I should tell Corson to put me down again. I shouldn’t be relying on a demon to save me, but I couldn’t run as fast as he could, and I definitely couldn’t outrun the snake breathing down our necks. I didn’t have so much pride I would put it ahead of my life. Mine may not be the greatest of lives—it was often difficult, terrifying, and bloody—but I far preferred it to the alternative of not having it.
The part of me clinging to my pride was muzzled by the far larger part of me trying not to slap Corson’s shoulders and yell at him to go faster.
When the ouro hissed again, its breath blew the loose strands of my hair back from my face and nearly set my gag reflex off. Then, something slithered against my face. I yelped before I could bite my lip to suppress it. Bile rushed up my throat when the ouro’s hideous, wet tongue stroked my cheek again. Then, the tongue either retracted or Corson sped beyond its reach.
“Faster,” I breathed, and Corson grunted a reply.
For all I knew, we were running into a dead end, but I was willing to take that chance. Corson’s arms tightened around my waist as he spun suddenly to the side. Unprepared for the movement, my head snapped sideways, and my neck screamed in protest.
I lowered my head and rested my chin on his shoulder as he ran down what I assumed was another tunnel. His lean muscles flexed against me; his arms held me as if he would never let go while his long legs effortlessly ate away the ground. Air whipped around me and whistled past my ears as he ran deeper and deeper into the earth. I’d been trying to keep track of our steps and turns, but that was all lost now as I held Corson tighter.
A monstrous Hell creature was on our asses, and somehow I felt inexplicably safe clutched in his arms. He wouldn’t let anything happen to me. I didn’t know how I knew that, but once it rooted in my mind, it wouldn’t let go. Releasing me to save himself would be the smart thing to do, the thing most likely to keep him alive. I would have done it to him, but Corson would keep me safe.
Would I have done it to him?
I’d done some pretty shitty things to ensure I’d lived this long. I’d killed other humans—they had deserved to die, but their blood still stained my hands—but I’d never left an ally behind or abandoned them to save myself. I’d been tempted to leave a few behind over the years because they were weak or assholes, yet I’d always stayed by their side. I’d nearly died a time or two because of it.
Now I realized that, demon or not, I wouldn’t have left Corson behind either. It was one thing to save my skin; it was another to have to live with the knowledge that I’d sacrificed another to live. I never could have lived with that knowledge.
A loud crash sounded from behind us. The walls quaked, and the debris falling from above clattered against the ground at a faster rate. I threw my arms up to protect Corson and me from the rubble raining down on us. I’d prefer being buried alive to being devoured by an ouro-what’s-it-called, but they were two of the worst possible ways I could think of to go.
I turned my face into Corson’s neck as more rocks pelted off my arms. The musky scent of him filled my nose; beneath that I smelled the faint hint of fire. I realized that Hell was forever stamped upon his skin, branding him as the demon he was. Before, such a reminder would have caused loathing to coil within me. Now I felt relief that this demon was carrying me away from our enemy.
When the debris stopped falling, I lowered my arms and gripped his shoulders once more. I was no lightweight, but he showed no signs of tiring. One of his arms remained locked around my waist as his other hand slid up to grip my neck.
The possessive hold made me acutely aware of how close we were to each other. The increased scent of him battered my senses as his lean muscles flexed against me and I felt the power flowing through him. For the first time in my life, I found myself experiencing an intense sexual attraction to someone, and it was a demon.
I’d hit my head when we fell into the ouro’s trap, or I’d completely lost the last bit of my sanity.
Now was not the time for this, yet I found myself fighting the impulse to turn my mouth into his neck. To run my tongue over his skin and taste his fire-scented flesh as I pressed my breasts more firmly against his chest.
You’re an idiot!
Yes, I was, but my hands had a mind of their own as they flattened against his back. I full-on deserved to be eaten for my stupidity right now, but I still slid my hands a little lower to run them over his shoulder blades. The rapid beat of my heart was no longer just from the creature pursuing us.
