Hidden Runes

by G. Bailey

  “We can join the line. No one controls this gate, or protects it like the next one,” I tell him. We walk the few steps to the line, slipping in between a gap and walking towards the door. The soul in front of me is an old lady in a long night dress, and her shiny hair is down. She looks so peaceful as she glides along, not even noticing me behind her.

  “Who protects the next gate? Or do I not want to know?” Connor whispers as we walk.

  “The three guard dogs of Hell. They aren’t dogs, but they can turn themselves into massive creatures that look like dogs,” I explain. I haven’t met them myself, though. I only know what Azi has told me. He said they are immortal and bound to the gate, knowing they will die if they try to leave the gate unprotected. He also said they are assholes with appealing faces. And that the appeal was that he wanted to punch them every time they opened their mouths.

  “How are we meant to get past them, exactly?” Connor asks, and I glance at him, expecting to see fear, but he just looks curious.

  “Basically, by having Azi with us. They are forbidden from stopping him, along with anyone he wishes, from going into the third layer,” I explain what I’ve heard. It’s not like anyone asks to go down to Hell, anyway, so I doubt the guard dogs will stop us.

  “Why?” Connor asks.

  “It’s his home. Azi said he and his brothers were born there,” I say quietly, and we finally get to the gate before Connor can ask any more questions. The soul in front of me walks straight into the gold wall like it’s not there, disappearing on the other side. I step through, feeling as if a warm breeze hit me, and smile as I open my eyes to the second layer of Hell. It’s a desert; the snow quickly changing to the open sands. There is a large pyramid in the center of this layer. The gold tip of the pyramid is shining in the sun. The vast distance between us and the pyramid clues me into the fact that's where the next gate is. I look around, seeing nothing else for ages. I know it’s getting dark, and we need to find somewhere to hide before we try to make it to the next gate in the morning.

  “This place is not what I was expecting,” Connor says behind me, and he holds his hand over his eyes as he looks around.

  “We need to find shelter for the night. It should be somewhere the others can find us,” I say, and Connor puts his hand on my shoulder, turning me around.

  “That looks good,” he points at a small section of rocks. One of them is big enough to have a ledge that casts a shadow, and we can use it for a shelter for the night.

  “Let’s go,” I say, walking over to the rocks. I keep an eye out, but there would only be demons here, and most will be near the pyramid. I doubt they will bother us. Souls can’t be in here, they disappear once they go through the gate. We get to the rocks, and I quickly look around to make sure we are safe before relaxing.

  “The blue hair suits you, even wet,” Connor randomly comments, making me turn to him.

  “What is with you and my hair?”

  “It just makes you so very beautiful,” he tells me, making my heart pound. I don’t reply, dropping my bags instead and pulling off my cloak and jacket. I'm left in just a vest shirt that is see through and my leggings. When I turn back to Connor, my mouth goes dry as I trace my eyes over his muscular, toned chest, and the rune name I can see written over his heart. I move my eyes up to his, and I see him staring at me with just as much desire as his eyes sweep down my body. I saunter over, watching him for any hesitance, but he doesn't move away, seemingly frozen to the spot. His rune name just looks like foreign symbols to me, all different marks that make no sense. I place my hand on his chest and lightly begin tracing them with my finger, making his breath hitch.

  “I should push you away,” he whispers as I lock my eyes with his. I smirk, tilting my head up, so our lips are inches apart.

  “You should, but you won’t. It will feel so much better because you know it’s not allowed,” I tease him, brushing my lips against his. He loses control quickly, grabbing my hips and pulling me into his arms as he harshly kisses me. I didn’t expect his kiss to be quite like this. Demanding, harsh, controlling, and utterly amazing. It’s always the quiet ones you should watch out for. He walks me backward, pushing my back against the rock wall, and only breaking away from my lips to kiss down my neck. I open my eyes for only a second and see red ones glaring at me from a few feet away. I don’t stop Connor as he sucks on my neck, in fact, I urge him on a bit. Azi's eyes glow as he storms towards us, and then he grabs Connor, sending him flying away from me into the sand.

