Page 24 of Grave Mistakes
“I’m just saying...” Crux speaks up, interrupting the escalating tension, “she could be what we need. She could be the one,” he adds with a sigh, like he’s bored of arguing.
Hold the fuck up. The one?“I’m not the one.”
“I agree with her,” Jerif says, and for some reason, that pisses me off, because how the fuck does he know? Maybe Iamthe one they need. Yeah, yeah, I’m going from hot to cold here, but fuck it. My waffle is a hot fucking mess right now, and this lava-haired bastard is trying to put mustard on it.
“Like I said, we’d have to test her to make sure,” Iceman says again.
Going into Hell? Yeah, pass.
“How do we even do that?” Jerif asks irritably.
Iceman casts me a cursory look. “We’d have to take her down and then see which Ring Gates she can pass through.”
I interject. “Just to be clear, when you say Ring Gate…”
“The Gates leading to each Ring of Hell,” he clarifies.
I nod slowly. “Cool, cool.”
Totallynotcool. I want it stated on the record that I am one hundred percentnot coolwith going down into Hell to see which Ring I can go through like it’s a security check at the airport. I amnotgetting cavity searched in Hell.
Jerif and the others move closer and start talking in their weird language again, their movements animated. I’m not even sure what their demon language would be called. Demonian? Demonish? Language of: I Need to Get the Fuck out of Here? Yeah, probably that one.
I watch them, still holding my scythe, as they argue in English and in Demon-ish over the Hellgate test I should or should not take. Ihatetests. I always failed them in school because it was just too much pressure. Okay, and sure, I never studied either, but the point is, tests are evil. And a test to see which Hellgates I can pass through? That sounds worse than the SATs.
The four of them seem to come to some kind of agreement though, because they exchange a few more words and then turn back to look at me. Jerif looks pissed, Echo looks thoughtful, and Crux looks worried. I can’t read Iceman’s expression at all.
“It’s decided,” Iceman-Rafferty states. “We’re going to take you through the Gates to test you. Once we know what Ring you’re from, we’ll make it official and get you inducted as our fifth.”
I wait for him to keep talking, but he just ends his sentence right there. “Your fifth what?”
“Gate Guardian,” he answers. “Once that happens, you’ll be inducted and tied to the four of us for all eternity...or until the authorities assign a different fifth, but that could take eons.”
“Or until she dies,” Jerif mutters under his breath, making my gray eyes widen.
Iceman shoots him a look. “That won’t happen. She’s powerful enough to sustain it.”
“So if I don’tdie, what does a fifth do?” I ask warily.
“Basically, it will be your obligation to keep the Hellgate stable and monitor the demons who pass in and out. It’s our duty as Hellgate Guardians to maintain the balance.”
Yeah, I’m going to have to go with a coolnoon that. But I nod, like that’s all perfectly reasonable. “Mm-hmm,” I say.
“We’ve never had a woman Guardian before,” Echo points out, his eerie black eyes seeming to swirl with shadows. “Hopefully, the Gate doesn’t chew her up and spit her out.”
“Indeed. She’ll have to learn to fight,” Iceman replies.
Yep. Harder hard pass. Hard passes all around. If there was a hard pass hall monitor around, I’d want a ticket.
“Right. Cool. Okay,” I nod again.
The five of us just stare at each other for a second, and then without warning, I just turn around and run like my ass is on fire because fuck this.
I sprint my squeaky leather-clad ass out of the room as fast as my boots will carry me. I hear my name being shouted, but I just take the stairs three at a time and get the fuck out of dodge. I don’t stop moving through the maze of stairways and hallways, and by some miracle, I manage to make it to a side door that leads outside.
I run across the gravel, head around to the front, racing as fast as my feet will carry me all the way to my moped. I hop on, realizing that I still have the fucking scythe in my hand, but there’s no chance in hell I’m going to go hand it back to them. I could just drop it, but that just feels wrong. So instead, I set it in my lap and claimfinders keepers. I shove my helmet on, gun the engine, and peel out of the driveway faster than a bat out of a Hellgate.
“Nope, nope, nope, nope,” I say to myself as the wind rushes past me as I race down the street.
