by Avery Rae
The beast of a demon let out a roar so guttural that I could see his veins popping out from here. As if that wasn't sign enough that I was screwed, he went on to pound his chest so loud that I felt the vibration in my own chest. I knew Berith's faction was filled with warriors, but this . . . was something else. I didn't doubt for a second that he had been an actual warrior in his past life. He came forward then, a murderous glint in his eyes.
He's looking forward to this.
From what I could tell, he was slow, so I had that going for me.
But that was when he started to run.
"Oh, crap," I shouted.
Then I ran in the opposite direction, like any rational person would. The jeers from the crowd started immediately.
"The little girl can't cut it," one said.
Girl?
"Make her scream, Charles," shouted another.
Charles? I stopped in my tracks and turned around to face the charging demon. I wasn't going to run from Charles the Demon. My pride firmly disagreed with that choice. I saw confusion and maybe slight indecision in the warrior's eyes, but he didn't stop.
I braced myself as he barreled into me, but it wasn't enough. He knocked me to the hard ground. I heard a crack, then felt warmth pooling beneath my head, triggering memories of that fateful night. The one that had led to me being in this ring of fire, fighting a demon as four demons as old as time and an audience full of assholes watched me.
I saw a flash of something bright in the darkness of my memory. I saw the hands that took my life—just hands, no weapon. My heart thudded wildly as the demon above me now cocked back a giant fist.
I pushed back against the terror rising inside me and shoved the fractured memories of the night I died aside. I wouldn't die again. I could heal from this. I just had to make it out alive. I had to prove every single one of those bastards in the audience wrong.
Not one to shy away from cheap shots, I jerked a leg up and slammed it between the demon's legs. His fist faltered in the air and spit splashed across my face as he roared in pain. He grabbed me by the throat and held me down, to the crowd's delight, then wound back a meaty arm for a punch again. I clawed at the hand holding me down, leaving deep gouges.
The snake fang was being pressed into my thigh, leaving a long indentation behind. How could I have forgotten? To Charles' confusion, I stopped clawing at his arm. He recovered quickly, smashing a fist dead-center into my face. My face immediately went numb, but I knew from the gush of warm blood that he'd broken my nose—and maybe a few other bones, too.
I still didn't care. As he went in for another punch, I pulled out the fang. I summoned up every ounce of strength I had to kick his large body off me. He landed with a thud beside me and I didn't even bother trying to pin him down. He was the size of three of me. Instead, I pinned down his arm with my entire body, then lifted the fang high.
"No!" Berith cried from the dais. It was too late.
I brought the fang down into his heavily veined arm. The moment I pierced his flesh, those strained veins turned a deadly black. What the hell? I scrambled away from him, slipping along the smooth floor. I watched in horror as the toxic blackness spread through the veins in his chest, face, and legs. His large body convulsed in slow jerks at first, then so rapidly that the sound of his head banging against the ground filled the dead silence of the hall. Then, finally, he went completely still, his veins still as black as night.
I looked toward the dais in horror and saw Lilith staring down at the sight with a smile. She wanted me to kill him. Although I was happy that he wasn't killing me right in that moment, I also felt wrong. I turned away from the sight.
Samael stood on the dais, expression solemn and unmoved. "It looks as if we have a victor."
"She cheated," Berith seethed as she stalked to the edge of the platform, a hand on her sword.
"Berith, come now," Ronove chuckled. "You set her against a thousand-year-old warrior. You can't blame the girl."
"Exactly," Lilith hissed. "You cheated first, you shrieking harpy."
"Shut up, whore, or I'll—"
"How many more warriors will you sacrifice before you learn not to test me, Berith?" Lilith's voice was so icy that it sucked the heat from the air. For the first time since I'd arrived in Hell, I felt a chill. I looked back toward the warrior, my throat thickening when I saw that he hadn't moved an inch.
As they squared off, Samael descended the platform and crossed through the ring of fire. He stooped down, his wings unfurling as if to block me from view as the crowd began to shout wildly. I gratefully took his extended hand and got to my feet, then let him escort me to the entrance. I looked from behind his wings toward the audience, scanning for Gael. My heart sank when I saw he wasn't there.
I wasn't proud of how I had won, nor did I feel all that great about it, but I was at least glad that I hadn't condemned our souls to the pits of fire. Samael led me back to the holding room in complete silence. I turned to thank him, but he was already closing the door, his expression contemplative. I frowned and turned back around just as Gael burst through the other door.
"Where the hell did you get that thing?" he bit out.
"Lilith," I replied with a hint of shame. "She came to me after you left. She said Berith was going to cheat, and she told me that it wouldn't kill him, so I just—I used it."
