Page 87 of Grave Consequences
“As Gate Guardians, you’re not only tied to protecting your portal, but your powers are also feeding into this Hellgate to strengthen it, right?” I ask.
“Yes,” Iceman answers.
I turn to him. “This looks bad, Iceman.”
He grimaces at the sight. “It does.”
“It’s pulling a lot of fucking power from us too,” Echo says, and I look at him with concern. We just got done with a huge energy-depleting battle. It’s not good that the Hellgate is draining their already compromised reserves.
“So...now what?” I ask. I really wish Tazreel could’ve kept sleeping for two more minutes so Nefta could’ve spelled things out for me, but it seems nothing in my life is meant to be easy.
“No fucking clue,” Crux says as he and the others stare at the beat-up looking Hellgate.
“I guess I’ll just...look around,” I say with uncertainty. I move to approach the Gate, but a warm hand closes around my arm, and I look back in surprise to see Jerif.
“Just in case you touch the Gate,” he grumbles. “I don’t know if it’ll do anything to you since you’re not a Guardian.”
“Aww, look at you, riding in on your noble steed and shit,” I tease.
He pokes my wing, making me shriek in an obnoxiously loud giggle as I flinch away from the ticklish touch. He smirks at my reaction, but keeps hold of my arm. “Jumpy much?”
“Shut up. They’re sensitive,” I say as I try to bat him away, but my wings have other ideas. It seems that just by touching them, they’re now greedy for more. It’s like a puppy that you stop petting, so it comes over and moves your hand and won’t stop giving you the puppy dog eyes until you pet it again.
My wings come out, and the one Jerif touched stretches until it’s around his back and curling inward, as if it’s giving him a hug. My other wing is getting frisky too, and is trying to flirt with Echo as it reaches out to stroke his ass. “Not now,” I scold as I give them both a light tap with my elbows. “We have to focus.”
My wings slouch in disappointment, but they settle back against me like good pets, and I give them a stroke. “Good girls,” I coo. They perk up a little at that. My wings and I have come a long way.
“Okay…” I say, shoring myself up with a little breath. “Nefta said that my scythe was the key…”
I step back a little and hold the scythe out. The Gate doesn’t react at all.
“I am here to save you,” I declare, my voice dropping in pitch for some reason, and I hear Crux and Jerif snicker behind me. “You guys are going to feel so dumb if that works,” I tell them imperiously. I turn back to the flaming Gate. Nothing.
Well, crap, they’re never going to let me live that down.
I try waving my hands, and I’m almost ready to do a little ditty in case the Hellgate is a fan of a good song and dance, but I decide to save that for when I get really desperate.
I look from the Gate to my scythe, studying them both.
“Ah ha!” I exclaim.
My scythe is dormant right now, so maybe I need to activate it. “Queen of Hearts,” I command, “...do your thing!” I hold it out and watch my Swiss Army scythe reveal its sharp blades. I hold it up to the Gate again, but the doors still refuse to acknowledge my existence.
“Do you think Nefta meantkeyliterally?” I ask.
Crux looks up at the doors and scratches the short blond scruff on his jaw. “I don’t see a keyhole…”
I bite my lip in thought as I run my gaze over the flickering red flames.
Ahh, fuck it.
I take a few strides back, and then in my best Olympic javelin thrower impression, aim to chuck my scythe at the door, straight blade first. I get all medieval and spear throwy, but maybe this bitch wants it a little rough. I mean, I certainly wouldn’t be one to judge.
The guys all call out their protest as I release my hold on my scythe and subsequently throw it at the Hellgate, but it’s entirely too late by then. I watch in the way you do after you’ve bowled a ball to see how many pins get knocked over. I’m surprised when my aim is true, because the straight blade of the scythe sinks into the flames, and then a loud thunk fills the cavernous space all around us.
We all hold our breath to see if the flames are going to incinerate the weapon, but it seems to be okay… Until the flames blink out on the Gate all together. One moment, it’s burning Hellishly, and the next, it’s out like a light, as if I just went at the thing with a Hell Flame extinguisher.
Well, double fuck!
