“Nothing …” I thought I heard Jake’s voice tremble. “I … I don’t know what happened.”
“Liar!” Asia screamed.
“Silence.” Lucifer held up a ringed finger. “Arakiel had no hand in this. It seems the angel has been holding out on us. Her powers are greater than we know.”
“What now?” someone asked.
Lucifer’s listless blue gaze met mine and this time I didn’t flinch away.
“Arakiel,” he said tonelessly. “Kindly escort Miss Church to the chambers until we decide what to do with her.”
As it turned out the “chambers” were Hell’s version of a prison cellblock and they made Hotel Ambrosia look like paradise. The bodyguards hustled me out of the arena into a car and before I knew it I was being thrust into a space in the wall barely large enough to contain me. It was made of rough, cracked stone and rusted iron bars secured the entrance. When I sat down, my elbows scraped against the walls and my legs began to cramp after five minutes. There was total darkness in the chambers, but strange noises like the shuffling of feet and the clanging of metal pipes filtered through, along with mute cries of despair. The smell of damp was overwhelming.
Once the bodyguards left I heard Jake’s voice through the bars. Although I could barely see him I could hear the mixture of relief and confusion in his voice.
“How did you do it?” he asked in a hushed tone. I heard his rings clink as he wrapped a hand around the bars. “Tell me the truth.”
“I don’t think it was me.”
“Well, don’t admit that to anyone, got it?” Jake said sharply. “It’s the only bargaining chip we’ve got left.”
“What are you going to do?”
“I don’t know yet, but I’ll speak to my father — try and persuade him to let you go. Maybe things will be different now he’s seen how special you are.”
I didn’t respond — I was too drained from the day’s ordeal. “Leave it to me,” Jake said.
A few moments later I heard his retreating footsteps and I was left alone in the darkness.
24
Tennessee Blues
WITH Jake gone, there was only one way to take my mind off my physical discomfort. I shoved all troubling thoughts out of my head and focused on projection. I squeezed my eyes shut, willing my thoughts to shift away from this nightmarish place. The transition happened easily, like flipping a channel in my head. There was a rush of wind and then I had the feeling of my body dropping away like a stone as I rose in my spectral form. Before the darkness cleared, a voice reached me, distant at first but growing clearer. I could feel the familiar chug of an engine beneath me and smell leather mixed with sandalwood. I would have known that smell anywhere. It belonged to a certain 1956 Chevy Bel Air convertible. I felt the knot of tension in my chest instantly unravel and I breathed a deep sigh of relief. I was in Xavier’s car.
As my astral form took shape, I realized I was hovering in the backseat of the Chevy between Xavier and Molly. They seemed to be angled as far away from each other as was physically possible, both gazing sullenly out the windows at the passing landscape. Any rift mending that had occurred in the last few hours had evidently been only temporary. Ivy and Gabriel were sitting tight-lipped up front, clearly relieved to be at some distance from whatever dispute was in progress. As I watched the highway speeding by, I realized that we were in unfamiliar territory. My family must have already left Venus Cove far behind them. They sure weren’t wasting any time.
“We’re almost there,” Gabriel said sounding like a parent hoping to placate restless children. His voice, deep and resonant, reminded me of a low chord strummed on a guitar. Hearing his voice triggered a sharp pang of nostalgia for the way life used to be before Jake showed up and shattered everything. “We’re about to cross the Tennessee state line.”
“I don’t see why we couldn’t have gone by plane like all normal people,” Molly grumbled.
“We weren’t going to fly to cross one state,” Ivy replied calmly, though I could sense that her patience was wearing thin. Molly shifted and her elbow went right through my rib cage. The sensation was uncomfortable like a bar of heat spearing through my side. I guessed it was the life force of her human body colliding with my spectral form. I automatically wriggled away from her.
“Ugh, I knew I shouldn’t have eaten all those Junior Mints on the way over here,” Molly complained rubbing her stomach. I noticed she was wearing pink sweatpants and a matching cropped hoodie. Her auburn curls were pulled up into a high ponytail on top of her head and a hot pink duffel bag had been shoved under the seat in front of her. I couldn’t suppress a smile, knowing that Molly would claim she’d dressed sensibly for the occasion. Nobody responded to her comment. I supposed there wasn’t much to say about Junior Mints when your mind was preoccupied with demonic kidnappings and apocalyptic signs. The Chevy coasted along the highway and Xavier laid his forehead against the window. He looked edgy, like he needed to be doing something more than lounging in the back of a car.
I peered through the window and watched the Georgia countryside fly by. I was struck by how scenic it was. The earth seemed to have a life of its own and lush forestland spread out before us like a cloak. Vivid red maples grew thick and fast, forming shady canopies where their branches interlocked. I caught sight of butterfly weed and delicate purple prairie clover among the velvet greenery. As we traveled I watched as the earth became carpeted with sycamore twigs. The sky above us looked vast and open, only a handful of clouds scudded lazily across it, like lilies drifting across a clear blue pool. Things seemed simpler out on the open road and I felt close to the natural world. I was reminded of my old home in the Kingdom. Something about this place made me feel more connected to it than I had in a long time. I let out a heavy sigh and Xavier, who’d been resting against the window, sat up straight and glared at Molly.
“What?” she demanded when she noticed him staring at her.
“Please don’t do that,” Xavier said.
“Do what?”
“Breathe in my ear like that.”
Molly looked insulted. “What kind of freak do you think I am? Why would I want to blow in your ear?”
“I said breathe.”
“Oh, I see, so I’m not allowed to breathe now?”
“That’s not what I meant.”
“You do realize, I’ll suffocate if I’m not allowed to breathe.”
Xavier leaned forward. “Seriously, guys, let me drive,” he implored. “Someone else can sit back here and be tortured.”
“I’m not even talking!” Molly protested angrily.
“You’re talking now,” Xavier groaned.
“We’d be there already if we’d gone by plane.”
“The pilot would have crashed after five minutes of listening to you talk.”
“It’d still be safer than driving around in this old bomb.”
“Hey!” Xavier could not have looked more offended had someone insulted his manhood. He always got worked up when people took shots at his car. “It’s vintage.”
“It’s a vintage pile of crap. I don’t know why we couldn’t take the Jeep.”
I’d been wondering that myself. I got the feeling that taking the Chevy had been Xavier’s idea. Maybe it made him feel more connected to me. We’d shared plenty of memories in that car, and maybe he’d wanted to take those with him when he left his old town and his old life completely behind. But Xavier wasn’t about to share that information with Molly. Instead he said, “You wouldn’t know a classic car if you fell over one.”
“Jerk,” she muttered.
“Airhead.”