I waited out front of the bar until the next morning, watching angelic and demonic pairs leaving the bar together like old friends. It threw everything I knew about the universe into stark relief. My mother taught me that her love was unique with my father, and that part of the reason it was so looked down upon was because the angels and demons were on two sides of an eternal war, with nothing but bad blood between them. I didn’t see any bad blood in that bar.

The one consistency between all the denizens of the bar was their distaste for me. When they saw me after walking outside, they turned the other way, not wanting to distort the balance they kept between each other. I threatened their fragile peace.

Finally, when the sun was high overhead, I stood up and began walking back toward Dad’s pub, feeling like a complete failure. I was passing a blind alley when I felt a tug on my sleeve. I turned to see a thin, red arm pulling me toward it. I allowed the arm to lead me behind a dumpster, where I found it was attached to an imp crouched low, hidden from sight.

“Get down here,” a voice hissed, pulling me toward it. “If any of those mooks found out I was talking to you—forget about it.”

I knelt down, tucking myself small so that I was hidden from the street. “Who are you?”

“Unimportant. You can just call me the wind because nothing I tell you can be traced back to me ever, understood? You heard it from a man who heard it from a man who heard it on the wind. You got me?”

“I got you. I never met you.”

“Good girl. Now, you wanted to know about Et’atal, right?”

I nodded. “That’s right.”

“First thing you gotta know is he’s crazy.”

“Yeah, I heard. Aren’t all demons, though?”

“No, he’s psychopathic because he’s a mutt. Half demon, half human. He was disrespected his whole life, which made him overcompensate. His cruelty knows no bounds.”

“I thought I had a messed-up childhood.”

“Well, you weren’t born by the seed of the Devil in the pits of Hell. He believes the throne is his birthright and aims to take it, by force if necessary.”

I grabbed the hilt of my dagger. “He won’t because I aim to kill him.”

“That’s another thing,” the imp said. “You can’t go around saying you’re going to vaporize demons. Do you know how many objects in the solar system can vaporize a demon from existence? Five. Sure, plenty can kill us, but vaporize us out of existence? Very few, which means you have something real powerful there. If you advertise it, they’re gonna take it from you, which puts you in danger.”

“I thought that bar was a safe space?”

“Yeah, inside its walls. Out here, we’re still all scheming against each other, and I promise you at least one demon in that bar told Et’atal you were coming for him, which means he’ll be ready. Good job, genius.”

“Does that mean he’s in Hell, then?”

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“Yeah, he’s still in Hell. Lucifer put him in charge of the expansion.”

“What’s the expansion?”

“You’ll see if you go there, which I don’t recommend if you can avoid it.”

“Whatever,” I replied with an eye roll. “So, Et’atal can’t escape Hell, then?”

“He hasn’t found a way yet, but he’s looking for one and a way to get revenge on Daddy.”

“That must be why he wanted to start an Apocalypse.”

“Bingo. That’s one surefire way around Daddy’s rules.” The imp pointed at the knife. “And that dagger—I’ll bet you dollars to donuts it can kill Lucifer, which is the second part of his plan. So, if you plan on entering Hell to teach Et’atal a lesson, then you’ll be walking that dagger right into his welcoming arms.”

“Do you have a better plan?”

“Any other plan!” the imp said before catching himself yelling. “Stay up here. Hide the dagger. Keep a low profile. Thank your lucky stars that he’s not able to come up and take it himself. Hell is a nasty place. Why do you think demons are all trying to stay up here on Earth?”

“And if he finds the dagger anyway? What if he starts the Apocalypse? What then?”

“That’s a problem for future you. I can see in your eyes you won’t listen to me, so I wish you bad luck. I hope you fail miserably and never find a way into Hell.”

“Does that mean you won’t tell me how to get there?”

“Absolutely not,” the imp replied. He snapped his fingers and vanished from sight. Frigging imps. As helpful as a wet sponge. I guess he did confirm that Et’atal was still in Hell, though, which was something. And he probably wasn’t wrong when he said I shouldn’t be broadcasting my plans to every demon under the sun.

There was one that could still help me, assuming he wasn’t still hungover.

I made my way back to Dad’s pub, where he was sitting at the counter with Blezor drinking a heaping pot of coffee. When Blezor saw me enter, he ran behind the counter and got another cup for me and poured coffee into it for me.

“Thank you,” I said, sitting next to Dad. “How do you feel?”

“Stupid,” Dad said. “I was so excited to see you, and I made a fool out of myself.”

I smirked. “Honestly, it was nice. Mom is so worried about being perfect all the time, it was nice to see that one of my parents was a screw-up. Showed me where I got it from.”

He took a sip of coffee. “Glad I could contribute in some way.”

“You can contribute in another way, too, if you’re willing to help me.”

“I can tell by your tone I’m going to hate it, but if I can help you, I will. I suppose it’s the least I could do.”

“No, the least you can do is nothing, which is what you’ve been doing my whole life.”

“That’s because—”

I held up my hand to stop him. “I don’t care. I need a way into Hell. Can you take me?”

He laughed, and then when he saw I was serious, his face dropped. “You can’t be serious. Do you have any idea what’s happening in Hell right now?”

“None, and I don’t care.”

“It’s packed nuts to butts down there. It’s absolutely disgusting. There’s no way I’m going back there. Not until…”

“Until what?” Blezor asked.

He sighed. “Until I’m forced to, after the Apocalypse.”

“We’re not going to let that happen. There will never be an Apocalypse.”

“That’s cute,” Dad said. “There are literally dozens of demons trying to start one right now. You can stop ninety-nine out of a hundred, and still, one day, somebody will find a way to succeed where everyone else fails. Until then, I am keeping my nose clean and my head down.” He looked over at me. “I suggest you do the same.”

I made a face. “I never took demons to be such cowards. Fine, you don’t have to take me, just tell me how to get there, and I’ll go without you.”

“I wish you wouldn’t.” He went back to his coffee. “But you have the same look of determination as your mother.” He sighed. “There are spots on this Earth where the fabric that separates our dimensions is weak.”

“Like portals,” I said. “I know about them.”

“Exactly. These are the only spots on Earth where you can travel between Earth and Hell—unless, of course, you die.” He gave me a long look while he poured another cup of coffee. “When you find one of these spots, you need to call upon the fires of Hell and melt the divide, and you can walk right in.”

“Melt?” I asked.

“With Hellfire.”

As he spoke, a plan formulated in my head. I already knew of a spot in Hawaii they called the Gateway to Hell. I needed a Firestarter who could call forth the flames of Hell, which meant enlisting an old nemesis. I just hoped she was as much a mercenary as she let on.