Page 3 of Fallen Demon

“I tried stopping her, but she’s stubborn,” Lacey said from behind me.

I deposited the tray on a corner of the tables, away from all the books. “We have work to do.”

I took a chair and munched on my food while I retold the entire tale of what had happened to Abbie and Maggie. When I was done, the tray magically disappeared, like it usually did at the dining room.

“I sent them to the fiery pits of the underworld,” I said, my chest hurting with that truth. “Do you know what that means? Is there a chance he could—” I sucked in a sharp breath, afraid of saying it.

“That he could be alive?” Maggie finished for me. “Fiery pits could mean so many things. If he went literally to fiery pits, I’m not sure he could have survived.”

“Maggie,” Abbie snapped in a hush.

“What?” She stared at me. “Would you rather I lied to you so it would hurt less?”

Maybe? I shook my head. “No. I want the truth. Always.”

“Is there a way for us to narrow down what the fiery pits could mean, then?” Lacey asked. “If we can, then maybe we can determine if he’s alive or not.”

“I think there’s a way to know if he’s alive or not.” Abbie walked up to me and gestured for me to stand. I pushed to my feet. She placed her hand on the center of my chest, right above my breasts, closed her eyes, and inhaled deeply. Her magic tingled as it invaded me, gentle and warm. “The bond is still intact.” She opened her eyes. “I’m not one hundred percent, but if I had to bet, that means he’s alive.”

I sighed in relief. Lacey smiled at me.

“Then, he’s somewhere in the underworld,” I said with renewed energy. “That means he can just walk out, right?”

“Maybe,” Maggie said. “Again, it all depends on where exactly he and Ylena went. They might be trapped deep in the underworld with no way of leaving.”

“Then we need to go after him,” I said. “We need to find out exactly where he is.”

Abbie looked at the giant bookshelves around us. “There are hundreds of books about the underworld here, and I guarantee you, the information we have won’t be complete.”

“What do you mean?” Lacey asked. It was the same thing I wanted to know.

“The underworld is a world in itself, as large as the human realm … or Earth, if not larger,” Abbie said. “No one knows the true extent of that place, since it was never fully explored.”

Maggie nodded. “I remember mother telling us about it during a lesson. She said it was never fully explored because it was so large. No one had time to map it all, not while there were evil things to be done, humans to terrorize, battles to fight, and whatever else demons and evil beings do.”

“So, you’re saying there’s no way of knowing where Levi is?”

“Only if we’re lucky and he went to a place we have records of,” Abbie said. “Otherwise, it’s like he’s lost in a different world.”

I sat down on the chair, the hope and excitement deflating. “Wait,” I almost jumped up to my feet again. “The bond. We can follow the bond, right?”

“Maybe.” Abbie looked at me. “But I doubt it. If you go to the underworld but you’re not close to where he is, the bond will take you nowhere. Think as if you were in the United States and Levi was in Australia. The bond wouldn’t be able to guide you to him.”

I reached for a book, running my fingertips over the spine. “There has to be something we can do. What if we research the books you have about the underworld, make a list of all the places he could be, and go from there?”

“You’re thinking about what?” Maggie asked. “Going to all these places to try finding him?”

I shrugged. “Any better idea? What about a vision? That would help.” She flinched and I felt the urge to slap my mouth. “Sorry. I didn’t mean it like that.”

“I know,” she said with a sigh.

“Unfortunately, Maggie’s visions don’t work at will,” Abbie said.

“Yet.” Maggie lifted a finger. “I remember reading something in one of mother’s diaries about forcing a vision. I bet her older diaries will have more information on it.”

“There are dozens of diaries,” Abbie said. “It’ll take a long time to get through them all.”

“I can skim for something about visions.” Maggie smiled. “I’ll get started!” She skipped off to the library.