Hell Bent

by Cate Corvin

  Satan tried to push past my lips, his tongue slippery as an eel’s, and a horrible ringing sound filled my head.

  I realized it was screaming. Someone was shrieking, their voice so high it could shatter glass…

  Satan drew back, his eyes glittering. “The end,” he whispered to me. “And now a new age begins.”

  I turned my face away quickly, desperate to ensure he didn’t kiss me again, and stiffened in his grasp when I saw Ereshkigal.

  She dragged her hands down her face, her claws splitting her cheeks. Darkness spilled out of the wounds and ran down her front.

  The Queen let out another shriek that ended on a low moan, still hemorrhaging darkness, and clutched at her chest. “It ends with you,” she snarled, glaring at me. “You are the reason for this.”

  “Run.” Satan shoved me to the door as the Queen barreled at him, her claws missing me by inches.

  She hit him hard, slamming him into the wall.

  “Get Michael out,” I snapped at Lucifer and Belial.

  The sound of my voice caught the Queen’s attention. She stopped slashing at Satan, her head turning in the sound of my voice.

  “There you are,” she hissed, and ran at me, her skin splitting open.

  I ran down the corridor, not daring to look back. The shadows in the palace were deeper, darker, and I knew some of it was Ereshkigal shedding her skin for her true form again.

  I was running so fast I almost stumbled on the stairs, my breath tearing out of me, but Ereshkigal flew down the spiral in a billow of black smoke.

  I saw her mouth open wide, large enough to swallow me, and ducked into the hallway below as a guard passed by.

  He was directly in her path. One moment he was there, his eyes widening as I flew out of the stairs in front of him, and the next moment he was swallowed whole by the storm of darkness.

  Her eyes were blazing green lights in the midst of all that smoke, staring me down like a snake sizing up its prey.

  All that mattered to me was leading her away from Lucifer and Belial, letting her rip herself open.

  “I did it,” I shouted, still feeling sick from the taste of Satan on my lips and the lies I was telling. “I stole him. The entire time, behind your back, I’ve been with him.”

  The storm cloud began to swirl, and the void within spiraled into endless depths, beckoning to me.

  I looked away from it and ran blindly, feeling for Azazel through the star. He was so close, like he was standing right there…

  But she was nipping at my heels. I felt the pull of the void inside me as I ran, sucking at my hair and the edges of my skin.

  I needed to help him break free. My men thought I hadn’t understood, but I had.

  The people I loved were the chains on my soul, the one thing binding me to this world. If I wanted to save them, I had to give myself up to the power I was so terrified of. The power that would free them all.

  I dragged in deep gulps of air, running for the throne room as fast as I could. If I got there even a little sooner than her, if I grabbed a knife…

  I was alone. Somewhere in the last several frantic minutes, Ereshkigal had abandoned me.

  The throne room was shaking when I dashed into it.

  Or rather… the corpses on the walls were shuddering. The chains and cages overhead clanked against each other in a cacophony. Even the floor underfoot seemed to tremble.

  Ereshkigal had beaten me there.

  She swirled in place, a towering column of smoke between me and Inanna.

  I felt the goddess’s frustration through the golden bonds of her power.

  “I know what you’ve planned,” Ereshkigal said. Like Azazel, her voice was nowhere near human anymore. Her voice was a chorus of the damned. “You won’t bind yourself to her. I won’t allow it.”

  Several stars blazed bright in the depths of her storm and winked out.

  He was in there, almost to the surface.

  I smiled grimly. “I don’t need to.”

  Instead of rushing to Inanna, I turned the other way.

  I ran for the balcony, for the gap between the pillar and the walls of Kur, and threw myself into the drop.

  To the river of souls below.

  26

  Melisande

  The still air of the city became wind in my ears as I fell.

  I spread my arms, plunging towards the glowing blue river. It teemed with dead spirits, some of them looking upwards as I hurtled towards them.

