The iron door will be twice as hard to pass through, so I opt to go through the creepy stone, poking my head through to see what’s around us.
Bad idea.
My breath runs out in a rush when a flame shoots straight up into the air like it’s trying to take my face off. I reel back, but carefully peer back out to take in the cylinder prison we’re in.
All the many pointless cell doors are visible in this large circle tower. Right in the middle of us is an endless pit of fire that shoots straight up whenever it has to hiccup or fart or something.
I’m assuming we’re in hell right now.
Just a guess.
Why even have the doors when you clearly can’t walk out of them?
“Not even the soul stones stop her from passing through,” Gage muses, not sounding even the least bit distressed by the fact we’re literally in a hell cell.
“I thought nothing could breach them,” Ezekiel immediately adds.
Pulling my head back in, I look at the four of them in all their relaxed glory like they’re idiots.
Kai pulls his cuffed hands under his legs and works them down until they’re in front of him. The other three do the same—like they’ve done this a hundred times.
“Just curious if the four of you have figured out Manella has put you in here to kill you finally, since you’ve managed to thwart his attempts in the other world,” I decide to point out.
“Of course we’ve figured it out. It’s also why they’ve cuffed us, so we can’t use our abilities,” Jude states with a shrug.
“I’m not even sure what your abilities are,” I tell him honestly as I turn around and poke my head through another wall, hoping to find a hallway or something.
No such luck. It’s another big pit of fire in the center, cells lining up as high as I can see to a fiery ceiling as well.
So I stick my head beside us, finding another cell and a very gnarly looking occupant.
Both of his eyes are dangling, and he’s hunched over like he’s looking for his precious, while chewing on a mangled piece of meat that smells rancid even from here.
Pulling my head back in, I shudder.
“Doesn’t matter what our abilities are,” Gage says.
“The cuffs keep them contained. It’s sealed with the devil’s crest.”
“How do you get the cuffs off?” I ask them when they withhold any answers about their abilities.
I turn around as Kai shrugs. “They’ll wait a few days before attempting to kill us. It’d be too obvious to kill us too soon, so we have time to figure it out. It’s easiest to trick a guard into taking them off, since they know the words to speak.”
“There are words to speak?” I ask, perking up. I can go find these.
“Not just anyone can say them. They have to be spoken by the chosen guards who’ve been blessed,” Ezekiel calls to my back, but I’m already passing through to Smeagol’s cage.
“We could use a protective spirit right now,” Jude calls out, acting amused.
I step back in immediately, then see their mocking grins.
“Real funny. Why does this guy next to us look like a Gollum? Are those real?”
“No,” Ezekiel says, his eyes dancing with humor. “It’s hell, Keyla. If you’re cast here after death, your soul starts transforming, morphing into the monster you really are, depending on your transgressions. Once the metamorphosis is complete and a physical form has manifested, they decide what to do with you, based on what you are.”
“What’s Smeagol’s role gonna be?” I ask, curious.
“Likely, he’ll be a food distributor to the prison cells. We’re in hell’s throat right now. It waits until you’re finished devolving or evolving before it spits you out or swallows you. The worst of the monsters get sent below or to Purgatory to guard it.”
Good to know. I’ll be a damn good girl when I get whole. Neither of these places seem like a life choice I want to make.
“She’s thinking about being a good girl right now, even though she’s admitted she wants a four-way tag from a quad hell squad,” Jude says, grinning like the asshole he is.
Rolling my eyes, I leave them to mock me, and scamper past Smeagol to see where this circle leads. Eventually, I have to find a hall. Surely it can’t all be pits of flames in the middle of a cylinder prison tower.
I pass through another cell, and stifle a scream. There’s a hairy beastly thing that looks like he used to be human. He snarls and tears at the sides of the stone walls. His sharp claws don’t even leave a scratch behind.
Hell is so not cool. Which I guess is obvious.
A few cells have these dark shadows bouncing around like pin balls. Apparently they can’t pass through the stones as easily as I can.
Don’t even get me started on the guy who looks like he has a sledgehammer sticking through his face.
I keep poking my head through the walls on either side, and only keep finding fire.
Several have actual people in it. I suppose they’re going to be used like my guys who never died but still turned into whatever these people are once their soul finds a new, mostly immortal body to attach to.
One cell has a fairly attractive man in it, and I linger, trying to see if he can see me like my guys can. But he can’t. I’m not sure who he is, but he looks a little broken. For whatever reason, I sort of feel sad for him, and I hang out beside him like I’m commiserating with him.
He curses before running a hand through his hair. He looks exhausted, almost as though he’s lost all hope. Not like the other men in here I’ve seen. His hands are cuffed, just like the guys. I’m assuming he’s not a soul in transition.
“I didn’t do it!” he shouts suddenly, as though he expects someone to hear him. “I’m being framed!”
Frowning, I study him. For no reason I can think of, I find myself believing him. I don’t even know what he’s referring to, yet I’m convinced he’s innocent just by the compelling look in his tortured blue eyes.
“We have nothing to gain from this! I have nothing to gain from this! Why would I risk such a thing?” he goes on.
