“I didn’t realize we were at war,” I said.
He glanced down at me. “Soulmate, if there was ever a time or a cause for war, this would be it.”
That … wasn’t reassuring.
Andre placed a hand on the small my back and began to walk, steering me along. Instead of heading back inside, he led me to the gardens around his mansion. I bit my lip when I noticed the grass shriveling beneath my feet. And when we passed the first of the hedges, they leaned away.
I’d seen this before; this was what plants did in the presence of the devil. And now they were doing it to me.
“It’s safe to say that heaven and much of the earth wants to get rid of you,” Andre said, interrupting my thoughts.
I could already tell this was going to be a fun conversation.
Not.
“What I want to know,” he continued, “is what hell wants.”
Oddly enough, I never thought of it that way. But if anyone had motives, it would be the devil.
He stopped us in the middle of Bishopcourt’s rose garden and turned to me. “More importantly, I want to know what role you have in all this.”
Beneath my feet, I swear I felt the earth shift. I didn’t bother looking down for fear that I’d see the plant life taking more drastic measures to get away from me.
Andre touched my cheek. “I want you safe.”
I leaned into his touch, knowing what he said would be impossible.
The ground shifted again, more forceful this time, and I grabbed Andre’s arm to stabilize myself. He wrapped his hands around my waist to steady me.
“What was that?” I asked.
He furrowed his brows. “I thought that was you.”
I shook my head. “It wasn’t me.”
The earth began to rumble, and my feet shook as grass and dirt shifted.
My eyes met Andre’s and a sick sort of realization passed between us: I was going back.
“Gabrielle,” Andre said, as fear flooded his features, “run.”
Grabbing Andre’s hand, we tore out of the gardens.
The earth beneath my feet began to fall away.
Roots sprouted on either side of me. They grew unnaturally fast. Unlike other foliage, these grew towards me, reaching for my feet.
Bishopcourt’s back door was just ahead of us. We could make it.
And then what?
I pushed the thought away as a vine latched onto my foot, jerking me back.
Andre’s hold tightened. “Stay with me, soulmate!”
“Trying!” I said, ripping the vine away.
I’d barely gotten it off when another latched onto me. And then another. And another. They twisted around my ankles, pinning me in place.
This was what the myths meant when they called me the daughter of Demeter. Demeter was just the personification of nature. And just as the earth bore me each evening, it claimed me at the end of it.
Andre, whom the vines had avoided, stopped to wrap his arms around my waist. He yanked me forward, and several of the shoots ripped. But now they were growing faster and faster, and dozens of them extended towards me, grasping my feet and legs. It took only seconds for them to cover my lower half completely. The vines twined around my waist like a python. They weren’t constricting, but they held me firm. And they were steadily pulling me down to earth.
I wasn’t going to win this fight.
My eyes fell heavily on Andre. “You need to let me go.”
“Never.”
The shoots slid up my torso, now covering Andre’s hands as well as my stomach. I didn’t know if the vines would take him too if he refused to let me go. And if they did, then he would come to hell with me.
I couldn’t let that happen.
“I’m sorry,” I whispered. I threw my power out.
It slammed into him, ripping him from me and sending him flying back twenty feet.
“No!” I heard him bellow.
The ground dipped as it began to suck me under. The vines wrapped around my arms, pinning them in place. They crawled up my neck and into my hair. Ugh, what a way to go.
I caught one last glimpse of Andre, pushing himself up to his feet. And then the vines slid over my eyes and pulled me under completely.
Chapter 10
Gabrielle
The journey down felt much, much worse than the one up. The roots that sucked me into the earth now squeezed me tightly, cutting off my air and circulation. The devil lied; I wasn’t immortal, and I was going to die.
Just as true panic set in, I felt something inside myself release. My body seemed to lose form until I was nothing more than consciousness falling farther and farther from everything that I knew and loved. I cried out, not from pain, but from the terrible emptiness that filled me.
After what felt like ages, my feet finally made contact with solid ground, and I was whole once more.
I dropped to my knees, staring at the onyx floor. I knew where I was before I glanced up. I could smell the brimstone and ash … and the fear, and the despair.
Back to this wasteland.
Shoes clicked against the polished floor.