  Golden power shoved through the walls I’d put up, wrapping around me. This time I accepted Inanna’s help, allowing her to suffuse me with what remained of her. I would make it out of the river, for Sarai’s sake, and for the ones I loved.

  I hit the water, plunging deep into the water with an enormous splash.

  The borrowed power lessened the impact of falling from such a huge height, but under the water… it was icy cold, and there was no light.

  The blue glow was only an illusion. Everything around me was dark, the only light coming from the city overhead.

  I watched a spume of bubbles fly upwards and kicked as hard as I could, following them.

  My head broke the surface of the water and I took a huge gulp of air, splashing around as I looked frantically for the golden shine of the Spear.

  It was there, far below my feet, buried in the depths of the river.

  Before I could take another breath, grasping hands wrapped around my ankles and drew me downwards.

  The souls of the dead swarmed around me, nearly invisible in their own element. They tore at my clothes and hair until Inanna’s power blazed out of me.

  But it didn’t last for long. As quickly as the burst of power passed, they were back, dragging me lower and lower.

  My lungs ached already. I kept my mouth tightly shut, determined not to lose any air as I pushed back against them.

  A girl with dead eyes passed in front of me, her teeth black in the darkness of the water. She bit my arm, drawing blood that had the spirits frenzying like sharks. I fought against them, managing to break the water for another gulp of air.

  My chest felt like it was going to explode, my ears ringing. They descended on me in a wave, knocking me back underwater.

  The dead girl who’d bitten me grasped my skirt, dragging me down low.

  But the deeper I sank, the brighter the Spear’s light became.

  I summoned my own power and sent through the spirits around me, shoving them back with a shield of prickling thorns that would shred their delicate forms, and kicked downwards.

  The Spear glowed bright as day against the dark sand of the riverbed. I released a breath, the bubbles spiraling through the mad whirlpool the spirits were making overhead, and lunged for it.

  My fingers brushed the cool metal of the shaft, and I grabbed it as something raked my legs, opening new wounds.

  Flames ripped through my arm, the Spear welcoming me in its own cruel, burning way.

  I felt new scars sear across my palm, the kind of scars that even immortality wouldn’t be able to heal.

  The moment I’d gripped the Spear, the spirits had slithered away, giving me a wide berth. The girl who’d gone for my blood bared her teeth at me, but she swam away into the darker depths of the river as I brandished the weapon.

  My head was already spinning from the lack of air. Dark spots bloomed in front of my eyes. I kicked off from the riverbed, swimming upwards against the spirits with the Spear’s light and my own thorny magic.

  I emerged from the river with a gasp, pulling deep, burning breaths into my lungs.

  The spirits emerged around me, their wet hair dripping over their faces, malevolence in their eyes.

  They were starving, and only the Spear kept them at bay. I grasped it like my scars had fused us together, slicing it through the water when they drew too close.

  A pale form swept through the air overhead.

  “Vyra!” I shouted. Or rather, tried to shout; I slipped underwater again, the weight of the
Spear dragging me down, the river’s flow tugging at my legs.

  She turned in midair, her pearly wings spread wide, and flew back towards me, relief and anxiety written all over her face. “Melisande, I can’t come any closer.”

  She was fifteen feet above the water, but the spirits that had decided against risking the Spear’s wrath had swum her way, cutting silent ripples in the water.

  They gathered below her, watching hungrily. Waiting for her to drop into their icy grasp.

  I cursed my lack of wings again, treading as hard as possible.

  The riverbank was a steep drop, a defense against the dead for the citizens of Kur, but if I could just pull myself high enough to keep Vyra out of the hungry spirits’ reach…

  “I’m going to try to climb,” I told her, swallowing a mouthful of bitter water.

  She nodded, glancing towards the riverbank. “Don’t get too close,” she warned. “They’re waiting for you.”

  Most of Kur would’ve seen my plunge into the river. I had no doubt they’d grab me or Vyra, if given the chance, to hand over to the Queen for execution.

