We stopped for the night in the eighth dimension to rest up. We slept, each of us taking turns as watchmen for the night. Something about this place didn't sit right with me. Of course, Dante had described 8 and 9 to be based on fraud, but I didn't think that was the thing that was making it hard for me to be comfortable with this place. The closer we got to the lowest pit of Hell, the more and more uneasy I became. Maybe it was the angelic side of me-which I still wasn't completely sold on, but I was definitely something-but I was growing steadily more uneasy and uncomfortable.
My eyes were dry from the desert. My lips were chapped, and I was wishing more and more that I hadn't gotten Izzy involved in all of this. That we were both home and safe and had never started on this journey in the first place. It was starting to drive me crazy and...
"Stop thinking like that. That's exactly what he wants. It makes you weak," Arashi said.
"Well, I can't help it. I can't stand this stupid place. I want to get Izzy and go home."
Arashi stepped up and slapped me across my face. "Pull yourself together! You need to be thinking clearly when we cross that dimensional gate or everything we've been through on this trip was for nothing!"
I looked around the room. "Where's Giana?"
Giana stood outside the gate of the ninth dimension. She knew if she crossed into there, there would be no coming out unless the information she had for the big man was useful. And she knew that it would be. He'd been searching for this kid for the longest time, trying to lure him to the ninth dimension for so long. Giana didn't have a doubt in her mind that the kid was Michael's son. She could smell the Archangel's blood in his veins.
Abbadon stood outside the gate, regarding Giana like she was her next meal. "So, you came back? To avenge your brother?"
"To give Lucifer information on the boy he's looking for," Giana stated.
Abbadon looked impressed, which was saying something. It was very hard to impress the Destroyer. "Well, come on in, then. I'm sure he'd love to hear whatever you have to say." Abbadon opened the gate and waited for Giana to pass. Giana glanced back over her shoulder toward the eighth dimension then took a deep breath and passed into the ninth dimension.
