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sudden. But to die and then find yourself trapped in hell with no idea why or what you’d done to deserve it?
    She shuddered as she shuffled along the stone path toward Azagoth’s palace. She had to fix this, but how? Maybe she could find the human herself. Her ability to differentiate between human and demon souls from great distances would be an advantage for her, so maybe, just maybe, she could fix this quickly. If she could get in and out of the Inner Sanctum before anyone noticed she was gone, surely Azagoth would forgive her. It was even possible that the archangels would consider the rescue a good enough deed to allow her back in Heaven.
    No one noticed her moving away from the group, so she took the steps two at a time and hurried through the massive doors. The moment she was away from prying eyes, she could no longer maintain her cool composure. She sprinted into action, running so fast through the corridors that she skidded around one corner and nearly collided with the wall on her way to Azagoth’s office.
    As expected, the office was empty. Terrified, but hopeful that what she was about to do would right a lot of wrongs, she hurried to the lever she’d accidentally opened, the one that had started this whole mess.
    Next to the lever that opened the soul tunnel was a switch she’d seen Azagoth and Hades use to gain access to the Inner Sanctum. When she flipped it, a section of the wall faded out, allowing a view of a dark, shadowy graveyard set amongst blackened, leafless trees on the other side.
    For a moment, she hesitated. In Heaven, she’d always been the first of her brothers and sisters to take risks, to step into the unknown. But none of them had ever faced anything like this. To them, taking risks meant speaking up at meetings or chasing a demon into a Harrowgate.
    Her two brothers and two sisters would shit themselves if they ever stood where Cat was right now.
    The thought gave her a measure of comfort and even made her smile a little. So, before she changed her mind, she took a deep, bracing breath, and stepped through the portal. Instantly, heat so thick and damp she could barely breathe engulfed her. Each breath of fetid air made her gag. The place smelled like rotting corpses. And the sounds...gods, it was as if people in the graves were moaning and clawing at their coffins.
    Why would anyone be in the coffins?
    Fear welled up, a suffocating sensation that seemed to squeeze her entire body. This was a mistake. A horrible mistake. She had to go back. Had to confess what she’d done to Azagoth. Panicked, she spun around so fast she nearly threw herself off balance.
    Hurry , her mind screamed. Then it froze mid-scream.
    The portal was gone.
    Frantic, she searched the wall for a lever of some sort. Or a button. Or a freaking spell that would allow her to use a damned magic word.
    “Open sesame?” she croaked.
    Nothing.
    “Let me out.”
    Nada.
    She pounded on the wall where the door had been. “Open the damned portal!”
    The sounds coming from the graves grew louder, and her throat clogged with terror.
    She was trapped.
     

Chapter Five
    Cat spent what seemed like forever trying to find a way back to Azagoth’s realm, but the solid wall, which reached upward into a pitch-black sky as far as the eye could see, was apparently endless. So was the graveyard. Why was there a graveyard here, anyway?
    Even stranger, the headstones, all different sizes, shapes, and materials, were unmarked. At least, they weren’t marked with names or dates. Some had been carved with what appeared to be graffiti, and others were scarred by writing, mainly in the universal demon language, Sheoulic. Several were warnings to not enter any of the five mausoleums that seemed to be randomly placed around the sprawling cemetery.
    Unfortunately, she’d heard enough about the Inner Sanctum to know that the mausoleums were the gateways to the five levels, or Rings, as they were officially called, that housed the demons Hades