Page 120 of Terror at the Gates

I suddenly understood why she seemed so unbothered about losing her shop and her home. It wasn’t the first time.

I didn’t ask any more questions, though they floated around in my head. If there were really gods behind the Seventh Gate, what was behind the other six? The church had always said the second, third, and fifth gates held fire and the first, fourth, and sixth gates held water.

Supposedly, during Armageddon, the gates on the west would open first and release fire, destroying the world. After, the gates on the east would open to cleanse the world with water, and an era of peace would follow.

But was that true or did something far darker lay locked behind them?

Did the church know about the Order of the Serpent and that they had possession of three other blades? Lisk had clearly valued mine enough to send enforcers to retrieve it. Was he aware of this alternate history and the Deliverer?

We came to the end of the tunnel where Saira paused and prodded the ceiling, causing dirt to loosen and fall. She pushed hard, opening a makeshift door. She centered an old crate beneath the opening and used it to climb out, then bent, holding out her hand as I rose onto the crate.

I reached for her hand, but she slapped mine away.

“Not you,” she said. “Give me the cat. You can’t crawlout with her hanging around your neck.”

I glared at the old crone, before pulling Cherub from her sling. I kissed the top of her head and whispered in her ear, “It’s okay if you bite her.”

“I can hear you,” Saira snapped.

“You should have thought about that before you slapped me,” I said as I handed Cherub over.

I was shorter than Saira, so I had to jump, pressing my palms flat into the earth and bringing my knee up as I crawled out of the hole. Once I was on my feet, I found that the opening of the tunnel had let us out beneath a massive tree, perched high upon a hill overlooking the ocean, the coast illuminated by the burning glow of the harbor.

It had been a long time since I’d thought anything in this world was beautiful, but this gave me pause. The feeling was short-lived, however, when I caught sight of an orange haze in the distance. Her shop was on fire.

“Here,” said Saira, handing off Cherub.

I settled the kitten into her sling while the witch covered the opening of the tunnel, first with the makeshift door and then with loose foliage.

When she was finished, she straightened and looked at me. “If you want to meet the members of the Order of the Serpent,” she said, “meet me here in four days, on the night of the new moon, not a minute past midnight.”

I didn’t acknowledge her invitation and instead asked, “Where will you go?”

“I have places,” she said.

I nodded, uncertain of what to say, so I just turned and started down the hill.

“Eve,” she called, and I paused, turning to look at her. “There is no future where this world doesn’t end. Thesooner you accept that, the better off you’ll be, but hurry. Time is running out.”

Well, that was fucking cryptic.

“I think the jade’s kicked in, Saira,” I said, turning away, hugging Cherub close. “You might wanna hydrate.”

I couldn’t hear what she said as I left, but I didn’t really care. Her warning was enough.

If her intention was to scare me, it had worked.

I was terrified.

***

When I got home, I took Cherub out of her sling.

“You’re a great sidekick, kid,” I said as I set her on the ground.

She meowed.

“I know, I know,” I said, heading into the kitchen. I grabbed her bag of treats from the top of the fridge.