Alexandra Adornetto: Hades

“I don’t have a choice, Tuck,” I replied.

“Y’know, Beth.” He sat hesitantly on the edge of my bed. “I know things seem pretty bad at the moment … but I’ve never admired you more than I do right now.”

“How do you figure?” I asked. “Not much to admire if you ask me.”

“No,” Tuck said, shaking his head. “You might not see it now, but you’re real strong. When Jake first brought you in, nobody thought you’d last a day. But you’re tougher than you look. Despite everythin’ you’ve seen, despite everythin’ they’ve done to you — you still got faith.”

“But I’m letting Jake win,” I said. “I’m giving him what he wants.”

“Naw,” Tuck said in his husky voice. “Givin’ him what he wants would be refusin’ … puttin’ yourself first. You’re givin’ up somethin’ real special and Jake knows you’re doing it outta love. You hate him more than anythin’ and yet you’re gonna give yourself to him to protect the person you love. That’s gotta be eatin’ him up.”

“Thanks, Tuck.” I wrapped my arms around him and buried my face into his neck, which smelled of warm hay. “I never thought of it that way.”

As I stared at my reflection in the mirror, I thought maybe Tucker was right after all. Maybe I needed to stop thinking of this as an act of sordid unfaithfulness, but rather as the ultimate act of love.

I had a few minutes to myself before it was time to go. Hanna and Tuck left me alone, figuring I needed some time to gather my thoughts. I couldn’t help myself and started projecting almost before they’d closed the door behind them. I wanted to see Xavier one last time; I wanted his face to be the last thing I saw before I gave away a precious part of myself. I knew if I could hold on to the memory of him in my head, I’d be able to get through this.

My family had already arrived in Alabama. It would’ve only been about a two-hour drive, but I was still surprised to find they’d gotten there so quickly. As far as I could tell, Broken Hill was a sleepy little town much like Venus Cove. The train station was no longer in use. The wooden benches lining the brick walls were littered with rubbish and the old-fashioned ticket booth was unattended. Weeds sprouted from between the tracks and crows pecked uselessly at the dry ground. I imagined it would have once been a charming little place, brimming with life. It was clear that since the train crash that had claimed so many lives the residents had steered clear of it and now it was nothing but a derelict shadow of its former self. The Chevy pulled up beside the rusted tracks and my family stepped out. Ivy sniffed the air and I wondered if she could smell sulfur given off by the portal that had to be close by.

“This place gives me the creeps,” Molly said, still lingering in the car.

“Stay where you are,” Gabriel told her and for once she didn’t argue.

“So what now?” Xavier asked. “Any idea what we’re looking for?”

“It could look like anything,” Gabriel said, bending down and holding his right palm above the earth. “But I think it’s embedded here in the tracks.”

“How do you know that?”

“The earth is always hotter above a portal into Hell.”

“That figures,” Xavier sighed. “All we gotta work out now is how to open it.”

“That’s the problem,” Ivy said. “Our combined power isn’t enough. We need back up.”

“Damn it.” Xavier kicked the ground with the toe of his boot, sending pebbles flying. “What was the point of coming here?”

“Michael wouldn’t have sent us on a wild goose chase,” Ivy murmured. “There must be something he wants us to do.”

“Or maybe he’s just a douche.”

“Indeed,” said a disembodied voice behind them.

They all spun around in time to see the archangel materialize before them, his towering form shadowing the tracks. He looked exactly the same as the first time we’d seen him, fair-haired and glowing, his powerful limbs much larger than the size of an average human. His wings were retracted.

“Not again,” I heard Molly groan from the car and she put her head between her knees.

Gabriel and Michael acknowledged each other as equal warriors by bowing their heads in recognition. “We have followed your instructions, brother,” Gabriel said. “What is it you would have us do now?”

“I have come to offer you my help,” Michael replied. “I bring with me the most powerful weapon throughout Heaven and Hell. It can open a portal as easily as popping a cork.”

“Thanks for sharing that vital piece of information earlier,” Xavier muttered ill-humoredly.

“It was for me to decide when the time was right,” Michael said, fixing his eyes on Xavier. “The Covenant met to discuss this unforeseen predicament. Lucifer knows the power of the angel he holds hostage and he plans to use her to achieve his own ends.”

Michael’s words struck a chord with me. For him to know that, it meant that all this time I hadn’t been alone. Heaven had been watching all along. Did I dare to hope that all was not lost?

“How does he plan to do that? Bethany’s no puppet,” Ivy protested.

“That we cannot know,” said Michael. “But divine essence in the hands of any demon is dangerous. Lucifer’s aim is to bring about Armageddon — the final battle — and he hopes to use the angel to his advantage. The forces of Heaven must retaliate.”

“How exactly does Beth fit in?” Xavier asked.

“She’s a catalyst, if you like,” Michael explained. “The demons want to trigger a full-scale war, but we will not descend to their level. We will show them the might of Heaven without the need for bloodshed.”

“You were always going to help us, weren’t you?” Xavier said suddenly. “Why couldn’t you have done that right from the start?”

Michael inclined his head slightly. “When a child breaks a toy and his parents immediately buy him a new one, what lesson is learned?”

“Beth is not a toy,” Xavier began hotly, but Gabriel put a restraining hand on his shoulder.

“Do not interrupt an angel of the Lord.”

“Heaven can always intervene,” Michael continued. “But He chooses the appropriate time. We are merely His messengers. If Our Father righted every wrong in the world, nobody would learn from their mistakes. We reward faith and loyalty and you have demonstrated both. Besides, your journey is not over. Heaven has plans for you.”

“Plans for me?” Xavier repeated, but Michael only fixed him with his powerful glare.

“Let’s not ruin the surprise.”

It was a shock to hear what Michael had to say. He ran with the big guns in the Kingdom and I had doubted my rescue was high up on his agenda. But it seemed that Lucifer was playing a more dangerous game than I’d realized. Michael seemed to think we were on the brink of war and that Heaven needed to reaffirm its dominance. I still had no idea how he planned to break through the portal, but he seemed confident in his abilities.

“The portal?” Ivy gently reminded him, anxious not to lose any more time. “We are here for a reason.”

“Very well,” Michael said, and from beneath his flowing robes he withdrew an object so bright and glorious that Xavier had to turn his face away.

The long, flaming sword pulsed in Michael’s hand ready to do his bidding. It burned blue at the edges and looked almost too elegant for its purpose of destruction. Along the golden hilt were etched letters in a language no human could possibly understand. The letters seemed to ripple and glow with a soft blue light. The sword was alive — as if it were blessed with a spirit of its own.