  I fought against the tide, my leg muscles screaming as I kicked relentlessly. The River Cocytus wasn’t a fast river; it was slow and steady. But the pull of the current was omnipresent, and it wanted me to stop struggling, to let it sweep me away into peaceful nothingness.

  I had no intention of joining those spirits.

  I finally drew close enough to touch the soil of the bank. It was the first substance I’d touched in Kur that wasn’t ebonite; something soft enough to bury the Spear in.

  I began the climb, dragging myself from the river with my fingernails and the points of the Spear. My nails cracked as I clawed at the hard soil, splitting painfully and leaving drops of blood behind.

  “A little further,” Vyra urged. “A little further… you’re almost out of reach.”

  I was between a rock and a hard place. An entire city of enemies above me, a river of oblivion below me…

  I dug my fingers and toes in, hauling myself upwards another few precious inches, my muscles aching fiercely.

  “There! Keep the Spear away from me, Melisande.”

  I felt her hands wrap around my waist, and gratefully released the wall. My nails stopped aching as they healed, and the Spear burned continuously in my hand as Vyra flapped upwards, her breath heavy from the exertion of my extra weight.

  “I’m still not a strong flyer,” she gasped. “Sorry.”

  “You are,” I assured her, feeling more helpless than ever. “You’re my wings now, Vyra. We all need you.”

  I kept the Spear as far from her as possible, terrified I’d burn my friend to ash. I wished I could share Inanna’s power with her.

  We climbed upwards and what felt like an eternity later, she dropped us both on the arena pillar, gasping for breath.

  “How can you be so small but so heavy?” she asked with a brief laugh.

  Water splattered across the ebonite, drops that rolled like oil over the edge and back into the river below.

  “Vyra, you’re the best.” I coughed, getting up the last bit of the river.

  But there was no time to say anything else.

  Ereshkigal’s dark form loomed on the balcony, looking down at us. The shadows shredded away from her rapidly spinning form. “You’ve returned. What a delight.”

  I was on my feet in an instant, in front of Vyra with the Spear at ready.

  Her shape blazed with stars. They burst into life, floating away on the air, but brighter than ever.

  “Mel,” Vyra whispered behind me. “Call him.”

  I focused on the star emblazoned on my neck, sinking into the connection between us.

  Azazel, we’re waiting.

  I felt him reach out and brush against my mind. Were you worried?

  Of course I was. Come out now.

  He laughed, but Ereshkigal cut him off again.

  She swept towards the pillar, the wind of her passage ripping at us.

  I felt Vyra grab me, clamping her hands tightly around my chest. My feet lifted off the ground and we hurtled towards the throne room as Ereshkigal landed where we’d been only seconds ago.

  I pushed Vyra away before she could touch even the slightest part of the Spear. “Stay away from me now,” I told her.

  Ereshkigal made a noise between a shriek and a wail, spilling stars around her. Long limbs grew out of her smoky form as she climbed up on the balcony again, stalking after us like an oversized panther.

  Vyra slipped between cages that had come free of their anchors, putting as much space between us as possible.

  I held Ereshkigal’s gaze. I was the one she wanted to destroy.

  Inanna’s power pounded in my veins, the goddess’s hope welling up within me. She would finally get what she wanted: true death. Peace. Everything her sister had denied her.

  But I wasn’t sure I was ready for the final step. I didn’t want to become a monster that my own loved ones would hate one day, or to share my mind with someone who wasn’t me.

  I wanted to get through this as Melisande, and no one else.

  Inanna’s anger broke through the power she’d lent me, the goddess urging me to be done with it.

  “This is the end, little one,” Ereshkigal said.

  I gripped the Spear, raising it higher. “The end for you.”

  A seam cut through the middle of her formless face, blazing with the light of stars.

  She reached up and touched it, her smoky hand shaking.

  “Not like this,” she whispered as the crack grew wider. She began to condense, her crone-like face appearing in the shadows, pulling herself back into a solid form that would more easily contain Azazel.