  “You. Are. Mine!” Azi growls possessively, stepping into my space and grabbing my arms, pinning them above my head. I could fight him off, but I don’t when I realise how close he is to losing control.

  “Like fuck I am! You’re a cheating bastard!” I seethe, not scared of him one bit.

  “You never let me explain! You just walked away, you left!” he growls right back.

  “I don’t need an explanation, I know what I saw!” I shout back.

  “You don’t know fuck. The woman you walked into the room and saw between my legs was sent as a present from my brother. I didn’t even know she was in my apartment when I walked in and sat down. She practically ran to me as the door was unlocked, and from there, everything happened so fast,” he tells me, and I don’t breathe as I think it through. Could that have happened? I was so angry, so upset that I didn’t give him or her a chance to say anything to me before I called a portal to Hell. “You know what I think? You wanted a reason to run . . . you can’t handle the chance that someone is actually on your side. That someone cares about you, and that you’re not alone anymore.”

  “You really expect me to believe that?” I eventually say, but my voice comes out in a hoarse whisper because I don't want to admit that I might have been wrong. And I hate just how accurate he probably is in his assessment of me. I do run from anyone that gets too close to me. They usually leave or die anyway. I’ve had twenty-five years of experience with people doing that, starting off with my parents who left me. I keep my eyes locked on his, filled with more emotion than I ever wanted to show this demon.

  “I have never lied to you. Never, Vi,” he says firmly before he finally lets me go, stepping away as Connor runs over to us. I spot Trex and Nix walking over the sand hill in the distance, and I know I need to focus on the mission. I have to get the princesses back, so Hali is safe. Nothing else matters.

  “I can’t deal with this, not here and not now. I can only think of Hali; she needs me,” I tell him, trying to clear my head of everything going on between us for now. I hate the fact he can scare me so easily by being truthful.

  “I know, that’s why I’m not pressing you . . . but don’t push me,” he warns.

  “Everything okay, Evie?” Connor asks as he moves closer, wiping sand out of his hair and keeping his eyes on Azi the whole time.

  “Yeah, everything is fine. Azi got the stupid notion that I belong to him somehow, when I don’t. I don’t belong to anyone, and I can do as I damn well please,” I say forcefully, moving away from them all and going to my bag. I look over my shoulder once at Azi, seeing him and Connor watching me as they talk quietly. I shake my head as I look back at my bag. I can’t trust him, I can’t believe him, and I can’t risk thinking about my ex while I’m literally in Hell.

  Twenty

  Evie

  “I see something, everyone get up!” Nix says, from his position as lookout at the front of the rock. I sit up quickly, grabbing a dagger and running to his side. I look to where he is pointing and blow out a sigh of relief as I hold my hand up to pause the others.

  “They are traders, nothing that will bother us,” I say loud enough that the others can hear me. Traders are demons who literally do what their name suggests, they trade. A few years back, a bunch of them decided to try kidnapping humans and trading them to demons here as a new business venture. They were all killed by Protectors, who even had the help of some demons who thought they had gone too far. I’m surprised to even see an
y trader demons alive anymore. These traders must have hidden when everyone went after them. They look like they are trading junk, though, and a lot of it. I look at them when they get closer, noticing they are not good-looking demons at all. They have green skin covered in bumps, with large round stomachs, beady eyes, and long green cloaks on. There are two of them pulling what looks like a couple of stolen supermarket trollies behind them that are overflowing with junk. How they are even getting those carts to move in that sand is beyond me.

  “Why are they coming this way?” Trex asks from just behind me, and I shrug.

  “They will try to trade you things, it’s what they do. They didn’t always trade humans. That was just a few of their kind that were evil, and they were all killed because of the actions of a few. I’m sure you killed many of their families,” I say, patting his arm as I walk past. He glares at me, not liking the truth. “They are harmless and still people–don’t kill them, or I’ll have to kill you myself.”