Corson skidded to a halt, pebbles kicked away from him and clattered against something solid. I felt like I’d jumped into a lake in the middle of January as all my desire turned to icy dread.
A wall! There is a wall before us! Dead end. In more ways than one! I almost laughed bitterly at my own bad joke, but I couldn’t get enough saliva into my mouth to make a sound.
Sweat beaded my palms as I held Corson and gazed into the blackness before me. The rattling had ceased, and no vibrations shook the tunnel. Lying inside a coffin couldn’t be worse than the awful hush that encompassed the tunnel. Then, I felt the smallest stirring of air to my right.
Corson pushed me off him like I was on fire. Unprepared for the abrupt movement, my legs couldn’t catch me in time, and I hit the ground with a thud. My tailbone shrieked in protest, and the air burst out of my lungs.
Scuffling sounded, that awful hiss filled the air, then more rattles went off as I struggled to inhale air into my non-working lungs. Corson grunted; something solid thwacked against something else. Feeling my way across the stone lining the cold ground, I crept back, or at least I assumed I was edging away from the noises. The dark had robbed me of all sense of direction.
I would have given anything for a match, for a chance to see something if only for the briefest of seconds. What is happening? Where is Corson?
Another hiss followed a wet thwacking noise. All at once, numerous rattles went off. I resisted clapping my hands over my ears to dampen the deafening sound while the rattles reverberated all around me. More dirt and rocks fell from the ceiling; they pelted my shoulders and legs as I continued to crab crawl toward… something.
My back hit a wall, and I slid up it as I finally succeeded in inhaling completely again. My hand fell to the gun hanging at my waist. My fingers closed around the handle and froze. I didn’t dare pull it free and start firing when I had no idea where Corson was. I couldn’t take the risk of injuring him. The bullets wouldn’t kill him, but they would slow him down when he needed his speed most. However, I couldn’t stand here and do nothing.
Flesh split open with a wet tearing sound I’d heard more than a few times in my life. Demons had a way of ripping people to shreds before tossing them aside as if they were no more than the dolls I’d flung aside as a child. The coppery tang of blood permeated the air. Something or someone had been sliced open. I wanted to scream, not with fear, but with frustration as numerous rattles went off.
Is Corson okay?
My blood thundered through my ears at the possibility it was his blood I smelled and that the ouro could be gulping down bits and pieces of him right now. I opened my mouth to call out to him, but I didn’t dare risk distracting him or revealing my location to the ouro. The snake didn’t seem to have as much of a problem navigating this dark underworld as we did, but right now I didn’t think it knew where I was. That small element of surprise was all Corson and I had going for us right now.
Don’t snakes hunt by heat sensors or something? I didn’t remember where I’d heard that before, probably from Randy, but it would make sense if this thing had pursued us with such ease. That also meant there would be no surprise and this thing already knew where I stood.
The rattles abruptly stopped, and then a loud crash echoed through the tunnel. The ground heaved; the wall behind my back quaked. My stomach dropped when rocks and dirt plummeted from the ceiling at a far faster rate. The weight of the debris bore down on my toes as it crept toward my ankles.
&nb
sp; I’m about to be buried alive!
All the hair on my arms rose as I waited for the battle to continue or for something more than the rubble to keep piling up around me. “Corson?” I dared to whisper when the debris reached my ankles.
I nearly shrieked when a hand fell on my shoulder. “It’s okay,” he murmured. “We have to get out of here.”
“No shit,” I retorted and immediately regretted being bitchy when he’d saved my life.
He chuckled, and his hand squeezed my shoulder. Before I could try to pull myself free from the rubble rising up my calves, he rested his hands on my hips to lift me. The dirt clutched at me, refusing to let go as Corson tugged at me.
The unsettling thought that it wasn’t only the rising debris keeping me in place, but a hand had risen from the grave to drag me into Hell, hit me. I imagined the dead, gray skin of the hand flaking away as it tugged at me with inhuman strength, refusing to release me. The dead coming to life, and hands rising from graves wasn’t impossible after everything else I’d seen and experienced over the years.
