Ash stands by the window, much like he did the morning after I was attacked on the street. He turns and his eyes catch mine. I freeze, feeling my heart begin to race. 

     "How long was I out?" I ask.

     "Only a few hours." He turns back to the window, crossing his arms over his chest. He has changed out of his bloodied clothing, now wearing a loose fitting shirt and jeans. Were it not for the stern look on his face he could almost pass for someone about to relax. 

     "Felt like days," I mumble to myself. 

     "It always does down there. Time tends to drag."

     "Down where?" I ask, knowing the answer before the question even leaves my mouth. I know where I was. I've known. I knew it the second I opened my eyes. The second I smelt the smoke. Heard the screams. Saw the shadowy figure heading towards me. I just need to hear him say it. Need to hear him confirm my suspicions. 

     "Hell." He still refuses to look at me but I see him try not to cringe as those words cross his lips. "You were in Hell."

     Ash leans against the window, resting his forehead against the glass. I watch as he closes his eyes and sighs, his breath fogging up the window. 

     "Moments before a human dies, their soul is judged. It's simple. Life a good life, do good things and then your soul goes up. Life a bad life, do bad things and then your soul goes down. There really isn't much to it. When we die...when a non human dies...our souls tend to linger for a few. Usually one side reached out and claims the soul. Usually it is simple. If I were to die I would be claimed by Hell. There is no debate." He stops speaking for a moment, chewing on his bottom lip nervously. "When Raph called me I knew things had gotten bad. I was halfway back to your place when he called me screaming about how he tracked my phone down. How, when he had arrived, you were a bloody mess. I knew if something happened, if you had somehow managed to actually get yourself killed, he would be your only hope. When your heart stopped beating he saw your soul leave your body. Raph was reaching for it, reaching to pull it back into you when it was ripped away from him. There was no warning. It was as if He had been there the whole time, waiting for his moment to pounce. Then you started healing. I heard you take a breath, heard your heart start beating. I thought maybe Raph had been wrong. Thought maybe you had managed to find your way back to your body. I was wrong. You wouldn't wake up. Then you started heating up and I knew He had gotten a hold of you."

     "How did you know the ice bath would work?" I take a seat on the newly replaced couch. Still white, but now completely lacking the deep red blood stain I left last time I was here. 

     "I didn't. I figured if you were breathing then maybe, just maybe, there was a piece of your soul still left in you. I figured if I could shock that piece enough then the rest would return. It was a lucky guess."

    I cross my hands in my lap, no longer looking towards Ash. I can feel his eyes on me. Feel him as he stares, waiting for my response. At this moment there is not much I can say. So much has happened in the last few weeks that nothing is really shocking me as much as it should. I am the daughter of the ruler of hell. The daughter of a being who has sent what seems like his heaviest hitters to track me down and kill me. A being that, less than two hours ago, had my soul semi trapped in Hell to torture. 

     My home is no longer my home. Demi nearly died because of me. Asher, who apparently knows exactly what and who I am, almost successfully killed me. The damn angel of healing saved my life. 

     Raph. 

     The simple thought of him reminds me of the question that, up until a few minutes ago, was sitting on the edge of my mind waiting to be asked. 

     "Raph said we were both in danger," I state. Ash half smiles, crossing the room and sitting himself down on the recliner across from me. "The danger for me...well that's explainable. I'm supposed to overthrow Satan and all that good shit but why are you in danger? What haven't you told me?"

     "I've told you everything you need to know," he replies uneasily. 

     "Damnit Ash!" I slam my hands on the coffee table. "Stop lying to me."

     "I'm not lying," he argues, his voice just as loud as mine. "I told you everything you needed to know. Raph needs to learn to mind his damn business."

     "Tell me or I leave." 

     Ash laughs and I jump off the couch, turning my back to him. I heard towards the door, barely getting it open an inch before Ash's arm flies past me, slamming it shut. 

    "Stop being so damn stubborn," he growls. I turn to face him, trying hard to ignore the less than an inch of space between us. The heat I can feel coming off of him. "Are you trying to get yourself killed? Is that why you refuse to listen to anything I say? Is that why you keep running off into more and more dangerous situations?"

     "Is that what this is about? My dying and not being able to help you get your oh so coveted Hell throne?" I accuse. 

     "Makenna..." 

     "Don't 'Makenna' me!" I shove him hard. "I want the truth Ash. The whole truth. Not the half lie you keep feeding me just so I will help you kill Lucifer."

     "It has nothing to do with that," he says softly.

