I released Magnus’s hand to caress a fluffy tip.

  When it slid across my palm, the seed head was as soft as a butterfly’s wings. On Earth, those colorful insects had fascinated me, as almost everything on Earth did, but something about butterflies intrigued me more than anything else.

  One day, when they were especially active, I’d lain by a pond watching the creatures flutter and dance around me in the sunlight. The longer I lay there, the more some started settling on me until I was shocked to discover myself covered in them. Their supple wings stroked my skin, and their multi-colored hues captivated me. It had been one of the best days of my life topped only by the day I was set free of the seal.

  When I released the grass, it bowed its head as if it were mourning something, but grass couldn’t grieve. That was impossible. But no matter how impossible it was, my empath ability insisted this field was mourning something.

  But what?

  Unfortunately, the grass couldn’t answer that question, and I had no idea how to figure it out.

  “The grass sounds like the ocean,” Magnus murmured as he studied the field.

  “The what?” I inquired.

  “The ocean. It’s numerous bodies of salty water on Earth located near the shores of the land. Where we are on Earth is pretty far from the closest sea.”

  “I’ve never seen it. Does the ocean sound sad too?”

  “I suppose it could sound sad to some. You think the grass sounds sad?”

  “Yes. Don’t you?”

  He listened for a minute before shrugging. “Maybe it does. You don’t know much about the human world, do you?”

  “I know what I’ve had the opportunity to learn since being freed, but I haven’t really traveled, and I didn’t have the chance to see much while locked behind a seal,” I retorted.

  “No, you didn’t,” he said.

  Before I knew what he intended, he lifted his hand to run his fingers over my cheek. I tried to recoil from him but found myself unable to move as his touch sent a thrill through me.

  “The ocean is sort of like the River Asharún,” he said. “Except the ocean is bigger and blue instead of red.”

  “I don’t know what the River Asharún is either.”

  His hand stilled on my face. “You never saw or heard about the Asharún?”

  “I was born behind a seal,” I reminded him impatiently.

  When he lowered his hand, I almost snatched it back to place it against my face again. For some reason, the loss of contact inexplicably saddened me, but I restrained myself from reaching out to him again. Getting closer to this demon was an even worse idea than bringing him here in the first place.

  “And none of the jinn told you about it?” he asked.

  “Why would they? I never expected to see it, and why would they torment me with things I could never experience? The jinn told me about the Abyss because I could feel it inside me.” I placed a hand on my chest. “And I had to know what it was I felt, so they explained it to me. Once we were free of the seal, the jinn told me what I needed to know about other demons, the varcolac, craetons, and palitons, but there was no point in learning about Hell when we wouldn’t be returning to it.”

  “I’m surprised they didn’t tell you about what you were missing behind the seal for the fun of it; I thought jinn feasted on cruelty.”

  “You know nothing about my kind. Some of them can be cruel to those outside our species, but we don’t inflict hurt on each other.”

  “Some of them can be cruel to those outside the jinn? Are you saying there are jinn who don’t enjoy torturing others?”

  “I already told you there are some who don’t,” I retorted, growing annoyed with the stubborn demon. “But I know you won’t believe me, so what does it matter?”

  His eyes ran over me in a leisurely perusal that escalated my pulse and made my breasts feel heavier all while I resisted kicking him for his constant skepticism.

  “I suppose it doesn’t,” he finally said.

  “Then you’d suppose right.” I couldn’t stop the twinge of disappointment I felt over his continued inability to look past what I was to who I was, but then, I knew how manipulative many jinn could be, so I couldn’t blame him for being a stubborn asshole.

  “Where are we?” he asked and turned his attention to the meadow.

  “The Abyss.”

  “But where in it?”

  “I… ah… I’m not sure. I didn’t expect to find anything like this here, but then I’m not sure what I expected to discover here.”

  “You’ve really never been here before?”

  “Do you have difficulty hearing, or are you purposely being obtuse?” I demanded. “I already told you I haven’t been here. And now you’re going to accuse me of lying, so let’s bypass the bullshit and start walking. If we climb to the top of the hill, we should be able to see more.”

  I didn’t look back at him as I started through the soughing grass. The ends tickled my arms, and when I ran my fingers over the tips, some of the seeds spilled free. I caught them and lifted them to examine the tiny, deep purple seeds. When I poked at them, I discovered they were hard to the touch.

  The unfelt breeze moving the grass stirred the seeds in my palm but didn’t take them. Stopping, I lifted the seeds close to my lips and blew on them. They danced before me, swirling higher
while the currents of air spun them.

  When I turned to watch them floating away, I came face-to-face with Magnus. He glowered at me as he folded his arms across his chest. He looked formidable in a way he hadn’t before.

  For the first time, a trickle of apprehension ran through me. I was in an unfamiliar place with a demon who was stronger than me. This was my world, but I knew how to use it to my advantage as well as I knew this man.

  He didn’t trust me, he feared my kind, and though he’d acted easier going than the other palitons, and I perceived no murderous intentions from him, anyone could change in an instant.

  I almost stepped away before rethinking the action. I refused to be intimidated by him.

  “Are you creating this?” he asked.

  I blinked at him in surprise. “Creating this? How could I possibly do that?”

  “Perhaps a jinni’s ability works in much the same way as mine.”

  “And how does yours work?” Leaning forward, I inspected his horns a little more closely. They were so shiny, but there were plenty of demons with horns and none of them had captivated me this much. “What type of demon are you, or what types of demon? I know many demons are mixed now.”

  Hence, my Fault.

  “I’m not a mix,” he said.

  Oddly entranced by them, and determined to know what they felt like, I stretched my fingers toward his horns before coming to my senses and snatching them back. I despised the heat creeping into my cheeks when I glanced away from him.

  “Then what are you?” I asked.

  “I’m a demon.”

  He’s not going to tell me.

  Not that I blamed him, I wouldn’t trust me either, but it only reinforced the truth I’d learned since arriving on Earth; I didn’t fit in with most of the jinn, I didn’t fit in with other demons, and I didn’t fit in with humans.

  At least behind the seal, my differences hadn’t separated me so much from my family, and I’d had no contact with other demons. But my small seal had been blown apart, and now I knew nothing of the world or those in it.

  Feeling a lot sadder than when we first entered, I turned away from him and trudged up the hill through the grass.