With a sucking noise, Corson finally succeeded in wrenching me from death’s grip. He carried me through the hailstorm of rubble cascading over us and into what I assumed was another tunnel. This one was blessedly clear of a collapsing ceiling.
He set me down, and I stepped away from him to wipe the dirt from my hair and clothes. When I was done with that, I took a minute to stabilize my shaking hands. Slowly, above the muted noise of the collapsing tunnel, a dripping sound pierced my ringing ears.
“What happened?” I whispered when I felt stable enough to speak again.
“To escape me, the ouro punched a new hole into the ceiling of the tunnel.”
I realized he’d moved and that I was facing away from him when he spoke. I turned toward his voice as his words settled in. That thing had fled him? I’d seen Corson kill, witnessed his ruthlessness, but now I knew I’d only glimpsed what he was truly capable of doing.
“Are you hurt?” I asked.
He’d moved closer so that his breath warmed my ear. My heartbeat escalated in response to his nearness. The memory of being held close to him earlier rippled across my mind. What would it be like if he turned his head, so his lips touched my skin?
“Nothing serious,” he murmured. “Are you okay?”
I edged away to put some distance between us again. He was a demon, and sexual attraction or not, nothing could ever happen between us.
“Fine. What is that dripping noise?” I inquired when I heard a plop again.
“Ouroboros blood,” Corson replied. “I’m pretty sure I eviscerated it while it was fleeing.”
Sexy. I wasn’t sure if the thought was as sarcastic as I’d meant it to be though, or if I did find it sexy. Corson was a warrior, and there was something unbelievably sexy about that, but eviscerated snakes weren’t exactly a turn-on.
Then why am I still wondering what it would be like to feel his lips on me? Because my brain had bounced off my skull more than a few times when we’d tumbled into the ouro’s trap, I decided. That had to be the reason.
“We should go,” Corson said. “The ouro will take some time to heal, but it will come back for us, and it will be more vengeful when it does.”
“Where are we?”
“I have no idea anymore.”
Chapter Nine
Corson
I assumed I’d be relieved to see light again. Instead, my steps slowed and my hand went out to stop Wren when she strode forward as if she were going to stalk straight into the light and announce her presence. She shot me an irritated look and went to shove my arm down. Leaning over her, I sank my talons into the wall on the other side of her to plant my arm before her.
The green flecks in her eyes shot fire at me. I didn’t doubt she’d happily slice my arm off if she could have. Her breasts rose and fell with her breaths, bringing them into contact with my forearm. Despite her torn, soiled shirt and the dirt streaking her cheeks and forehead, she was still undeniably enticing.
My eyes fell briefly to her pursed lips before rising to meet her gaze again. “We have no idea what is up there.”
“I know that, demon.”
My teeth ground together. “My name is Corson,” I grated. “And I suggest using it since I just saved your fucking life.”
Her mouth dropped. Before she could reply, I tore my talons from the wall and stepped away from her. I didn’t look back as I proceeded cautiously down the widening tunnel toward the orange glow ahead. I had no idea what was causing the light, or why it would be in the convoluted maze the ouro had burrowed through the dirt.
Ten feet away from the end of the passageway, I crouched until my ass brushed against the heels of my boots. I studied the glow illuminating the earthen walls of what appeared to be a large cavern before us. Craning my head, I couldn’t see past the tunnel enough to discover the top or bottom of the cavern. When I sniffed at the air, I inhaled the damp odor of the earth, the woodsy scent of Wren, and the musky aroma of sex.
My brow furrowed at the final scent. I rested my fingers on the ground, as the distant sounds of flesh slapping against flesh reached me. I had no idea what was going on, but though sex was usually harmless enough, my instincts disagreed.
Wren knelt at my side as a laugh floated up from below and someone released an erotic moan. Neither things sounded menacing, but whatever lay ahead was intimidating enough to keep the ouro away, which meant it was something Wren shouldn’t be anywhere near. She was stronger and more lethal than many humans, but whatever lay down there would destroy her.
