Up was tough. Down was easy. Ain’t that always the way?

  One hand on the ladder, I skidded all the way down the towering obelisk until my boots slammed on the ground floor. Chapelwaite lay against the wall by the front entrance, somehow having climbed out of the pit despite his injury. He was a tough son of a bitch, which I was counting on.

  “What in tarnation happened up there?” he asked, wielding his gun and peering out the front doors.

  “Rosa…” I swallowed. It was hard to say. “She sacrificed herself so Hell couldn’t have her.”

  “But Judas—”

  “I know. It didn’t matter.”

  “And out there?”

  “Ace.”

  His head fell back in exhaustion. “Of course it is.”

  I knelt by his side. “I’m gonna ask you something, Chapelwaite, and I need an answer. No disciple of Judas bullshit.”

  His eyes told me to continue.

  “Can Judas bring Rosa back from this?” I asked.

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  “Maybe.”

  “I said no bullshit!”

  “I’m not sure!” he admitted. “There is power in her that few other mortals have ever possessed. More than a Hand of God or a Nephilim. If anyone could defeat death, it’s her.”

  Those words lodged in my brain. “Defeat death.” She was meant to be Death, and she played the role to her own bittersweet end.

  “Get her to him,” I said, pushing all other thoughts from my mind.

  Chapelwaite blinked. “He’s across the ocean.”

  “I don’t fucking care if he’s on the goddamn moon!”

  His gears turned for a few seconds, then he lit up. “Snallygaster can get us there.”

  “Good. You get her to him and have him bring her back. But, Chapelwaite, look me in the eyes. If she comes to and she doesn’t want it, I don’t care how strong she is, you let her go, do you hear me? She gave her life for all this insanity. She deserves another shot to do whatever it is she wants to do.”

  “You have my word.”

  “That’s not good enough!”

  With no hesitation, he reached for my boot, pulled my hunting knife free of its sheath, and sliced his own hand. Then he grasped mine and shook. A blood oath, the kind templars and knights of old might’ve made. A little old school for me, but it got the job done.

  “I swear it on my master,” he said, twirling the blade around to give it back.

  I shoved it back into its sheath. “You’re a decent man, Chapelwaite. A goddamned son of a bitch, but a decent man.”

  I reached under my shirt and gripped the upside-down cross Judas had given me, coating it in Rosa’s blood in the process. Felt like ages ago, but I made sure he saw it and was reminded of his own.

  “Make sure you don’t get caught,” I said as I helped him to his feet.

  “What will you do?” he asked.

  “Me?” I sneered. “I’ve got monsters to hunt.”

  I gave his shoulder a firm shake, then left him to his lonesome once more. This time, I hate to say that his duty was more important than mine, but who can weigh such things? All I knew was that I wouldn’t need my guns for this.