When I figure out how to free the guys, I’ll return to free him as well.
Getting up, I start going from cell to cell again, collecting nightmares for the day I can finally sleep. Again. I only got to experience it that once, and apparently I’m a damn sound sleeper. I didn’t even dream.
And I would love to know what the actual hell happened.
Anyway, a few more monsters make me swallow a scream, and idly wonder just how wretched and foul they must have been.
Next thing I know, I’m suddenly bursting back into the cell with all the guys, who are staring at me like they’re not surprised.
“How can there be no hallway? Why have doors if there’s nowhere to escape to?” I groan.
“The door is to give you false hope,” Kai says with a shrug. “You manage to somehow turn into something strong enough to break down that door, iron forged in hellfire, then you find there’s nowhere for you to go. It’s the moment you’re defeated, and they can sink their claws in and own you.”
“And you want to work for such a lovely establishment,” I state dryly.
Ezekiel shrugs. “We had no say in the matter. Regardless, our special skills require such a thing. They’d be useless elsewhere.”
“But I’m not allowed to know what these skills are?”
“Besides being awesome at killing things?” Jude asks, getting comfortable on the ground and putting his hands behind his head as his eyes shut.
I glare at him for a second, though he’s oblivious since he’s already trying to fall asleep. Instead, I look over at Ezekiel as he rips his shirt off—since he can’t just take it off with the cuffs in the way—and rolls it up like it’s a pillow as he lies down as well.
With his cuffs still binding his wrists, Kai starts doing awkward pushups in the corner, as though he’s trying to tire himself out. No one is going to answer me.
&nb
sp; “Don’t feel bad, spirit girl,” Ezekiel says as his eyes close as well, our special connection severed since that one moment. “They don’t know either.”
“We don’t fully know ourselves,” Kai adds, grunting as he starts adding a hop in on every other push up. “Hence the reason we want the power boost. We figure it’ll open us up more.”
“How do the monsters get out if there’s no way to them?” I ask.
“The same way we got in, Einstein,” Jude retorts. “Escorts. They have the ability to send you anywhere once you’re restrained.”
He lazily lifts his cuffed hands as though I need a reminder, then drops them back down, never opening his eyes. “And they can send you anywhere if you were originally a soul here.”
Gage is studying me, his hand rubbing his jaw as though he’s thinking of something. “You aren’t even reacting to being in hell,” he finally says.
“Five years of talking to yourself when you don’t even know yourself, what you are, or even how you came to be will make you quite impervious to essentially everything. Even the four-dick monster twenty-two cells over if you start that way,” I tell him, gesturing the way I started.
His lips curve into a slow grin.
“Four dicks and only one monster to deal with. Sounds like you’ve found your perfect beast,” Kai says through short breaths.
“Keep being an ass to me. I’m this close to saying fuck you all and hanging out with another fellow I found interesting.” I pinch my fingers really close together for demonstration. “Maybe I’ll help him instead, and leave the four of you in here to turn into something hideous.”
Jude just grins, eyes still closed.
Ezekiel snorts while smirking.
“What?” I prompt.
“We’re not souls in need of a form. We’re not going to turn into anything,” he answers flippantly.
“And we don’t need your help,” Gage adds. “Because you won’t be able to get us out of this one.”
“So why are you so calm?” I ask as I take a seat in the open corner where none of them are.
“Because we’ve gotten ourselves out of some really shitty predicaments in the past,” Ezekiel tells me with a shrug. “It’s amazing what you can do when your survival instincts kick in.”
The way he says it makes it sound like it’s pointed at me. His eyes hold mine for a moment, and it feels like he’s trying to tell me something he’s not supposed to tell me.
When Gage darts a look his way, Ezekiel breaks eye contact with me and closes his eyes. I’m now tempted to go lie down beside him, but the other three would flip out.
Just as Kai starts speaking, I shush him, straining to hear something.
“What?” one of them asks me, but I’m too distracted to know which.
Without thinking too much about it, I take off sprinting through the cells all the way back down to the mystery man that I feel an odd sort of sympathy for.
“I told you it wasn’t me!” he shouts.
“You’re getting a moment with your prince. Be thankful for that,” a guard with a solid black leather mask over his face says. How can he even see?
Whatever is about to happen, I hurry myself over to Mr. Mysterious, hoping it works the same way, and really hoping I don’t get too far out of range from the boys.
A feeling of something powerful flashes through my core the second I touch him, and in less than a blink, we’re standing in what looks like a marble hall.
Glass chandeliers hang above me, and I spin in a circle, taking in all the gold and lavish surroundings.
Mr. Mystery drops to his knees, bowing his head as soon as a familiar face comes around the corner. My breath catches in my throat when I see who is stalking toward us.
Manella.
Chapter 14
My eyes move between them a few times before a sick feeling sinks inside me. This mystery guy is Lamar…
“My prince,” Lamar says, choking back emotion as tears start sliding down his face, but he keeps his head bowed.
Manella turns and looks at the numerous guards behind him. “Privacy. Now.”