  “Fine,” Trex growls, going back to the rock, as I put my dagger back in my belt and go to my bag. Digging through my bag, I decide to take stock of my supplies. I have four breakfast bars, three protein bars, and some other random snacks left. I only have two bottles of water, which isn’t the best reserve when we have a hot desert to cross, but it will have to do.

  “I miss bacon already and real meals,” I groan, shoving everything back in the bag and doing it up. At least my bag is lighter now, and I don’t have to carry any arrows. I lost them all in the river, along with my bow. At least I still have my daggers, it’s something.

  “I have bacon rasher crisps. I don’t usually share them, but you look desperate,” Connor says, opening his bag, and going through it as I move to his side. He pulls out the small packet of crisps and hands them to me. I smile as I take them, flashing back to memories of stealing them from shops as a kid.

  “I used to steal these as a kid. There was this little corner shop just outside the demon underground. When I was starving, and my friend couldn’t get me food, these were the easiest and cheapest thing to steal,” I tell Connor, though I don’t really know why I even told him. “I guess it’s why I became obsessed with bacon.”

  “I’m sorry you had a life like that,” he says.

  “Don’t be. I had a friend who was like a sister to me, and a roof over my head. There were demon and human children in far worse places than I was,” I say, knowing from some of the things I saw, I was one of the lucky ones. Kids typically don’t last long on the streets without being sold or killed. I was so lucky to have a guardian, in a way.

  “Who was your friend?” he asks.

  “Hali’s mum, and she died what seems like a long time ago,” I tell him, looking away as he places his hand on my arm.

  “She would be proud of you for protecting her daughter. Maybe one day, you can tell me about her? I would like to know more about her and you,” he says, moving his hand away, not pushing me into an answer.

  “Maybe. Anyway, thanks for these,” I say, practically inhaling the crisps the moment I open them. I look over to see Azi leaning against the wall, still glaring at me like he has been all night. Quickly glancing away, I notice Nix talking to the traders. I watch as he holds his hands up in the air, shaking his head, and I realise that they might not speak English, and he could probably use my help.

  “I’m going to check on Nix,” I tell Connor, standing up, and putting the empty wrapper in my trouser pocket. Connor looks over at Nix and nods at me.

  “I don’t understand you,” Nix is saying when I get closer, and the demons stop talking to him to look at me instead.

  “Artis? Artis?” The demon on the right repeats over and over. His eyes straying to the daggers on Nix’s belt.

  “Non artis. Vos should relinquere,” I tell them, explaining that we don’t want to trade. The one on the right nods, huffing, as they begin to turn around.

  “Hearing you speak Latin is kinda sexy, love,” Nix whispers as the traders start walking away slowly. I hear a little meow, and then I spot the cage in the back of their trolley, underneath some metal rubbish.

  “Is that a tiger?” Nix asks, leaning forward to look.

  “Yeah, and only a baby by the looks of it. Shame it’s down here. Animals like that need to be on Earth and not trapped in Hell,” I say, feeling sorry for it, but there is nothing we can do. Nix looks at me, smiling widely, and then back at the traders.

  “Could we trade for it?” Nix asks, and before I can stop him, he shouts for the traders to come back. “I’m going to trade for it.”

  “What the hell are we going to do with a small tiger where we are going? Other than hope it doesn’t bite us?” I harshly whisper at Nix, who shrugs, pulling a gold dagger from his belt. The trader’s eyes widen when they see the dagger, practically drooling with excitement.

  “The tiger for the dagger,” Nix holds it up, showing them what he means without having to speak Latin. The traders nod happily, watching Nix walk around them, and lift the small metal cage out from beneath the rubbish. The tiger is a baby like we thought, about the size of a small child, and the cage is too small for her or him as it’s squished inside. It has white fur, and black lines around the fur on its face are the only pattern I can see. It’s cute, I’ll admit that, but this is still a bad idea. We are going to have a fight on our hands, and we are trying to rescue three princesses from the depths of Hell. I guess three princesses and a tiger now. That sounds like a fairy tale waiting to be written. The traders quickly snatch the dagger from Nix, and one licks it before putting it in his cloak and walking away. Gross. Connor and Azi walk over, looking at the tiger in the cage, and Connor groans.

