There But For The Grace by A. J. Downey, Jeffrey Cook

he was barely above a whisper.
    “Tell me what?”
    “What’s waiting for you.” he finally managed.
    “Who?”
    “Gad... Gadreel.”
    “Of course. With Samyaza and company?”
    “No, no. Just Gadreel, and some Demons. Allied fallen.”
    “Why are the rest of you not there? Samyaza, and Penemue and all?”
    “Penemue saw... you’re right. Lucifer hopes you’ll... you’ll kill Samyaza, and others. No challenges, no one to... to get in the way of his takeover. Wants us to weaken you, before... before he risks his forces.”
    “And the forces below?”
    “Some just hunting. Some of ours. Gadreel is... is defying Samyaza. Doesn’t want... want to let anyone else kill you. Please. Mercy, please. Hurts.”
    “Swear to me your hunt is over. You’ll stop following me, stop fighting. Give me your oath... and you know promises made in Hell. The realm will enforce it.”
    “I... I swear. Take the sword out. I’ll... I’ll do you no injury. I won’t hunt you. Just need to go rest.”
    I drew the sword out, and let him collapse to his knees. “Then rest, recover, and stay out of my way. The next time you’re in my path, I’ll take your head.”
    He nodded, hands going to his stomach, as he fought not to fall over.
    I headed back for the wall and climbed. It seemed much more difficult than before, but I finally reached the cave. I did my best to look around better this time, before finally making another attempt at forcing myself between the sharp growths from the floor and ceiling of the cavern. I ascended, bit by bit, sometimes walking, finally getting another chance to climb. At long last, instead of just more cave, I pulled myself up into the open.
    The moment I pulled myself into the open, I was battered by chilling winds. Normally, any extreme of the mortal world wouldn’t bother me, but this cut straight to the bone. Crusted ice atop a thick layer of snow scraped at my skin and my wounds, and had I been any less durable, may have left some cuts of its own. The ice was solid enough to make forging ahead through the snow difficult, while being brittle enough to break at any attempt to move over it, sinking me back in to thigh-depth. There was no doubt of where I’d come up. I’d left the pits, only to come up in the Ninth, and deepest, circle of Hell.

Chapter Three
    Adelaide
     
    I bent at the waist, hands on my knees, and heaved into the bushes outside a twenty-four hour café. I could only assume we were in the same time zone, or nearly so because it was still dark outside, still, I had to ask.
    “Where are we?”
    “Houston, it was as good a place as any to get you something to eat.”
    I rinsed my mouth out with the cool, sweet water from God’s canteen and realized with a start that since filling it the first time, I hadn’t needed to refill it. It just never seemed to run out. Hooray, that was super handy. I swished the water around in my mouth and spit it into the bushes beside me. I looked over to Death and blinked.
    He was dressed in a simple pair of slacks and a white button-down shirt. His hair was short and brown, his skin tan from the sun. He had his hands tucked into his pockets and looked like himself except…well… human. He looked like any other businessman who had worked late at the office: collar undone, sleeves of his smart business shirt rolled back halfway up his forearms. It was a handsome look, and I was a little self-conscious standing beside him looking like an urban backpacker.
    I was as utilitarian as you could get while still looking somewhat urban chic: black boots, light Levi’s blue jeans, and a white t-shirt that hugged my frame under a black leather biker jacket that did the same. We didn’t exactly look like we went together, but fuck it. I didn’t care. At least we looked more normal than we had a minute ago. If anything, he’d adapted nicely to the situation, and if he’d aged himself up by about ten more years, he could almost pass for my father. As of right