     "Then what does it have to do with?" I shove him again. "Tell me Ash. Tell me the truth or so help me I will walk out that door and never look back! I will leave you and your stupid little plans here to figure it ou-"

    "It's because I was warned you would be the death of me!" he shouts, stopping me from finishing my threat. He turns away from me, heading back to the window. I stand there, too stunned to speak. 

     "I was told this would happen," he continues. "After He, the all might God, created mankind a war broke out. It was a constant battle for the right to each recently deceased person's soul.  The more souls you had, the stronger your side was. It was complete chaos. It got so bad that Lucifer and God had a meeting, a sit down to discuss the ongoing issue. They came to an agreement. From that moment on each person's soul would be claimed based on how they lived their lives. You've read the Bible, you know the rules. The whole process tends to go pretty smoothly seeing as a humans soul naturally begins to head up or down after it leaves the body anyways. These rules were put into place to keep each side from gaining too much power as there is usually an equal amount of sinners to saints. Lucifer, being the greedy bastard that he is, grew unhappy with this over the last few years. Churches began to pop up in more areas and the amount of sinners has begun to decrease. He's been looking for a way to shift the power to our side. Letting more and more demons slip through the crack and come topside. Letting them mingle with the humans, sway them into a life a sin. Send more souls to him so that he can gain enough power to break free from Hell for more than just a few hours. If he does that, gains that kind of power, he will be unstoppable. He will be able to gain control of all souls he comes in contact with and, after he has collected them all, make his way upwards in an attempt to overthrow God himself."

     I make my way back to the couch, not daring to get close to Ash. The anger has washed away from his face, now replaced with a look of longing. 

     "Belial knew of my disapproval of Lucifer's methods. He might have been Lucifer's right hand man but his loyalty has always been with me. He came to me the same night he delivered the Prophecy to Lucifer. The moment he set foot in my house I knew something was wrong. I knew he came bearing bad news. I was right. He had been holding back when he spoke to Lucifer. He had seen something else, something involving my future. Belial expressed his worry for me, for my safety. He knew the thrill I had gotten out of hearing the news that there would be a being powerful enough to overthrow Lucifer. He had seen that I would come topside in search of you. He knew I would seek your help. He warned me not to come. He had seen that I would find you and train you but the consequences would be deadly. You would become a weakness to me and, ultimately, be the reason behind my death."

     I gasp, my hand flying to my mouth. Ash takes no notice to this, keeping his eyes fixated on the city below him as the sun begins to creep through the buildings. A new day has begun. 

     "The first time I ever saw you I could tell how powerful you were. You had just taken down a pack of mid-level demons behind some run down club. It had taken you awhile to pull from the last demon and, at first, I even doubted whether or not you were who I was looking for. I thought maybe I had just stumbled across a powerful half-breed," he admits. "But then I felt the power in you again. I realized then that you were holding yourself back, keeping your true power at bay. I realized someone had trained you on how to control your power without actually revealing to you how strong you really were. Then I felt something else. I felt myself being pulled to you. Not to your power...but to you. You were...are...the most beautiful thing I have ever seen. I couldn't help it. I almost blew my cover. It was like nothing I had ever felt before. After that night you were all I could think about. I tried to shake thoughts of you away, pretend it never happened but I couldn't. It just made the urge to want to see you even stronger. I wasn't even looking for you that day in the mall but, the moment you set foot through the doors, I felt that pull again. I thought I knew what Belial meant when he said you would become a weakness. I knew how powerful you would grow to be and, stupidly, I assumed you would pull so much from me one day to the point that I could actually be killed. I was so wrong. I've never been more wrong. I tried to fight the way I felt about you. The way I feel when you are around."

     Ash finally moves away from the window and once again takes the seat next to me. He brushes a finger across my cheek. 

     "I was so wrong Makenna. I knew it when I saw you laying on that table with Raph standing over you. When I realized you weren't healing. That you might not survive whatever had happened to you. In that moment I was no longer worried about securing my place as King of Hell. I was no longer worried that you might not be ready to fight. In that moment I was worried I'd never hear that smart mouth of yours again. Then you died and it felt like the whole damn world slammed into me. You have no idea the relief I felt when your heart started beating again, when I heart you take that first breath. I knew at that moment what Belial had truly meant. I knew he was right. You are a weakness to me because I will do whatever it takes to keep you alive. To keep your heart beating. Had throwing you in that tub not worked I was fully prepared to march down to Hell and bring you back myself."

     "Ash," I stutter, "I...I.."

     He silences me, bringing his lips to mine. I don't fight him. How can I? You don't fight something like this. Someone like Ash. Someone willing to face down the Devil himself just to bring you back. You don't fight something like this. 

A/N: Hey, its been awhile since I published a chapter so here ya go!!! Don't forget to comment, follow, like and show this chapter some love!!!