Edward wasted no time. He took off into the air without further ado. His black raven like wings stretching until they were at full length. I had to admit that the sight of him in the air was beautiful. He looked like some dark, avenging angel.

But he isn't, I reminded myself.

I didn't know if I could trust him. He was Lucifer's son after all. Yet he also didn't appear as evil as the rest of the creatures down here. Was it fate that somehow brought us together? The scene in the Realm of Lust was still fresh in my mind. I'd been blocking it out. Trying to anyway. Now everything came rushing back to me.

The fresh scent of roses. The undeniable need. His lips against mine.

These thoughts were pure maddening. I had been unable to resist his advances in the Realm of Lust, how good was I to fare here? I just needed to keep my mind on the things at hand. Calypso was in the hands of Lucifer himself. Hopefully she was still safe and sane. I didn't want to think about the things she was going through. I had to make it to the Home Realm and find Alice. She was the only way to finding Calypso.

Without further ado, I jumped off into the air. My wings snapped open and I took off after Edward. He was just a small speck in the sky. He appeared to be heading nowhere. The buildings beneath us looked the same as they usually did. Somehow Edward had completely stopped the rain.

I halted in midflight to see Edward descending towards the street. His wings folded up and he looked up at me. I quickly followed suit and landed beside him.

"What are we doing here?" I asked warily.

"The portal is through here." he said, pointing towards a door to a nondescript building. It looked like every other building in this place. How could he be so sure this was the right one?

He stepped up to the door and opened it. Through the darkness, I could feel some weird kind of pulsing energy. It had a sinister feel to it, one that I didn't want to go near. I stepped up beside him on the stoop. "Are you sure?"

"I'm sure. I've been through the Realm's more time than I could count."

He entered the dark passageway without anther word. I sighed and followed him. Inside I could see nothing in the darkness. Shadows ebbed on the wall by the light pouring in from behind us as we entered the building. I could sense something in front of me. It was the same feeling I had outside, only stronger.

We came upon a portal. Dark, red energy pulsed within it, sometimes setting of sparks. Edward stood in front of it with his eyes on it. I stepped up beside him, instantly feeling the harsh feelings that were coming from it. What portal was this? I asked myself.

"Ladies first?" he said, looking at me.

I scowled, "In a place like this? You want me to go first?"

He smiled, "I was just trying to be polite…Fair warning, keep your wings open."

"What for?"

"You'll see." He gave me a wink and walked into the portal. I watched his body disappear in a blinding arc of red light. I gave him a few seconds before following suit. The red portal closed around me in a flash of heat, and then I was gone.

As soon as I reappeared, wherever that was, I noticed one thing. I was falling!

Wind whipped through my hair causing me to go blind. I couldn't see anything around me! Desperately I tried to find which way was up and which was down. I was so lost and confused that I didn't do anything but free fall.

Something hard slammed into me, bringing my world to a crashing halt. Edward had his arms around me with a grim look on his face. The feel of his arm around my waist threatened to make me blush.

"Don't you listen?" he cried, "I told you to keep your wings open!"

"I'm sorry…I wasn't prepared…"

"I can see that. What didn't you just open your wings?"

"I was just…overwhelmed…" I said, my voice breaking.

He closed his green eyes and sighed. "Just make sure you listen to me. Everything in this place was created to maim and torture. Stick by me."

I shifted in his arms, just enough to unfurl my wings. When my wings opened, I shifted my weight to get away from his grip. His arms fell away from my body. I beat my wings in the stifling hot air, keeping level with him. I looked around me for the first time and was astounded.

I was surrounded by nothing but water. Except this wasn't your everyday water, this was water of a vibrant, ominous red. It frothed and foamed, sending up splashes of scalding hot water. Water that probably could have boiled the skin right from my bones.

If Edward hadn't caught you…

I shuddered from the thought. "What is this place?"

He looked at me, his lips in a hard line. "The Sea of Fire. It's one of my father's favorite places."

I looked down and could see objects floating in the sea. They bobbed and ebbed with the tide. I tried to keep my voice calm when I spoke, "What is that?" I pointed down.

Edward flew closer and grabbed my arm. "Don't look. You can't help them even if you wanted to. They are damned and they belong here."

"But, where are we? What is this place?"

"This is the Realm of Anger."

I looked around, anywhere but below. "But there's nothing here but…water."

"That's the way it is. All who lived in rage, shall now live forever in my father's fiery anger."

"Isn't that cruel?" I said, thunderstruck.

"It's my father." His eyes scrunched, his lips white. I wondered if he and his father didn't quite get along. If they did, he probably wouldn't be helping me.

