A horrid scream rent the air.
It was Tyler’s.
I didn’t hesitate. I spun, kicking the door in and bounded through. I knocked several demons out of my way as I blindly followed his voice down one corridor and through another.
The demons would come after me, but I didn’t care. If Lily was true to her word, she’d take up the rear. The demons had already sounded the alarms. There was no way around it. By acting now, I had the element of surprise. It would take the demons time to organize, and if anything, I might be able to exchange myself for Tyler. I just knew I had to stop anything more from happening to him. His cries of anguish were real.
The tunnels I raced through appeared deceptively normal. They mimicked hallways in buildings where humans conducted business. I flew past several demon underlings, each one looking more surprised than the last. I plowed right by them in a blur, moving fast, a haze of red covering my eyes. The new speed I traveled at surprised even me. But I knew it was fueled by terror, thinking I might be too late to save my brother.
My wolf worked overtime as we ran, feeding me power and urging me on.
I made one last turn, following his continued screams, and found several demons standing in front of what appeared to be a door to another “mending room.” These demons didn’t have any beasts with them, but I was too preoccupied with saving my brother to be relieved.
One of them stepped forward and tried to block my path, bringing its hand up. “Halt. You… come with… us,” it said in broken English. “You are… our prisoner… now.”
“I don’t think so,” I growled as I charged forward, spinning at the last moment and catching this particular demon in the chest with my foot. I wished I had my throwing knives for one brief, sorrowful moment.
The demon I’d kicked collided with several others and they sprang apart, crashing around the hallway. They were clearly taken off guard by my hand-to-hand combat. Judging by their surprised expressions they had not expected me to fight. And, luckily for me, these demons were not skilled at all. They must settle everything by trial or magic down here, but it was clear demons were not used to engaging physically.
I used it to my advantage. “Get out of my way!” I yelled, hauling another demon away from the doorway by the scruff of its neck, its jumpsuit tearing as I tossed it behind me with little effort.
Once the door was clear, I brought my leg up, but before I smashed it open, it swung from the inside and an startled demon met my furious gaze. I reached in and grabbed it, throwing it behind me as I made my way in.
“Tyler, oh my gods. No!” I shouted as I raced forward. My brother was strapped to an ugly-looking chair with several demons surrounding him, one of which was in the process of administering something that resembled a giant leech to his neck via some sort of nasty pliers. The black bug whipped back and forth as it headed closer to my brother.
With horror, as I moved farther into the room, I saw there were already several of those things secured to his face.
Tyler was straining, but awake. He was covered in his own blood.
I sprinted forward, swatting demons out of the way with my fists, taking the one with the nasty slug by the shoulders, my claws sinking in. I whipped it around, seething, “What are those?” I shook the demon. “Tell me what you’re doing to him!”
The demon was too stunned to answer so I raised my hand in front of its face, my claws sharp and pointy. “If you don’t spit it out in the next second, I will sever your jugular. And if you don’t have a jugular, I will rip your head off. Now tell me!” I shook it harder.
It stammered, “We… we are applying these to drain his strength.” This one’s English was better.
“What are those leeches doing to him? Specifically?”
“They—” it sputtered.
“Their damage is not lasting,” Lily finished as she grabbed my slug-toting pal and knocking it out in one punch.
She hit it below the belly button. I had to remember that.
The demon went down hard. She picked it up by the neck and walked it to the door, tossing it out and slamming the door behind it. She turned back to address me. “The leeches dampen your brother’s strength or he would be fighting. They have had to keep him very well contained because he is so strong. He will recover as soon as they are all removed.” She stopped and punched something into a code box on the wall. “They will be here with reinforcements very soon. These demons here are like doctors in your world. But the guards will have been alerted now to your location. This was not the best plan, you realize. Now we have no choice but to fight our way out.”
I ignored her and bent down in front of my bleeding brother. I grabbed one of the slugs stuck to his neck and pulled. “Tyler, can you hear me? I’m getting these off of you.” It finally came off, but I had to yank hard.
There was a loud sucking noise, followed by a current of blood. These things had either thinned his blood or inhibited his healing, or both. He should’ve been able to regenerate from the bite instantly, but it wasn’t closing yet.
Tyler grunted and smiled. “Jess, it’s so good to see you.” He reached out and touched my hand, which was positioned right next to his shackled wrist. He was weak, but once he brushed me, our connection sprang to life. Almost like someone had flipped an on switch. It was such a relief to feel him again. “You finally got here. I was beginning to think you weren’t gonna make it.” He closed his eyes.
“What do you mean finally?” I asked him after I’d removed a few more of the disgusting leeches. “It’s only been a few days.”
He shook his head as I reached for another one that was stuck under his shirt collar, and for the first time I noticed he was dressed in a jumpsuit like all the demons.
“No.” His breath hitched as I tugged it off. “It’s been over two months.”
“What?” I leaned back so I could meet his gaze. “You’ve got to be kidding me.” I knew time worked differently here, but that was unsettling. If I’d waited another week would he have been gone almost a year? It was unthinkable.
