by Kim Faulks
The Prince glanced from Rival, to Gabriel, and then to Lucifer. Pale skin turned ashen. “I-I…”
“Take him,” Lucifer commanded. “Straight to Hell.”
“N-no!” Absolon stammered, and shook his head. “No…don’t do this!”
Rival grabbed one arm, Gabriel moved in to grab the other, dragging the sonofabitch backwards. Boots scuffed, tearing clumps of grass free as he thrashed. “I didn’t fucking know!”
Titus turned, closing in beside me. Cold, stony words spilled from his lips. “I don’t think anyone believes you. I don’t believe you.”
Rage seethed under the surface. Deep…controlled rage.
No one had known what blood the cop carried in his veins.
And now we did.
Powerful blood.
The kind that creates races…
And destroys them…
“You heard the Queen…you h-hurt me and your whore is dead,” Absolon bowed backwards, kicking and thrashing as they went.
Lucifer lifted his hand, and the call of Hell resounded.
The Unseelie world might’ve swirled in a gentle mist, and swallowed them into the dark realm, but there was nothing tender about the journey back to Hell…oh, no…the Lord of the realm was fucking pissed.
The air pressed against me, sucking skin and organs around my spine. Pain flared, running over my head and along my body, like a river of hot wax.
Red, rage-filled skies replaced perfect blue.
I stumbled, no, I was thrust into the pit of Hell. The fiery winds flayed me down to the bone.
A scream ripped from my lips, savage and unmerciful…
And with my roar came the agony of the others.
Shrieks of the Archangel filled my ears.
Guttural howls of the Hellhound.
Cries from the cop.
Twice I’d been to Hell…
And the third time was not a charm.
The furnace blew in my face, stealing the moisture from my mouth and my eyes. I lifted my hand and ducked my head, warding off the scorching Hellwind.
“Deeper!” Commanded the Lord of Hell.
I lifted my gaz, and tried to blink through the blur. We stood at almost the same place we’d stood before—at the edge of the spiral pit, with the Dragon’s Lair towering above us. Blood-red skies swirled around us, slamming the blistering heat against our bodies. My thighs trembled, my boots skidded as they tried to find a hold. Hell was different…Hell was rage. I lifted my head, and stared into the infernal eyes of the man I knew as Lucifer.
But he wasn’t…anymore.
He wasn’t anyone I knew.
Not a man…but a beast.
Black wings shimmered behind him, unfurling to claw the tips of midnight feathers through the air. His eyes glowed red like embers. Lips curled back, revealing fangs. I could see the dark races in one unmerciful stare. Hounds, Demons…Children of the Night. Just an illusion…
I broke the stare and closed my eyes…just an illusion.
There was a second where the ground beneath my feet trembled once more, and then it cracked, widening as it ran.
A scream ripped free as I windmilled my arms, holding on to nothing, for nothing was all that was left. The pit of Hell split wide open and swallowed us whole.
The tips of my fingers clawed the razored edges of rock as I fell. Air rushed over me, stealing the heat from my breath, until darkness found me. My feet hit the ground, knees buckling from the impact. I fell, slamming my palms into the graveled dirt underneath me. The others hit hard around me…thump…thump…thump…
“For God’s sake!” Titus roared.
“No,” Gabriel whimpered. He was a blur of white in the dark…crawling to his hands and knees before he pushed to stand. “There is no God down here.”
There was a strike of stone. Torchlight flared against the dark. Rival’s dark eyes reflected the flames, dancing with the same kind of hate I saw in Lucifer’s. “We have to walk from here.”
I glanced behind me to the others. There was no Lucifer and there was no Absolon. “Where have they gone?”
Titus spun, scanning the darkened tunnel. “What the fuck.”
Gabriel just watched the Hellhound as he took a step and motioned ahead. “Let’s just say the Lord has taken our guest on the scenic tour.”
I stepped to the side, letting him pass. The scenic tour? I didn’t know the details—but I could fucking well guess.
There wasn’t a damn murmur as we followed the Hellhound.