They all exchange a look.
“When a dark prince tells you to get the hell out, you turn and walk away. You don’t look around for someone with more authority, because it will cost you a trip to hellfire,” he growls.
They all disappear without missing a beat. Manella’s harsh expression crumples, and he turns, grabbing Lamar by the shoulders and lifting him until he can hug him.
“I didn’t do it, my prince,” Lamar says on a choked sob. “I have no reason to.”
That’s…confusing.
“I know,” Manella says, soothing him as he strokes his hair.
I stare, unable to look away, at the clear devotion and genuine concern etched in Manella’s tired and exhausted face, as though he’s lived days in a tortured nightmare.
He kisses the top of Lamar’s head, and pulls back before saying, “Un Bracco.”
The cuffs fall away, and suddenly Lamar is shoving his hands into Manella’s hair, dragging him down to kiss him the most passionately I’ve ever seen anyone kissed.
I turn away to give them privacy, since this feels far more intimate than anything I’ve ever witnessed the guys do. And I’ve seen them do far more scandalous things than simply kiss.
Since I can still feel the comforting presence of the guys, I’m assuming we’re still in hell, even if this side of hell is a lot more glamorous.
When I hear the kiss break, both of them panting for air, I turn around to see their foreheads pressed together, each clinging to the other.
“You have to run,” Manella says, looking over his shoulder before his eyes meet Lamar’s again.
My heart stutters.
“I can’t,” Lamar says with a sad smile. “They’ll believe I’m guilty then.”
Manella shakes his head. “You don’t understand; someone is in my father’s ear right now. Whatever is going on with the three remaining quads in the group has him on high alert. He’s brought all three sets here to stay hidden in the throat, convinced they’ll all be safe. Someone put that idea into his ever maddening head.”
I take a seat, because this just got good.
I can’t wait until the day I can have popcorn for moments like these.
“Which means someone is setting the quads up to die in here. The guards can’t be trusted, if that’s the case, because they’ll be the only ones able to get in there besides the escorts,” Manella goes on, staring Lamar in the eye. “They’ll come for you too. This is an attack on the family.”
Lamar shakes his head, clasping Manella’s hand. “If I run right now, they’ll know you set me free. Lucifer will believe you’re the one behind all this.”
“He already suspects as much. I have no envy and no greed—he knows this when he’s rational. I pointed out it made no sense for you to stab an elder and not ensure his death while wearing your true form. Why wouldn’t you conceal your identity? I’ve asked all the obvious questions to my father, and still he insists it was you, and no doubt he believes you were acting on my behalf. I’d rather him banish me than allow you to be killed,” Manella continues.
Those are actually good questions. If he could change into anyone, then why wouldn’t he just look like someone else in front of Harold, in the event the elder survived? Especially since he didn’t stick around to see if Harold died.
Another shape shifter would have a lot more to gain by framing Manella, who was already a suspect.
“I have no clue who is doing this, or they’d already be dead,” Manella continues, a growl to his words.
“It doesn’t matter,” Lamar says, his jaw tightening as determination steals his features. “I’ll continue to proclaim my innocence until they silence me. I’ll never let them take you down with me. I’ve already proven I never confessed as they tried to claim I did.”
Manella whispers some words, and a small grouping of words appear on Lamar’s forearm.
“Use that. Get out of here if they come for you. Do not die. That’s a direct order from your prince,” Manella says, clearing his throat as though he’s trying to rein in his emotions.
I bounce out of my seat, seeing the weird words. I’m not sure what language this is, but I hope I can say those words close enough to get the guys out.
Lamar bends, picking up his cuffs and begins putting them back on.
“Say you understand me,” Manella snaps.
Lamar gives him a watery smile.
“My time is up, my prince. I’ll see you soon.”
Before Manella can argue, the doors open, and Lamar disappears, even though another person never comes in here. Well, shit.
That’s not good. How the hell am I supposed to get back to the throat?
Then again, I found the answers to escape, discovered Manella and Lamar look to be getting framed, all in less than ten minutes of being down here. It’s likely I could discover so much more down here if I had more time.
That explains why the guys want access to this area so badly.
The doors slam shut, sealing me inside with Manella. And I watch as the dark prince sags to a chair…and cries. He seems far less evil when he’s a man weeping with a broken heart.
No way would he send his love to go after the guys if the price would be his life. He’s not willing to sacrifice anything so important to him.
Manella stands, slinging a lamp across the room. It passes through me and shatters on the wall at my back. Then he breaks.
He drops to the ground, sobbing so fiercely that it’s impossibly painful to watch. My chest feels like it’s going to cave in on itself just to help bear some of the weight of his misery.
“I’m going to help you too,” I groan aloud, hating myself as I turn to pass through the wall beside me and give him his privacy in this moment.
I can’t believe I’m going to help the son of the devil that my guys are convinced is working against them. I was convinced of it too…until today.
Blowing out a breath, I ignore my own mist of ghostly tears. They’re definitely going to hate me once I defend Manella and Lamar.
Four Psychos (The Dark Side Book 1) Page 10