“How do you open the gates?” I asked. There was no way we could touch them.
“They’re nearly impossible to open. Demons, even the high-ranking ones, don’t have enough control over hellfire to bend something like the gates to their will. As far as I know, only grand princes have that kind of power.”
“So what do we do?” I had a feeling standing here waiting for one of the original Fallen to come out wouldn’t be a very effective plan.
“How much have you used your heavenly fire?”
“Not much. Or at all really.” I knew guards and warriors used their heavenly fire to fight, and I’d seen Joriel use it when he took on demons too, but in the first order I’d never had cause to try to control the fire that ran through my veins. It was just sort of there, working to heal me when I needed it, but I never had to think about it.
“Hellfire isn’t all that different from heavenly fire. In theory, we should be able to control the gates, but my fire has been limited since I lost my soul. I’m not sure I’ll be able to do it.”
I swallowed. “What if we did another blood exchange?”
He shook his head. “I’m not letting you give me any more of your blood.”
“What happens if you don’t have enough control to open the gates?”
“Then you’ll have to do it.”
“What if I can’t?”
“I believe in you,” he said. “You have the ability, and I know you can find it.”
“Can you just try first so I know if I have to freak out about this?”
He smiled, his eyes twinkling with amusement. Then he turned to face the gates and the river that flowed between them and us. The river parted under his gaze, leaving a path of black rock up to the gates. Several seconds passed, and the river of flames closed over the rocks again.
“I can’t open the gates,” Joriel said. “But I think it’s safe to say that we can control hellfire.”
My stomach fluttered and nerves clogged my throat as Joriel moved to stand behind me. His hand snaked around me, palm resting flat on my stomach.
“You don’t need to summon the fire, you just need to feel it,” he murmured in my ear. “Close your eyes, take a deep breath, and just feel.”
I let my eyes fall shut, forcing air in and out of my lungs.
“Let your body talk to you,” Joriel continued. “Start at the top of your head and slowly move down, noticing anything that feels tired, uncomfortable, good. Don’t try to change anything, just observe.”
Everything inside me felt tired or sore. The muscles in my back, arms, and legs ached. Sweat coated my forehead and the back of my neck, sliding over my skin in slow, torturous tracks.
“Okay, now take a deep breath and look deeper,” Joriel said. “Let yourself feel the power that runs under your skin. It’syourpower; it works for you and it loves you. You have nothing to fear from it. It’s been working to heal you all your life. Embrace it, acknowledge it. That’s all it wants, Laila. It wants to be loved by you.”
I took another deep breath and tried to feel beneath my skin. It took a minute to find what I was looking for, but it was there, a warm hum in my veins.
I sucked in a breath and felt Joriel smile against the curve of my ear. “That’s it, sweetness. Now I want you to hold on to that feeling and picture the river splitting and the gates opening. Don’t try too hard, just picture it and let your power do the work.”
I let the image form in my mind, seeing the river part and the gates open to welcome us into the heart of Hell.
“Laila, open your eyes.”
The river was parted again, the fire churning on either side of the dry path that led to the open gates in front of us.
“I did that?” I asked, fighting to keep my jaw from dropping to the ground.
“You did that,” Joriel said with pride in his tone. “I told you you could.”
The Devil’s court was a sight like none I’d ever seen before. The entire court was surrounded by a wall that rose as high as the gates. There was a forest of trees to our left that stretched beyond the limit of my vision.
Straight ahead was a square surrounded by two-story buildings. The second stories all had balconies strung with lanterns while the lower levels had wide-open doors that offered glimpses into shops and open spaces where people gathered around tables. There was a mix of human-looking greater demons and horned, red-skinned lesser ones. I didn’t see anyone who gave off grand-prince vibes. I could still remember how it felt being in Roth’s and Soneillon’s presence. There’d been a darkness about them, an ancient power that I could feel. It had fascinated me in Roth and terrified me in Soneillon.
