Free Armageddon (Angelbound) by Christina Bauer

Now, I need to get back to my family.
    Nefer turns to Anubis. “What did you want to say to me?”
    “I came with a question for you.”
    Nefer nervously fiddles with the golden tie at her waist. “Ask away.”
    “Did you ever love me, Nefer?”
    Wow, way to dive right into the deep end, Anubis. I look down, pretending that a particular clod of earth is super-interesting.
    “You know the answer to that question, Anu. Verus had a prophecy. I am to be Queen of Hell. It’s my destiny to break into the Netherworld and try to kill its ruler. Two hundred years ago, that was Onyx. Today, it’s Armageddon. I can’t leave until my task it done. That has nothing to do with my feelings for you.”
    A long pause follows. I decide to get while the getting is good. “Since we’re all talked out, I’ll take my leave.”
    “One more minute,” says Anubis. “She won’t stay unless you’re here.”
    And the sucker-a-thon continues. “Sixty seconds.”
    Anubis’s tone turns pleading. “Verus can’t predict anything with certainty. She sees multiple futures and tries to make the one she wants come to pass. You still have a choice, Nefer. You can escape today. Leave now. Be with me.”
    “And if I escape, what would happen to all the after-realms? Verus says that if I am not Queen of Hell, they will all fall.”
    “I don’t care about the after-realms,” retorts Anubis. “You’re all that matters. I’m an immortal with powerful magic. I could carve out some small corner and keep you safe. Keep us together.”
    “At the expense of everyone else?” Nefer shakes her head sadly. “No, Anu.”
    My heart goes out to Nefer. I know exactly how she feels. I didn’t ask to become the Great Scala either, but when my number got picked, I had to do my best. You can’t turn your back on your destiny, no matter how much that destiny sucks.
    Anubis’s eyes glisten with pain. “It’s been so hard these last two hundred years. Knowing you’re so close and that I can’t see you, can’t touch you. Is there no way we can be together?”
    “Yes, there is.”
    “What? Name it.”
    “Fight with me. Set me free and together, we’ll kill Armageddon.”
    Anubis exhales a long sigh. “My powers don’t work that way, Nefer. I’m the Gatekeeper of Hell. He’s the King. Our powers balance each other. He can’t hurt me any more than I can hurt him. The only way he can fight me is by hurting someone like you.”
    When she next speaks, Nefer’s voice cracks with emotion. “Then, we’ve nothing left to discuss.”
    There’s an almost audible crack as Anubis’s heart breaks. His shoulders slump with disappointment. I turn around, pretending to be fascinated by the empty stands.
    “Let’s have one last talk,” says Anubis. “The Great Scala could leave us so we could catch up. I miss my friend.”
    “No, Anu. Seeing you like this, it only makes things harder for both of us. It’s over.” Nefer turns to me, her mouth quivering on the verge of a sob. “Great Scala, I beg you to end this dreamscape.”
    Anubis rounds on me. “Wait, please.” Bit by bit, he turns to Nefer. “Are you absolutely certain?”
    A long pause follows before Nefer speaks again. “Yes, my choice is to end this. Now and forever.”
    “In that case, I follow your wishes.”
    I do as she asks, but as I break the dreamscape link, I remember how I felt about Lincoln when he and I first got together. I must have sworn to end things with him for good at least a hundred times. Nefer sounds like Myla part deux.
    Forever, my ass.

Chapter Seven
    I stand against the wall of the West Gymnasium, a chamber that’s a classic example of interior exercise design circa 1500. The room is long with plaster walls and a wooden floor. The arched ceiling is filled with a latticework of long wooden beams. Like everything else in Antrum, there are no electronics here. Instead of the workout machines that fill every gym in Purgatory, here I find exercise dummies, weights and