  I barked out a laugh. “You were the end of yourself. He told you love would be your undoing. You shouldn’t have underestimated him.”

  Ereshkigal’s dark eyes glared at me. She was more crow-like than ever, her hands thick with dark scales, black wings rising from her shoulders. The smoke poured from her in a torrent, the inverse of a bride’s veil.

  “Then I let him keep nothing worth living for.”

  Her shadows slipped from her fingers like snakes, writhing through the air as her body began to split again.

  Azazel’s monstrous form burst out of her, and the snakes struck at me, the darkness forming spear points.

  They hit home as Azazel ripped her to shreds, shedding her body like clothes. Pain jolted through me, there and gone.

  The monster stood up, clutching a pearly gray spirit in his hands. She was half bird, half woman, half young, half old. An ever-shifting dichotomy of shapes that wriggled and squirmed in his hands.

  He opened his mouth and inhaled, sucking Ereshkigal’s soul into the abyss. She vanished into it, her spirit crushed as she hit the event horizon and disappeared.

  Azazel closed his mouth, cutting off the draw of the abyss. His star-like eyes flared as they looked at me.

  I was trembling, the Spear burning in my palm.

  Everything hurt. The pain was a pulsing beat in my chest.

  Her dark splinters had broken off, buried in my chest and pinning me to the wall, which felt oddly soft. I watched in disbelief as my own heart’s blood trickled over my stomach, the organ still trying to beat despite the large thorn piercing it.

  “Azazel,” I said weakly, taking a shallow breath.

  He strode towards me, his shadows shrinking into his usual self. He was washed of all color, like the void had sucked it out of him, except for the glimmering dark violet of his eyes.

  Lucifer and Belial stepped into the room, swords raised. They looked like they’d been through a wringer, their clothing cut and bloodied.

  With Azazel in front of me, they didn’t see the thorn in my chest. “He’s betrayed us,” Lucifer snapped. “He took Tascius.”

  Belial’s eyes narrowed. He stalked through the room, shoving ebonite cages aside like they weighed nothing, ignoring even Azazel.

  Horror
streaked across Belial’s face when he saw the wound.

  “I love you all very much,” I told them. I tasted my own blood on my teeth.

  “Oh, it’s not time for goodbyes,” Azazel said. He delicately gripped my chin. “It’s time to begin.”

  “I don’t want to become her,” I whispered. It was getting harder to breathe. “I don’t want her to take me.”

  A million stars floated in Azazel’s eyes. “You will always be you. This is just another step.”

  I realized why the wall was so soft.

  I was cushioned against Inanna, held in her dead arms. The thorn had pierced both my heart and hers, and her power was humming against me, asking to be let in.

  Let me in. Let me go. Her soft begging filled my mind. She was desperate to be freed.

  “Join me,” Azazel whispered. “We go together.”

  My choice was to let her in, or die.

  I still had so much I wanted to do in this life. I stared into that night full of stars and remembered that he had once taken this step, too. And one of the men I loved needed me. There was a liar out there, and his name was on my heart.

  I would end him.

  I closed my eyes, squeezing them tight, and nodded. “I’m ready.”

  Azazel touched the thorn, gripping my hand with the other. He squeezed it tightly.

  Then he shoved it all the way through, splitting our hearts entirely.

  27

  Melisande

  I felt myself die.

  The moment my heart stopped beating, and the sudden shift of power inside me.

  My twin fires, violet and white, dwindled to low flames, then went out, leaving only cinders behind.

  Iciness swept through me, frosting over my bones.

  The entire world had become a winter wasteland, but I was the only one who felt it.

  Warmth touched my face. I opened my eyes and gazed back at Inanna.

  She smiled at me. “I’m glad you’re here.”

  I’m not, I told her. Or I thought I did. I couldn’t hear my own voice.

  She put her warm hand over my heart. I looked down and saw that there was no thorn in my chest, no gaping hole. My skin was smooth and whole.