I looked back at Riley who was looking at me with no emotion in his eyes. “And I certainly don’t think it’s easy to walk around disfigured, to be murdered, brought back to life and then basically have a target placed on my back because I’m trying to do the right thing.” I lifted my chin. “If you think any of us are going to excuse the bad choices you’ve made or feel sorry for you because your life has been so hard, think again. Look around. Every single one of us has problems. Only you choose to let that corrupt you.”
No one said anything for long moments and then Riley got up and went out the French doors, going to the end of the patio to stare out at the sea.
“If we’re going to trap Beelzebub, I think we should trap Hecate with him,” Sam said, his arm sliding around my waist and pulling me into his side. I’m proud of you.
I’m proud of all of us. “It’s a good idea. She’ll try to stop us too. She probably gets her power from those souls too.”
“Is there a way to bind her powers, Ana?” Gemma asked. “I’ve looked in my books and haven’t found anything.”
“I can help you with that,” Ana replied.
“How?” I asked eagerly.
“The dried petals from the flower can be ground down into a fine powder and when blown on Hecate, her powers will be bound.”
“Do you have any dried flower petals?” I asked.
“Yes. I will get them.” She went from the room.
“How are we going to trap them?” Cole asked.
I frowned. “I don’t know. It would need to be somewhere that Beelzebub couldn’t break free.” An idea began to form in my mind when Riley came back into the room.
“In or out?” Sam asked him.
“In.” He sat back down on the couch and glanced at me. I nodded.
Ana came in the room carrying a small fabric bag and one of those mortar set things to grind down the dried petals. She set everything out on the wooden coffee table and sat down on her knees in front of it all.
“The reason this works is because the flower petals harvest the light and energy from the sun. The sun is the single most important thing on this planet that gives life to everything. Hecate uses her powers to seek and destroy life, to taint it. The flowers are dried, which concentrates the sun’s powers. When it comes in contact with the kind of energy Hecate gives off, it automatically reacts to replenish itself, the life she tries to steal, and binds whatever it is that she harnesses.”
We all watched in quiet fascination as she took out four dried petals from the bag and placed them in the stone dish and ground them down into a fine, sparkling golden dust. When she was satisfied, she poured the dust into the fabric pouch and some of it danced in the air around her. She laughed.
I caught Riley staring at her when she handed the pouch to me. “Here you are, Heven. I give you the power of the sun, a power you also harness inside you.”
I took the pouch. “What do you mean?”
She smiled. “I think you know.”
I didn’t, but we had to go.
“Thank you, Ana,” I said sincerely. “For healing me and giving us a place to rest, for this.” I held up the pouch.
“It is what I am here for,” she said kindly.
“How long have you been here?” I asked.
“This island has been hidden here since the creation of hell.”
“How old are you?” Riley asked, making a face.
Ana smiled. “Not that old. My mother was once the keeper here. When she died, I took over.”
“You were born here?” Sam asked.
Ana nodded. “Yes. I was raised here too.”
Had she ever been out of hell? Did she even know what lay beyond this island?
“You must be really bored,” Riley said.
I rolled my eyes. “Riley can’t stand to be bored.”
“I like it here,” Ana said simply.
“I like it here too. We all do.” I stood and hugged her. She seemed surprised, but then she returned the hug.
“We should be going,” Sam said from behind us. I pulled back and reached for his hand.
“Can we come back to visit you?”
“I would like that.”
“Assuming we live long enough,” Riley intoned.
“I have faith in you,” Ana said. “In all of you.”
I only hoped that our plan was strong enough to work.
Chapter Twenty-Six
Heven
The Jeep was exactly where Cole left it. The Devourer delivered us right to it and I was shocked it was still in one piece. Everyone climbed in as the dragon watched.
“I wish I had some candy bars,” I muttered, trying to think of a way to keep The Devourer from leaving.
“Here you go, sis.” Cole tossed me a bag from the back seat. It was filled with Snickers bars.
“Awesome.” I unwrapped the candy and dangled it out the window. The Devourer rumbled closer and snatched the candy from my fingers. “Good boy,” I told him and unwrapped another.
Riley drove slowly and I kept holding candy bars out the window so the dragon would follow. When we started to run low, I began to worry, but then I saw the looming shape of Beelzebub’s ominous castle in the distance and I knew we would make it.
All of a sudden a terrible ripping sound filled the Jeep and the canvas top was torn away and went flying with great force into the air.
“Shit!” Riley yelled as he slammed on the brakes. Dust and ash from the ground whipped up into the air and wrapped around us all like a heavy fog. The Jeep fishtailed before coming to a stop and we all sat there in menacing silence. Logan began coughing from all the ash and his thin shoulders shuddered as he tried to stop. Sam wrapped an arm around his brother as I strained my eyes, trying to see through the ash, but it was too thick and we were forced to wait until it settled.
I prayed that The Devourer didn’t fly away in the chaos. Then the laughing began. It was sick and sinister, dark and mean. It could only belong to one person. To the Prince of Demons.
Sam wrapped his hand around mine and held my fingers tight, as if he were afraid I might be snatched away.
“Can anyone see where he is?” I whispered.
The ash was settling and I knew in just mere seconds he would be revealed to us.
He laughed once more and we all turned our heads in the direction of his voice. I could make out the looming shape standing just yards away. Doubt and fear crept into my mind. Could we really pull this off? The Prince of Demons was no joke. He was the most powerful man in the underworld. He’d been torturing me for months. He killed my mother. Was I really sure this plan could work? Was I just putting everyone I cared about in even greater danger?