The air down here was warm, like summer-in-July warm. I lifted my hand and worked the top button of my shirt. This wasn’t a place for an Unseelie—I swallowed hard—actually, this wasn’t a place for anyone.
The sweeping tunnel took a dive. My boots skidded on a loose surface. I shuffled toward the wall, and splayed my palm against the rock.
Heat flared, scorching my skin. “Jesus…fuck,” I yanked my hand away, slapping my chest as I stared.
“Careful,” Rival murmured. “We’re close to the rivers.”
“Yeah? Great…a fucking heads up would’ve been good,” I barked.
But there was no answer. There wasn’t even a sound.
The only sound was the wind whistling through the cracks in the walls. I balanced my weight, turning sideways to slide and step down the ramp. Step after step, I followed…down…down…down…
Until the whistle of the wind became louder, piercing my ears. “For fucks sake, where the hell is that wind coming from? I can’t even feel a breeze?”
Torchlight flickered against the wall, coming to a stop as the Hellhound turned to me. “That’s isn’t the wind.”
“Yes, it is,” I jerked my gaze toward the direction of the sound. “There…that noise. Can’t you hear it?”
“Redemption,” Gabriel murmured.
I spun to find the darkened blue eyes of the Archangel. “Don’t you hear it?”
There was something wrong with him. His shoulders were slipped, wings drooped low from his shudders, as though he carried the weight of the world there. His lips trembled…as did his voice as he whispered. “That isn’t the wind you can hear…those are screams.”
I flinched at the words and shook my head. No…that’s wind…I turned toward the sound once more. The wind…I was sure that was…the howling was piercing. The more I listened, the sharper the sound became.
Shrieks.
Piercing, bloodcurdling shrieks.
“Please, God!” words stabbed through the screams. “I repent!’
I shoved backwards, steps stumbling, arms flailing. I smacked into the wall, heat lashed my shoulder. No…no…no…no…
“Easy now, brother,” Titus murmured and lifted a hand toward me.
I spun, fist raised…and that sound…that sound slithered up my spine to wrap around my throat. It was choking me…it was choking me…
“We’re just passing, through,” Titus murmured. “This place isn’t for us. We’re guests of Lucifer, remember? Just guests, nothing more.”
Just guests…I tried to suck in a breath. This wasn’t the cold, dark Unseelie cells. I yanked my hands close, rubbing my wrist. Shackles didn’t close around my skin. The Queen’s neatly made bed didn’t await me.
“You okay?” Titus murmured. “Redemption? You okay?”
I nodded, and jerked my gaze to his. “Yeah, yeah, I’m okay.”
“Come on, we still have a fair way to go,” Rival growled and then started his descent once more.
The screams haunted me. The first step was the hardest. My damn knees trembled, still I followed, falling behind Titus. But Gabriel slowed, never once leaving me behind.
His steps hit hard, shoulders curled. I knew now…knew how he must’ve felt. It was savage for an Unseelie, so how would it feel to someone like him?
“He is still my brother, Unseelie. Don’t ever forget that,” Gabriel murmured behind me. “No matter what he has become…he’s still my brother.”
Only in name and in kind
.
Not by blood.
For that I was thankful.
I’d rather have an Archangel at my back than another fallen Angel.
What made one fall, anyway? The thought stuck with me.
Red glowed through the cracks in the wall. They were only fine at first, but the longer we skidded and stepped, the wider they became.
Red lava flowed, the heat pulsing through the gaps. Down…down…down…
Until the tunnel leveled out. My thighs felt like stone, the tendons along the tops of my feet trembled. In the distance came a forked road.
“Which way do we go?” Titus called.
Rival never broke stride, only turned to glance over his shoulder, red flames dancing in his eyes as he smiled. “Do you even need to ask?”
Left…he went left.
The darkness seemed to close in, even stealing the glow from the torchlight.
“Don’t freak out,” Rival called. “Just keep walking. There’s light up ahead.”
And just like that, the dark shadows of Hell moved in and snuffed the torchlight out. But in that second, in that terrifying second when his words ended and the darkness began, I could’ve sworn I saw a hand reaching for the light…for something other than this suffocating dark.