“I’m not. It’s been a long-ass time,” he replied, trying to smile. “There’s a few more of those goddamn things under my shirt. They make me feel weird and they hurt like—ow.”
I took the wiggling thing in my fingers and dropped it into a jar Lily had just produced. The jar held the ones I’d gathered up and discarded on the cart next to my brother as well. As soon as I’d dropped it in, she screwed the lid on. “What?” My gaze was questioning. “Is it going to jump back out at us?”
“Yes.” She nodded. “In fact it will.”
My eyes widened. They were so sluglike, slow and lethargic in their movements. They didn’t look like they could morph into attack bugs.
“They’re drunk on his supernatural blood.” She nodded toward my brother. “But when it wears off, they will want more. These things”—she rattled the jar and they flopped around—“can jump ten feet, and they have fangs, which is mostly what caused your brother’s discomfort. They sucks power from a supernatural like a vampire bat feeds on blood.”
“Christ,” I muttered as I reached down the front of Tyler’s jumpsuit to get the last embedded bloodsucker.
“Who’s the blonde, mildly scary female?” my brother asked, nodding in Lily’s direction. “I haven’t seen any women so far. I was beginning to think they didn’t exist down here.”
Before I could answer him, the ground shook and there were several screams of terror on the other side of the door. Then a familiar voice echoed in my ears like a slimy oil slick.
“What is the matter with all of you fools?” it boomed. “You let them escape… twice. I will see your deaths for this. Now get them out of that room!”
The Prince of Hell had arrived.
And he was pissed.
“Tyler, meet Lily,” I said. “She’s the Prince of Hell’s concubine… and possibly our only ticket out of this crappy inferno.”
10
“How do we get my
brother out of these cuffs?” I asked Lily. “And how are we going to get by the Prince of Hell when he’s right outside the door?”
Lily hit a button on the wall and Tyler’s restraints popped open. “It will be difficult to get by him, but not impossible.”
Once Tyler was loose, he staggered to stand. He was a big wolf, blond and brawny, with broad shoulders and sky-blue eyes—the only trait we share. I was happy to see his were clearing and his strength was returning.
I placed my hands around his waist to steady him. “Give it a minute,” I urged. “The demoness said those vampire slugs sucked your power dry. It’s going to take a second to regenerate. How long were they on you?”
He ran a hand over his face.
I let him go and tossed him a rag off a nearby cart so he could mop the blood off his facet. “They put the ones on my chest a while ago, but they added more today,” he answered. “I honestly didn’t think you were going to show. It was hard not to lose hope. Every single day here is like a day void of any joy. This place is fucking miserable.”
“Me showing up was never in question. I’d been training for about five days, trying to get ready for what to expect down here, but I ended up triggering the circle too soon. But there really isn’t a way to prepare for this and it’s lucky I came when I did,” I said. “Did they do anything else to you?”
“No, not much,” he answered, “which surprised me. But these guys are total pussies. They can’t fight worth a damn and every time I growled or flashed my teeth, they scurried out of the room. But they did take blood, hair, and tissue samples ad nauseam, however. I’ve been picked over like a lab rat.”
“The reason they feared you is because those who were tending you were only one step away from imp,” Lily said, somewhat impatiently. “True demons do not work, nor do they do menial labor. Powerful demons live on a different level of this city and rarely venture here. This place is like… what do you call it?” She snapped her fingers. “Ah, yes… a labor camp of sorts.”
“Well, that certainly explains why it’s been easier to evade them,” I said. “And why everyone is wearing a similar jumpsuit?”
“The suits are coded per demon rank and have tracking and stunning abilities.” She indicated the sides of Tyler’s suit. “Those metal strips can fell a demon in its tracks.”
“Great.” My brother whistled. “So they can zap me if I try to run?”
She looked at him appraisingly. “Yes, they can, and they will.”
“We’ll have to get it off you pronto,” I told my brother, scouting around for something else in the room for him to wear, but finding nothing.
There was more commotion on the other side of the door and I didn’t really want to think about the Prince of Hell being out there. “Why hasn’t the Prince blown the door off its hinges and come in after us?” I asked.
“Because I am here,” Lily said smugly. “He must wait until his guards arrive. He won’t risk me harming him while he is hunting you.”
I assessed her. “What choices do we have now?” I asked, starting to pace as I ran a hand through my hair. “We have Tyler, so now all we have to do is get to a portal. That can’t be too hard, right?”
For a second I even contemplated taking him back through the Sholls.
It was an ugly second.
“Wrong,” Lily said. “Not with the Prince standing outside waiting for you. He came for you himself.” She gestured at me. “He’s never in this area, except for a high trial. He didn’t even bother to oversee any of my torture.” Her voice held bitterness, but I wasn’t so sure having the Prince of Hell missing your torture was a bad thing. “It’s too late to squeeze by him. The only chance you have is if I can distract him long enough to give you an edge, but he will be expecting it, so whatever I do has to be big.”
“If you fall to the Prince, you forfeit your chance to leave with us,” I commented, appraising her. “I thought escaping this place was your only motivation to help us?”
