Page 89 of Grave Revelations (Prophecies of Angels and Demons #3)

Chapter 88

Simon

Simon let the others pass, waiting until only Rhea and Yia-Yia remained, and held out his hands to each of them, pulling them up when they accepted. With Rhea on one arm and Yia-Yia on the other, he left the cave, shepherding the women toward the banks of the river.

His fingers flexed once, some of the nervous energy that always thrummed through him on Earth calming in this place. He’d never hated it here, but now, transformed as it was, a sort of serenity settled over him. He was hurt. Angry. But this place wrestled those bursts of emotion into something manageable. Somehow, he felt something here he’d never felt on Earth. Peace.

His gut twisted. He wanted it to be true when he said he believed Rebecca hadn’t known what Zophiel did to him, to make peace with his new truth and put all his negative feelings aside, but resentment simmered low in his belly. Zophiel’s command had altered his life more times than he could count, and none of them had been for the better.

Ahead, the crowd had halted, and Simon moved through them, straining to see why. Rebecca paused beside a massive stone sculpture. It was a dragon or some sort of sea creature snarling into the distance.

“What is it?” Rebecca asked the lion man who hadn’t stopped staring at her with adoration from the moment Simon first spied him .

He growled something Simon couldn’t understand, but then he said. “L-il-ith and L-ev-iath-an. Simon staggered closer, shocked to discover he could decipher more of the creature’s words.

Lilith was a Naphil. The first one in history, if he’d understood correctly, and the former ruler of Sheol.

“She killed her?” Rebecca’s hand went to her mouth, her eyes glistening.

“No,” the lion man said. “Changed… sea monster.”

“Is she still alive, Asher?”

The lion man—Asher—nodded. “Earth.”

Rebecca’s dark curls shook as a tear slid down her fair cheek. She wiped it away, remembering her audience, and steeled herself.

“I hope they’re together now.”

Asher’s grumbling voice began to reply, but she held up a hand. “Don’t tell me. I can’t handle any more tragic love stories.”

Something in Simon's chest cracked at her words and the absolute desolation in them.

Rebecca continued forward, leading the lost souls over a newly vibrant landscape.

Simon hung back, clinging to Yai-Yai and Rhea’s frail arms.

Rhea patted his sleeve, and he glanced down at her. “She’s lost. You’ll help her find her way. You always do.”

Simon smiled at the kindly woman who had been a part of his and Rebecca’s life nearly as long as they’d known each other. When she was born, only a few years after Sarah, he never could have imagined Thea’s only child would be in their lives for so long. It seemed she was destined to remain with them even after death.

The crowd had tripled as they went, picking up more souls along the way. Now, standing at the riverbank, his gaze traveled the expanse of lush foliage stretching far into the distance, and he sighed.

Were they truly preparing to leave? To move on to whatever awaited them? For him, it would be Primoria, and he had experienced that world once already. Once was enough for ten lifetimes .

He hovered at the back, watching Rebecca as she bit her lip, a distant look in her eyes. She didn’t care for this place. He could tell from the tense line of her shoulders and the way she kept looking out over the crowd as if she couldn’t wait to finish this task and leave Sheol behind.

When Asher and several other soldiers jogged up to her, they spoke low and moved into three lines. The other creatures in his retinue began sorting souls into each. In the first line, souls were herded into the river, and as they splashed into the water, their faces went blank. Soon, they were trudging forward, just as they always had.

Rebecca had plodded through the water several times, but it hadn’t affected her. Even now, her heel was resting half in and out of the water, but her eyes were clear, if a little distant.

A boat approached, and the river swelled, catching more souls in its thrall.

As souls were loaded onto the ship, Yai-Yai, silent until now, released Simon’s arm and stepped forward. She seemed to glide on an invisible wind as she moved to the longest line, waiting to be escorted onto the boat with the others.

Sophia left Rebecca’s side, finding her grandmother, and clasped her hands. “I’ve missed you.”

Her Yai-Yai reached one withered hand up and patted Sophia’s cheek. “It was my time, Pythia.”

Sophia’s eyes misted as she leaned down, wrapping her arms around the woman. She whispered in her ear, and from this distance, Simon couldn’t hear what she said. He thought then that he should have said something to her and wished her well, but he hadn’t known until this moment that he wasn’t going with them.

Rhea squeezed his arm, bringing him out of his thoughts. “It’s time for me to go, Simon.”

He nodded, releasing her.

She glanced at Rebecca, then back to him. “You needed her as much as she needed you, I think.” The way she said it in the past tense—as if she already knew theirs wasn’t a love that would last forever—sent another sharp pain through his chest. His heart ached, and the sense of betrayal lingered, but he loved her; those feelings were his own.

Rhea turned, not waiting for a reply. She stepped into the line behind Yia-Yia, and the two women held hands.

Just before she reached the river, Rebecca’s gaze solidified on Rhea, and she halted her, gripping her around the shoulders. “Are you leaving?”

Rhea’s soft brown eyes peered up at Rebecca, and she found her hands holding them. “It’s time.”

Rebecca made a small whimpering sound, wrapping her in a tight embrace. “I love you.”

“I love you too, honey.” Rhea stepped forward as Rebecca released her, and she swayed with the others, moving toward the boat.

A group of souls, including Cassia, huddled at the river's edge, and the guards moved to circle them.

“There’s room for the next line on the boat, I think,” Rebecca said, shielding her eyes to look over the boat’s deck.

One of the guards stepped between Rebecca and the smallest group of souls. “Damned” was the only word Simon understood before he pushed one of the souls back from the water.

“Oh.” A vee formed between Rebecca’s brows as she gazed over them. “Where will they go then?” The guard said something else, and Rebecca said, “But I thought no one could stay here forever.”

Sophia, Helena and a witch Simon didn’t know were standing apart from the others. Sophia came forward.

“We want to go back,” she said. “To fight with our sisters.”

“I don’t have that kind of magic, Sophia,” Rebecca answered.

“She does.”

She must have been there all along, but small as she was, in such a large crowd, Elizabeth had been hidden among them.

Simon stumbled backward, nearly tripping over the people standing beside him .

Rebecca passed him, walked through the crowd, and knelt, taking her sister’s hand.

“Hello, Elizabeth,” she said. “It’s nice to finally meet you.”