I focused on the thud of their steps and kept my damn hands away from the walls. Don’t touch me…don’t fucking touch me.
Soft light flared in the distance, growing brighter with each step. I quickened my pace, striding out, only to smack into the back of the cop. “Fucking move it.”
“What the fuck?” he growled, and stumbled forward.
But there was no stopping me. Not the fucking fear inside, or the momentum of my body. I pushed him, driving him out into the other side. The Hellhound was right, soft blue- white light spilled out from the torches along the wall. Even the stone here…I stilled in the center of the room…even the stone didn’t look red like lava.
“You can touch it. Nothing here will burn you,” Rival murmured as Gabriel came to a stop behind us.
But even as we left the fires of Hell behind, the Archangel looked worse. Dark circles shrouded his eyes. In the faint blue light, he looked almost...old.
Something fell from his shoulder. A white wisp floated to the ground.
A feather…one single perfect feather came to a rest.
“Gabriel?” Rival murmured. “You okay?”
“For now,” the brother answered. “For Lorn, I’m okay for now.”
I didn’t understand a word he said. “What does that even mean?”
Rival lifted his head. “It means there are levels to Hell, the same way there’s levels to Heaven…and you’re standing in the second deepest. Only one other level is below us. That special place is kept for the most vile…the most deranged…the most unworthy and damned.”
“Oh, don’t worry,” Lucifer murmured behind me. “Absolon’s room is being made up as we speak. But first a little taste at what a real cell is like.”
He lifted his hand toward the end of the room, and the darkened cell. A whimper came from between the bars…no, not a whimper, a weak, sickening moan.
“Has it started already?” Rival muttered and strode toward the cell door. “Fuck sake. I wanted to be here to watch.”
“Watch what?” The words slipped free. Silence answered. “Watch what?”
Glee-filled malice lingered in the Hellhound’s eyes as he answered. “His mind shatter…his spirit torn apart. They’ll litter the floor of this cell like confetti. A party for one.”
Something inside me puckered as my belly turned to water. Lucifer took a step, cutting across me, and headed toward the cell. All I could do was watch…all I could do was witness…
“I’m going to ask you one more time,” Lucifer stopped at the bars. “This time it’d be in your best interest to give me the truth. Did you know the Queen intended to take my daughter with her?”
The moan ended…a heartbeat of silence…and then a snigger, soft at first, and then it found substance. The snigger turned into a chuckle. Cloth shifted against the stony ground. “You harm me, and there’s no knowing what she’ll do to Lorn.”
I flinched at the words. Shadows moved on the wall as Prince Absolon stepped closer. Pale skin looked gray as he speared his fingers through the bars and clenched them tight. “You don’t know depravity like the Unseelie…you don’t know pain. But she will. Oh, she will by the time mommy dearest is through. She’ll scream…but it won’t be your name, dark Lord.”
He turned his head. Unflinching midnight eyes found mine.
Hate coiled, like that serpent, around my damn throat. It wanted to lash out. It wanted to strike. It wanted to pump his body full of venom and never let go.
“She’ll scream only one name, Lord. She’s scream it until her lungs turn to ash and her heart to stone. She’ll scream it until there is no night and there is no day. She’ll scream until she’s forgotten how to stop.”
Lucifer followed his gaze and for a second—for one blinding, fucking second, I knew what it felt like to be in a cell down here…and have the Lord of Hell make me feel at home.
“Ohhh, the secrets those two will share,” pale lips split as Absolon smiled. Blood tricked down, falling between the gaps in his teeth. “All those dark and nasty secrets. I wonder if she’ll see it coming? Such a fatal blow for romance, wouldn’t you agree?”
The others turned toward me…Titus…Gabriel…Rival…I swallowed hard.
“What is he talking about?” The Lord of Hell murmured, thunder echoed with the sound, slipping along the hall. “Warrior? What is he talking about?”
My stomach clenched. The warmth seemed to drain from my bones. “I don’t know,” lies…lies…lies…they fell like rain.