She shrugged. “It’s a risk I’m willing to take, mostly because I believe there is almost no chance you will succeed and you will need my help later. By my estimations you will be captured and taken to trial. If not, and you manage to escape, I’ve missed my chance.” She raised her palms upward. “But by doing this, I’ve proven to you I am dedicated to your survival and you will owe me for that. Once you are caught, I will aid you again if I am able and after that we will discuss compensation.”
She was right. If she sacrificed herself for our cause I would be indebted to her. “Are you positive there’s no other way out?” I glanced around the room again. “It seems there’s always a hidey-hole in this godforsaken place.”
She shook her head. “Other than that specific mending room we entered, all are sealed in this place. If there were another portal in this building I—of all demons—would know it.”
Tyler interjected, “We don’t need a portal. We can break out of here. These guys are pushovers. If you show us the way out”—he nodded at Lily—“we can fight. It shouldn’t be too hard to overwhelm them. Use your magic against the Prince, and let us do the rest.”
Tyler, can you hear me? I reached out to him via our internal connection. Watch out for Lily, she’s dangerous. My wolf is very leery of her, and no matter how much she tries to convince us she’s on our side, she still hasn’t proven enough to me yet.
Tyler smiled, showing off one of his killer dimples. I can hear you, Sis. But it’s all wavy, like we’re underwater.
His voice sounded strange to me too, coming in and out of pitch. Yes, like radio interference. This place is nuts. But, but we tread lightly with Lily. Agreed?
He nodded once and turned to Lily, sizing her up, glancing back at me. She doesn’t look too dangerous. Her signature is not over the top, but she has a weird look to her.
She’s either cloaking her power or it’s muted, because she’s extremely strong. She’s half witch, half demon, and that may contribute to her “weird” vibe. But whatever she is, she’s fierce and crafty.
His expression turned to one of wonder. I’ve never heard of a half witch, half demon before, but man, that’s a killer magic combination.
It is killer, I said. That’s what she specializes in—killing. Stay clear of her.
Got it. Now let’s get the fuck out of here.
We both turned toward Lily, and found she was studying us. By her expression she knew something was up, not quite what. Her voice held an edge when she said, “We can’t fight our way out. So far, you’ve been dealing with the equivalent of janitors in your world, but the alarms have been sounded and everyone knows you’re here in this very room. There’s no way to sneaking totally out. And once you’re captured”—she nodded to me—“the entire city will tune in to watch. Everyone has been waiting for this day. There is no leaving undetected any longer.”
A rap of knuckles sounded on the door. “Come out, come out, wherever you are.” The Prince’s voice held menace. “There is no escape for you. Any of you. My minions have been lacking, but my full guard has amassed. We have surrounded the building and there is no other hope.” He paused in a gleeful way. “If I have to blow the door in, I risk killing you all and that wouldn’t be any fun, now would it?”
Lily went to the door, the back of her hand gliding along the smooth surface in a swirling motion that could only be defined as a caress. “But, darling, that would be fun—if only you could achieve it. But alas, you cannot. Be truthful now, or it’s not a fair game,” she teased. “And it’s such a shame, because the Prince of Hell should be much stronger than that. Being bested by me always makes you look foolish.”
There was a snarl from behind the door, followed by a rush of orders in Demonish.
“What’s going on?” I asked, moving toward her. “Why can’t the Prince blow in the door? Wouldn’t he just want to be done with this?”
Lily gestured at us with a flick of her wrist. “He can’t blow us up, because I’ve warded the door. Now move be
hind the partition. It won’t be safe in about ten seconds. He’s ordered his ward breaker in—a half demon, half dwarf. That little shit has a gift for decoding magic. Once he breaks the ward, the Prince will indeed blow the door in. Then I will attack. Once I do, race to the right down the hallway and keep going.” She arched a pointed glare at us. “There is a front door if you can find it, but there will be guards everywhere. The only thing that may give you an advantage is if it’s daylight. But according to my internal clock there is still over an hour of darkness left.” She glanced at me pointedly. “If you had waited just one hour, we might have succeeded.”
“I wasn’t going to let my brother die,” I answered her stonily. “You heard what they said.”
“They wouldn’t have killed him.”
“He was screaming.”
“Torture is different from death.” She dismissed me, turning toward Tyler, giving him a sweeping glance. “And he looks to me like he could’ve withstood a hell of a lot more than they gave him.”
“They told me I was going to die,” he growled, backing me up. “They said those bugs would suck me dry, and then they would ‘disassemble’ me. My sister did the right thing. Pack protects each other. That’s what we do. When one is in trouble, the other comes to their aid. We risk our lives for each other daily. It’s called honor.” He crossed his arms, his biceps straining through his ridiculous jumpsuit.
“Well, your little Pack better get ready to spend some quality time in Hell,” she responded in a bored tone, “because the real deal is here. You’ve been in limbo waiting for your sister to come free you, and it’s clear it’s dulled you to the peril you’re actually facing. Once the demon guards bring you to the detaining rooms, the Underworld will be a much different experience, I guarantee it. Now get back behind the minimal protection we have or you may be harmed in the blast. You won’t die, but while you’re regenerating from the nasty damage, you’ll be caught with no chance of escape.”
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