A Job From Hell (Ancient Legends #1)

creature a glance over my
shoulder as I asked, “Do you have a rope, an energy bar or something?” No
answer. I cleared my throat. “Well then, can one of you be an angel and give a
girl a lift?”
    The creature let out a sound that resembled
a chuckle and shoved me forward, then rose into the sky, white wings flapping
gracefully, and disappeared with the others. I realized I was supposed to climb
when I could barely walk without tripping over my own feet. If I fell and broke
my leg, no one would ever know. Whoever came up with this particular plan to
retrieve the book, sucked big time. Maybe I’d haunt them, too.
    Murmurs echoed in the distance. A cold
shudder ran down my spine. “Hello? Is there someone?” I spun, holding my breath
as I listened for more sounds.
    “Amber! I know you can hear me.”
    Was that Devon? It didn’t sound like a
voice inside my head, more like someone shouting through a loudspeaker at a
football game. I peeked behind the nearby bushes. No one there, but where else
could he be hiding? Maybe the voice was carrying over from inside the pit? I
dared a peek into the pitch-black when his voice jolted me, making me flinch.
    “Look around you and tell us where you are.”
    I scanned the area. The thick forest
stretched into the distance. Apart from trees and bushes, and yet more trees,
there was nothing nearby. “Oh shoot, my GPS can’t get a service down here. I’m
going to really have to change providers. But let me get my map out and match
it to the giant, neon, flashing road sign I’m standing under.” I paused for
effect. “How the heck would I know where I am, Devon? All I can tell you is I’m
outside.”
    “You must see something.”
    Yeah,
a future appointment with a good psychologist and a prescription for
anti-depressants. Dallas had a point something was wrong with my mind.
The signs were there: hearing strange voices, seeing unearthly beings, talking
to myself. I sighed and opened my mouth to speak, hysteria almost choking my
throat. “There’s a pit.”
    I heard a gasp, then Aidan said, “That’s
it. Well done, babe. You’ll have to go in now.”
    Snorting, I peered over the edge. “And how
am I supposed to do that? Last time I checked I couldn’t fly.”
    “Can you climb in? Or jump?” Aidan asked.
    I’d feared that one coming. “Of course I
can, because I’m Spiderman.”
    “Remember nothing can hurt you because you’re
not in the physical world anymore. We’re standing over your body at the altar.
Your soul is doing all the work right now,” he said. He didn’t sound convinced.
    I snorted. “I’m dead already. How
reassuring. Are you sure nothing can hurt me?”
    “Positive,” Devon said. Why the hesitation
in his voice then?
    My pulse racing, I draped a leg over the
brink and dangled it as I peered in. Wherever the bottom was, it seemed to be a
long way down.
    “You said nothing could hurt me? So, right
now I’m just a spirit?” I mumbled. “Well, in that case I’d just float my way
down.”
    “Amber, no!” Aidan said.
    “Ah, what the heck!” Taking a deep breath, I
closed my eyes and jumped.
    I felt myself free fall in slow motion,
spinning in circles and plummeting deeper, the cold air seeping into my skin. Opening
my eyes, I saw a vision of Aidan smiling inches from me.
    “We’ll get the book and have a life
together. I promise,” Aidan said.
    His face morphed into Kieran’s who held a
camera. “Can I take a picture so I can show Santa what I want for Christmas?”
    Angel appeared, her long swirling black
hair made her look like a dark angel as she smiled. “If I marry Kieran we’ll be sisters-in-law, and I’ll never be
lonely again.”
    “No, you’re my BFF,” Clare’s image said.
    Devon cleared his voice in the distance. “Concentrate,
Amber. You’re almost there.”
    I hit the floor with a loud thud, the
impact knocking the air out of my lung. A sharp pain rippled through my
shoulder. Didn’t Devon say nothing could hurt me?
    “Are you in?” Aidan asked.
    I wiped my dirty hands on my new coat,
annoyed. “I can still feel my legs, thanks for asking. My back’s not even hurt
that badly. Only as though I was just hit by a train.”
    “Good, now what do you see?” Devon’s voice
again.
    Did they pay any attention to me? For a
moment I considered ignoring them, just so I could sulk a bit, but I figured
the sooner I got out of here, the faster I could haunt them. As I scrambled up,
hand holding onto the wall, I