"So what now?"

Edward turned and assessed the area around him. He lifted his hand and pointed one slim finger. "The next portal is that way."

I nodded my head and we both headed off in that direction. I did my best to not look down at the poor souls who were destined to swim in the Sea forever. It was too cruel a fate to contemplate. I kept my eyes ahead of me.

After what seemed like forever, Edward began descending. I quickly caught up to him, putting a hand on his shoulder. He immediately stopped and turned to face me. His face was merely a few feet from mine, our wings beat side by side.

"What are you doing?" I cried. "The fire!"

"Don't worry. The water here is just an illusion. It won't burn you. We have to swim down to a cave to reach the next portal."

Was he crazy? I wasn't going anywhere near that water!

"I don't think‒"

"Bella, you have to trust me. I wouldn't ask you to do this if it hurt you." His eyes were as soft as his voice. I almost was soothed by it. Almost, but not quite.

"I can't swim." I admitted.

"What?"

"It's not really a requirement up…there."

Edward paused, "Just take my hand."

He held his hand out. His fingers wide, the creases stood out on his palm. I nervously placed my hand in his. His skin was warm to the touch. He smiled at me and then we both started to descend to sea level. Our feet barely skimmed the water's edge when he nodded at me. I took a deep breath and folded my wings in a hurry. He did the same.

We both dropped into the sea. The water gushed around me and I held my breath. Amazingly the water didn't burn. It was cold. It started to drain what little heat I had left. For one second I stated to panic. I thrashed in the water, my eyes wide, when the hand in mine gripped me tighter. I stopped moving to see Edward in front of me. His eyes were calm and he smiled to let me know everything was okay.

He then pointed down, to a series of rocks on the sea floor. It looked a long way down. He began pulling me in that direction. Using my legs and remaining hand, I pushed myself down. Edward led me towards a small crevasse in the rock. It was just barely big enough for one person, so Edward went in first.

I quickly followed behind him. The cave was dark and got colder the deeper we swam through. I tried my best to keep up with his pace. The thought of losing sight of him nearly sent me into another panic filled frenzy.

My head broke the surface of the water. I gasped for breath and splashed my way towards the nearest shore. Edward already was on his feet, shaking his wings. He leaned a hand towards me and pulled me up onto the rocky bank. I lay there shivering.

I got to my feet after I caught my breath. Edward was still standing, water dripping from his clothes and wings to puddle on the floor. There was nothing but rock in our small area. I could see no portal in sight.

"I thought you said‒"

"The portal is through another underground cavern. Through there," he pointed towards a dark hole in the ceiling. "My father didn't want the chance of a stray soul finding his way here and somehow finding his way to the portal."

"So what are we waiting for?" I asked.

Edward studied me with an unknown emotion in his eyes. Light flecks of gold shimmered in the green of his eyes. His stare started to make me feel uneasy. At last he spoke, "I think it's time for us to talk. I couldn't risk it last time on the building's roof. Too many eyes. Plus with the Shrieker recently deceased, my father would have felt it."

"Felt what?"

"Whenever a denizen dies here, they don't really die. All hell's creatures come from a single point of origin. Lucifer himself. He felt that creature die and by now he might even know it was me."

"So we should get moving!" I cried. "Surely he knows were here!"

"That may be so, but I doubt it. There's too much going on right now for him to worry about the death of a single Shrieker."

"But you don't know." I stated.

"I could be wrong," he shrugged. "Who knows?"

I wanted to slap him. How could he calmly sit there and act like nothing was going on? How could he act like nothing was wrong and we shouldn't be hurrying along? Didn't he know how serious this all was?

"What makes you so sure," I seethed through my teeth. "That he won't come here right this minute and…kill me‒whatever it is that can be done to me."

Edward crossed his arms and seemed to be thinking about what I said. His eyes swirled around until they came to a rest, staring at me. "You can't die. You can only dematerialize. Which isn't a suitable thing for any of us." He walked closer to me, across the rocky slab outcrop. I involuntarily stepped back and almost fell over the edge, back into the water.

"Careful now," he teased. "I can't talk to you if you're drowning."

"This isn't a joke for me so please, can we be serious. Calypso needs me."

He nodded slowly. His face set back to being solemn and grim. "I think were both looking for the same person, and it isn't Calypso."

"Who else‒" I suddenly remembered the seer. "Alice…"

"Bingo. I think our best bet is to find her. She will then hopefully lead us to Calypso."

"But why do you care? Calypso is no friend of yours?" I asked.

"I have other plans than finding a rogue angel. My father's up to something and I want to know what it is."

