A Deal With the Devil

Chapter 42

Again I'm so sorry for the long wait, just bare with me y'all I'm trying.

Ravanna's POV (After the Battle)

"Kassandra!" I yell. My heart is racing as I fear the worst, my hands trying to keep pressure on the wound but there are too many openings, blood keeps seeping through my fingers. Tears blur my vision as I panic, she cannot die.

"Kassie, open your eyes, just for a moment please," I sob. I barely got the words out, my throat choked with emotion.

I could feel the tension in her body slowly seep out and her complexion growing more pale by the second. I keep my hands where they are but turn to lean my body over hers, gently pressing my forehead against hers.

I close my eyes as I could not bare the sight of my love so still, so lifeless. Tears fall down my cheeks and onto her face as I whisper to her.

"Please, my love." My voice barely carried over to my own ears, "Please, stay, you can do it."

I could hardly feel her panted breathes on my face, her chest barely moving. I want to move one of my hands to press my fingers against the side of her neck in order to feel her heartbeat but am afraid that if I release the pressure on the wound she will continue to worsen.

I have not an idea of how to save her, one stab from an otherworldly weapon should have killed her alone. I don't know how she managed to save me when I was both stabbed with the dagger and the arrow, but she did, and I feel helpless as I cannot do the same. That arrow had the same toxins that were released into me, and my heart aches at the thought of the pain she's in.

I cannot stop how the blood in her veins turns to black as it courses through her body, I cannot stop how the toxins are most likely destroying and rupturing everything it comes into contact with.  I can feel how close to the end she is and I feel so hopeless.

But I feel someone else's hands try to ease mine away from the wounded area. Startled, I sit up and turn to see Lilith and Lucifer.

Lilith is reaching to replace my hands with hers, gently taking over she quickly starts pressing the wound with one hand and wraps cloth around it with the other, Pride and Envy moving to help her while Lucifer kneels closer to me. I had hardly realized that the seven were also there, kneeling alongside us.

"Lucifer," the word barely passes my lips before he smiles softly at me. He then lays one of his hands on my shoulder and the other on Kassandra's, "We have to get Kassandra to hell, Ravanna."

My eyes widen and I look down unto my love's faces, bruised and bloodied, I cannot hold back the flood of tears that blur my vision. "Will she survive the fall?" I whisper.

Out of the corner of my eyes I can see Lucifer and Lilith look at each other and hesitate before answering me, "We don't know, we're hoping that my mark will be enough to sustain her but we have no other choice, she was harmed with unearthly metal, the only way to save her is to treat her in hell."

I close my eyes and I feel hot tears glide down my face as I bow my head, I open my eyes just enough to see where Kassandra's hand lays and reach for it. I lace our fingers together, holding her hand against my chest and nod, "Ok."

Lucifer nods, "Everyone get close or this will be a bit difficult, we are a rather large group."

The seven place their hand on each other's shoulder while Lust places hers on on Lilith's. Lucifer starts an incantation, making the Earth open beneath us, taking us to it's depths. None of us scream or call out in fear, having used this method of travel so many times. Lilith and I are quick to secure Kassandra's body in my arms before any light from the surface leaves us. We stay near each other with tight grips on either clothing or limbs.

The darkness carries us down, its expanse so vast and wide sound evades us but it clings like water to cloth. I tighten my hold on my dear Kassandra and I beg the darkness to quicken our descent though I know it only takes mere minutes to reach our destination, I worry that Kassandra's mortal body will not be able to handle the altitude change. I fear that this guided travel will do more harm than good.

I feel more than see the ground coming closer and I brace myself for our landing. I ready myself as my feet touch the ground and we all collectively rush to the medical bay as Lucifer calls on his council, looking for any remedies.

I run as fast as I can without jostling her too much, silently cursing the large underworld and its many hallways and rooms. I can hear everyone following behind me, when we finally reach the medical bay I was prepared to kick the door down in order to enter but thankfully Lust rushed in front of me and opened it.

I lay her on the nearest bed and before I can yell for one of the healers, Lucifer rushed in behind us with multiple people by his side, I can see their eyes widen at the sight of her and I can understand their fright because in all honesty, she looked quite close to the likeness of a corpse.

They started moving over and around her, no matter how much I wanted to stay close to her, I knew that it would be more helpful if I was not in their way. They started cutting into her already ripped blouse in order to see the extent of the damage and what I saw was horrific.

Her skin was torn apart,  ripped and pulled every which way. It was like strands of ribbons were hazardously tied around her, loose to the touch and draping. I could hardly believe the damage she had partaken. The healers quickly took out their medical instruments and began cutting away the dead and decaying skin, already grey with the loss of blood.

You could hardly see any of her natural skin color because her stomach was caked in black blood due to the toxin. A whimper feel through my lips and at that moment I was being pulled away, I hardly fought them. I was taken out of the room and I my mind was a mess, I could not focus. It took a while to realize that I was being spoken to, to realize what was being said as well as who was talking.

"- she's safe now, Ravanna. We got here in time, let the healers do their work because all we can do now is wait."

I finally met Lilith's eyes, they held worry and concern. She must have seen how I was barely holding anything together because the next thing I know I am being pulled into her arms just as a sob breaks past my lips.

She holds me tightly, arms around my shoulders cradling my head towards her neck as wrenched sounds leave my mouth.