I couldn’t retreat from here without knowing what it was though.
“Stay here,” I whispered to her.
She opened her mouth to protest before closing it again. I took that as a sign she would remain, but I doubted it. I’d have to get up there, see what lay below, and return to her before she could move any closer to it.
Creeping forward, I stayed low as I approached the end of the tunnel. I settled before the edge, rested my hand on the wall, and leaned forward to peer into the cavern below. My brow furrowed when I caught sight of the creatures gathered there.
At first, I didn’t recognize what they were as I’d only seen them once before. At the time, they’d been floating by me while I ran out of Hell. Then, their striking faces were tilted back as they gazed toward the surface. Now, they lay on thick red pillows, laughing as they watched a young couple having sex on top of one of those pillows.
A female jinn prowled around the couple, smiling as she ran her hand between her breasts before cupping one of them. Color rose in her cheeks; ecstasy flooded her face as she slid her other hand between her legs. While the jinn pleasured herself in rhythm to the couple, tears streaked the woman’s cheeks and the man’s flushed face twisted in agony.
Sweat dripped from the man’s forehead and onto the woman’s breast. Blood soaked his back from where the woman’s nails repeatedly raked his flesh. Then, the man threw his head back and cried out as if he were climaxing, but his hips kept plunging forward, and the woman kept clutching at him.
I didn’t know what the couple had wished for, but I doubted it was anything close to this macabre act the jinn had twisted it into becoming. I suspected these two unfortunate humans would be screwing until they died.
Wren arrived at my side as I set my foot back to return to her. Any annoyance I felt over her taking a risk by coming closer vanished when her hand flew to her mouth. The fires the jinn had created with their powers danced over the cavern walls. The flames illuminated her sun-kissed skin and the revulsion in her blue eyes. She shouldn’t be anywhere near this.
Grabbing her hand, I held it firmly in mine as I gave it a small tug and tiptoed back. Instead of trying to tear free of me, or telling me not to touch her, she held on as I maneuvered her away from the jinn.
“What was that?” she whispered when we were far enough away that her voice wouldn’t carry back to them.
“Jinn, or gen
ies as they’re better known to humans,” I explained.
She looked like I’d just socked her in the stomach as she glanced over her shoulder at the cavern. “Do they grant wishes?”
“Yes. The jinn usually aren’t fighters, but they’re manipulative, and the wishes they grant often turn into nightmares. They have a way of getting others to make wishes without realizing they’re making them.”
“Is that what’s happening with the couple?” she inquired. “Is it a wish gone wrong?”
“Most likely.”
“We have to help those people.”
“They made their bed, and they’re lying it in—in more ways than one. The two of us cannot take on a cavern full of jinn. Whatever you do, don’t wish for anything while we’re in here. I have no experience dealing with the jinn, but I do know they aren’t brought forth by rubbing a lamp.”
Wren’s breath sucked in, and whether she realized it or not, she moved closer to me. “Are you saying if we think a wish, they could come to us?”
“I don’t know, but I’m not willing to take the chance.”
“Neither am I,” she murmured and glanced over her shoulder again.
I pulled her back, flattening her against the wall and pinning her there with my body as something shifted in the shadows before me. Wren’s fingers rested on my arm; she leaned to the side to peer around me as the ouro emerged from a side tunnel fifty feet in front of us. The serpent cut across the chamber we stood in before entering another tunnel.
Wren stopped breathing when the ouro continued to slither endlessly onward. Its smaller tails rose to stand out from its sides and back, but they bent down again before they slid into the other tunnel. The extra tails seemed to help propel the ouro as it sped onward.
When none of the rattles went off, I realized the ouro didn’t know we were here, or it didn’t want to attract the attention of the jinn. Wren’s hand tightened around my arm before going to the gun at her side.
I rested my hand on hers before she could pull it free. Not only would her gun not kill the ouro, but it would attract the jinn and alert the ouro to our presence if it didn’t already know about it.
Hell on Earth (Hell on Earth, Book 1) (Hell on Earth Series) Page 5