I almost couldn't believe it. He was using me for his own nefarious purposes. How did I really know that he was going to help me and not lead me into a trap? "So this is about angering daddy?"

Edward smiled softly. It completely surprised me. I expected an angry outburst or maybe some harsh words.

"You can't possibly understand the animosity between me and daddy dearest," he said. "There are things that have come to my attention recently. Dark, disturbing things that I'm not too happy about. First off, there's two rogue angels running around deep within Hell."

"Well I‒"

He cut me off. "Second, my dad seems almost…nervous about this. I have never in the past three hundred centuries seen him this way. Anything that causes him discomfort, I want to know about. Thirdly, it seems as if he's trying to find Alice, too."

"What does he want with her?" I said, trying to figure out how everything tied in together.

"Who can say? He doesn't divulge me in those kind of matters."

"I just can't believe that. You're his son for Pete's sake. Surely you know more about what's going on down here than anyone else?"

"I'm afraid not. I know just about as much as you do."

"So that means that were going to be together whether we like it or not?"

He chuckled, "Yes, although some people say my company is to be desired." His eyes smoldered as he said this.

"I guess we will have to see."

I couldn't believe I just said that! He grinned slightly before looking towards the ceiling. The dark hole in the cavern roof was entombed by dozens of sharp stones. Only one with precision could make it through there.

"I wanted to tell you that I mean you no harm. I am here to help you, even if you don't believe that." he said slowly. "Up there is the portal. It leads us to a very nice place, which I'm sure you will enjoy. This way."

Edward snapped his wings open and carefully took to the air. The cavern was so narrow, I was amazed he did this without incident. He then navigated up through the jagged rocks and disappeared from my sight. I spread my feet and opened my own wings. I then too, headed up. I was extra careful of the sharp rocks and still I managed to snag an arm. I could feel a wetness on my skin, but couldn't see the wound.

I made it to the top and saw a small pocket. It seemed as if someone had cut a small recess into the rock here. I could see another portal on a plain black dais. Yellow gold clouds wafted near and around the portal. Something about it seemed thick, almost creamy.

I landed beside Edward who was staring at the portal with interest. He turned to face me, his gaze instantly going towards my wounded arm.

"What in the blazes," he said. He crossed the distance and grabbed for my arm. His fingers were soft and tender on my skin. I wanted to pull away, but something inside me didn't want to move. So I didn't.

I looked down to see goldish blood flowing from the wound. It sparkled in the cavern's dim lighting. I'd never seen this before in all my life. I didn't even know that I had blood. In Heaven there was never really the chance to experiment with what was on the inside.

"It doesn't look bad," he said. "It's shallow enough it should heal on its own."

"I didn't even know I had blood."

"Every creature has to have something. Although, I doubt it's actual blood. I think of it as more of our essence."

A few drops of gold blood fell to the floor where they shimmered. "So what happens when I lose all my essence?"

"You dematerialize, or so I'm guessing. Angel's aren't quite the same as demons. Maybe you explode."

I ripped my arm back and mockingly laughed, "Ha, ha. That's very funny."

He smiled at me. A smile so genuine, so warm, it almost broke my heart. "I thought it was. Are you ready to enter the portal now? I can't wait to see what fantastic beasties await the other side. You're in for a real treat. Not too many people get to explore Hell like you are. Maybe you could write a travel book, I'd sure like to read it."

I shook my head, a small smile on my face. "I doubt that you'd need one. You live down here. Surely you know all there is to know about this place."

"I might know about this place, but there are some things that are new…Things that I just recently discovered." he said, his eyes on me.

"I wonder what that is."

He smiled and averted his eyes. "Maybe one day I'll explain it for you. But I do think we should get going. The quicker we move, the closer we'll be to finding Alice. I'll go through first, follow me. This next Realm is a doozy."

Edward walked towards the yellow cloudy portal and disappeared. I watched his body vanish before I walked closer. I could literally feel something thick and viscous coming from the portal. What Realm was this and what was going to be there on the other side?

At least I had a travel guide of sorts. He made me feel so unsettling, that I wasn't sure if it was a good thing or a bad. Every time I tried to picture him in my mind all I saw was possibilities. His lips on mine, the way he looked at me in the Lust Realm, the way he smiled, and even the yellow flecks in his green eyes. He was a mystery to me. I'd never encountered anyone in my entire being that vexed me, but also enthralled me.

What kind of creature was he? And why did I want to know?

With a sigh, I stepped towards the yellow clouds. Within a mere second, I disappeared; along with the rest of the Realm of Anger.