“So you can’t hurt me,” Absolon strangled the bars of his cell. Ebony strands of hair fell from his head. The tuft smacked his hand, and there it hovered. “You can’t hurt a hair on my head.”
Lucifer smiled…a cold savage smile. “Oh, I don’t plan on harming your hair at all.”
He turned then, and those blue flames against the wall flickered. In the shadows of Absolon’s cell, I caught the movement. Just like in the tunnel, a hand reached outwards, wicked nails clawing the stone.
The Lord of Hell strode past me once more.
“We have to leave now,” Rival whispered. Even the Hellhound reeked of fear. “Hurry.”
And in the echo of our footsteps, Absolon screamed. “Wait…wait! Turn the lights back on…Luucciiffeeerrrrr, tun the lights back onnnnn! LUCIFER, PLEASE!”
Chapter Three
Lorn
I fucking killed you!
The words echoed in my ears as nails carved my arm. The sting was instant, searing…blinding. My heels carved through dirt as I scurried backwards.
Her laughter haunted me, slipping between the booms of my pulse.
Laughter and thunder.
It was all I could hear.
“Get the fuck away from me!” I shoved from the ground. “Get the fuck away!”
Trees crowded the pathway. She was right behind me…closing in. I killed her…I killed her.
“I can smell her death on you!” The Night Hag screamed behind me. “Your soul is stained with blood! The blood of an innocent!”
You’re dead…
I ran for my life.
You’re dead…
A life stained with blood.
You’re fucking dead…
“Mòr was my sister!” The hag howled, and somewhere in the dark forest something monstrous took flight. “And you murdered her!”
Branches whipped past, twigs snapped at my right and then my left. I kept running, punching my boots into the ground as the path through the forest stretched out for what felt like miles.
Fire lashed my chest as I lengthened my stride. Cold air was brutal, slicing open my throat to spear through my lungs. Still I kept on running, tearing along the path toward the other side of the forest, until there were gaps i
n the trees up ahead.
Something lashed my ankle. Pain roared, searing through my skin. I didn’t slow, just focused on the end of path. A flare of white glowed in the dark. I turned my head, racing past the outstretched branches.
A white stag stood in the middle of the murky Unseelie forest. He watched me as I ran. My steps stuttered…the sight glaring in the gloom. I tore my gaze from the sight as the path spilled out into the clearing.
My heart lunged. I remembered this place…remembered there was a door…I stumbled into the clearing, and scanned the air. “Where are you?”
Silver mist of the portal…it should be here. I stumbled forward, fingers rising to tremble in the air. “It was just here…just here…”
But there was nothing. No silver mist of the portal…no way to get back home. My breaths sawed in and out, terror, panic, and pain were right there at the surface. Warmth dripped from my wrist…and slipped from my ankle. “It was right here. It was right here!”
My knees trembled…I had nothing to cling to. No hope, no salvation…not even rage. I was a prisoner adrift in this sea of Unseelie.
A twig snapped behind me. I spun as the hag slipped out of the forest and into the glade, and with her came the thorny tendrils.
“Your soul is marked, daughter of Hell,” she hissed. “And it belongs to the Queen. But your flesh…oh, your flesh is another matter entirely.”
I stumbled backwards as she came closer. Through the towering midnight trees came the glowing stag. The hag never seemed to notice. Not when the beast stepped a foot outside the tree line, or when it let out a soft bleat.
Shadows slithered toward me. I didn’t stand and fight. There was no pathway through the forest now. The only one lay behind the hag.
“You can run…but you won’t get far. There are bigger, hungrier things out here than me, daughter of Hell.”
One last glance at the empty air behind me, and I stumbled, racing along the tree line. Footsteps crashed behind me, heavier than a Night Hag ever could be. Darkness swooped overhead and the familiar whoop….whoop…whoop…of outstretched wings.
My heart soared with the sound. I lifted my head to the murky outline. Razor-sharp white fangs were all I saw. Claws tore the nape of my neck. The beast’s shriek punctured my ears.