  “You bought a tiger. Are you fucking serious?” Connor asks.

  “Another thing to protect, good job,” Azi sarcastically comments, but Nix doesn’t care or even bother replying to them. I look back at the rocks to see Trex sitting on them, watching us, and he doesn’t appear impressed. I almost want to shout that I had nothing to do with this, just so I don’t have to hear his lecture. He is definitely going to have a lecture waiting.

  “Let’s get you out, little girl,” Nix coos and puts the cage on the floor, opening the locked door.

  “Girl? How do you know?” Connor asks as we watch the tiger come out of the cage, stepping on the sand cautiously and watching us all.

  “Just a guess, but she is too pretty to be a boy,” Nix shrugs. The tiger is looking directly at me as Nix talks, and suddenly, she starts to run towards me. At the last second, she jumps, landing straight in my arms. She immediately starts licking my face. When I pull away, she starts to whine, so I hold her close again.

  “She likes you,” Connor chuckles as I try to get the tiger to stop licking my chin.

  “Can you blame her?” Nix grins, and I roll my eyes at him before I look down at her as she begins to settle. I notice she has a collar on when she turns her head to lie on my arm, and I spin it around until I see the tag.

  “She must have had an owner, she has a tag. Her name is Star, apparently,” I tell them, and they all step closer to inspect the tag. There isn’t anything else on it, other than the name. The collar looks expensive though, with silver stars embedded into the black leather.

  “Maybe I should catch up to them and find out where they stole her from,” I say, looking around, but I can’t see the traders anymore; they are long gone. “Or maybe not.”

  “They are likely dead, which means you will have to look after her,” Nix says, folding his arms. “Think of it as a present.”

  “Er, nope. I don’t do pets, or cute animal sidekicks like heroes have in movies. I’m not the hero here, buddy,” I say, making them all chuckle as I scowl at them. I try to put Star in Nix’s arms, but she cries, crawling on my chest and scratching me.

  “Alright! Fine!” I say, glaring at the stupidly cute animal, and walking back to the rocks. Trex just raises his eyebrows at me.

  “Don’t say a word. Not one word,” I warn
him, opening my bag and looking down at Star.

  “I will carry you, but you have to go in the bag in case I need to fight. Do you understand?” I ask, and then realise I’m talking to a tiger who can’t answer me. I’m surprised when she doesn’t fight me as I place her in my bag and do up the sides a little bit to hold her in. She puts her paws out, tilting her head as she looks up at me with a happy expression. I don’t know how to explain that I know she is happy, she just looks it. I would let her walk, but the sand is deep, and we don’t have any kind of lead.

  “Here,” Trex kneels down next to me, offering Star a stick of jerky. She jumps and snatches it out of his hand, lying down in the bag to chew it.

  “Thanks,” I say, for Star. “Didn’t know you had a kind side.”

  “I wouldn’t want her to starve, that’s all,” he grumbles at me and stands up, walking away to grab his bag. I lift my bag on my back, trying not to swear at how heavy Star makes it now.

  “Let’s go,” I say, walking straight towards the pyramid, with a purring, cute tiger as a new friend.

  Twenty-One

  Evie

  “Why do demons end up with so many blondes in Hell?” Connor asks, and I raise my eyebrows at him.

  “Not another bad joke. You really aren’t going to make me laugh by telling me these. Hasn’t the last half an hour taught you anything?” I say, and he laughs.

  “Nope. And the answer is . . . because they’re so hot! Get it,” he knocks my shoulder, and I just shake my head at him. “Okay, okay. What do I need to do to make you laugh, then?” he asks me.