"Why would you ever trust a demon? Berith isn't the only one that cheats, Prissy," Gael ground out. "They all do."
"Yeah, well, I'm a demon now, too. I wouldn't have beaten him without it, would I?"
Gael went silent for a moment. "Probably not, but you had a chance. And you're not supposed to be like them. Like us."
"Funny, that's not what you were saying a day ago. So, should I have just let him smash my face in some more? Is that it? Should I have just died out there?" Honestly, I was questioning myself just as much as him.
Gael closed his eyes and lowered his head. "You know I didn't want to see you die."
I took a step forward, my jaw clenched tight. "Are you so sure about that? You say you don't hate me, but why else are we here? Don't lie, you're just trying to keep yourself alive at this point. So, congratulations, Lilith saved your life and mine."
His eyes snapped up to meet mine. In the next moment, he grabbed my wrist and pulled me into the hallway. I let him. My heart pounded like mad in my chest as he brought me to his room, slamming the door open and pushing me inside. Chest heaving with each labored breath, I turned around and faced him as he yanked the door shut.
Without pausing, Gael closed the distance between us and seared my lips with a burning, punishing kiss. I bit down on his lower lip, then pushed back against his chest and took several steps back. He ran his tongue along the mark I left behind, eyes narrowed. The challenge I saw there made me ache for him in ways that I shouldn't.
Gael stalked forward and jerked me back against him, an arm locked behind my back. I pushed against him and he tightened his arm, holding me in place. With the other, he held my chin and stole another kiss. I cursed my body for the ache that flared to life. There was something about the constant power struggle in every action and the commanding nature of his kiss that drove me wild. I couldn't get enough. I let out a frustrated growl and pulled him back toward the bed.
We fell in a tangled heap, lips never parting as our hands flew wildly over each other's bodies, touching and taking from each other with relentless force. Needing more, I hooked a leg around his back and flipped him back over, our struggle for control showing no signs of ending. I pulled back, my heated eyes smoldering into his. He curled back his upper lip in a snarl one moment, then ripped my shirt away in the next. He shoved my bra out of the way and eyed my breasts with a hunger unmatched until this moment. He slid his hands behind my back and jerked me in close.
I sank a hand into his hair and hissed from between my teeth as he bit at my breast. He slid his tongue over the marks he left with an aching slowness that forced out a gasping moan, and my hand
gripped his hair tighter. I looked down at him and he flicked his eyes up to meet mine with a knowing smirk.
He moved his hands lower to grip my ass, fingers digging into my flesh as he ground me down against the hard ridge straining his jeans. My breath came out in short gasps as I rolled against him, desperately chasing my release. I couldn't think straight. All I knew was that I needed more. That I needed him.
My hands took on a mind of their own as I freed him from the confines of his dark jeans. As I encircled his hard length with my hand, he groaned against my chest, his breath hot and cool at the same time. The sound of him coming undone by my hand only made my ache that much worse.
He'd had enough, too. He pushed me back down, ripping and tearing any clothing in his way. Scraps of clothes still clung to my body as he splayed my thighs open. He lowered himself to me, eyes hot on mine, anger and desire making them glow ever brighter. In one long stroke, he was deep inside me and our cries echoed back from the high ceiling above.
We moved together with primal ferocity as we greedily, endlessly sought each other out. Even when we found release, it wasn't enough. We were possessed by our need for each other. Our bodies dripped with sweat as they tried and failed to cool our burning skin. It didn't stop us. I wasn't sure what could. The moment I thought I'd had enough, he would look at me, touch me just right, or say something that infuriated me, and we would end up right back at square one.
Me. Him. Kissing, biting, and clawing at each other until we were reduced to nothing but gasps and moans. My mind was a haze, blurred by the sheer intensity of his touch. I couldn't remember when I reached the point where my body gave out. But I could remember thinking how strange it was that Gael held me in his arms as I drifted off to sleep.
14
Priscilla
I was still in Gael's arms when I woke, tucked against his chest. Even as I savored the feeling of his muscle beneath my cheek, I knew I couldn't let myself fall into a false sense of security. There was still so much left unsaid. Never mind that I had two more trials remaining. There was still a chance to fail and doom us both. It was tempting to curl back up against him and sleep eternity away, but I forced myself to unwind my limbs from his. He stirred slightly, but his eyes remained closed.
I swung my bare legs over the side of the bed and stretched as I tried to imagine what my next trial would be like. Would Berith try to sabotage that one as well? It seemed like I was more out of my depth with each day that passed rather than getting more of a clue. But this place had existed since time began, so it made sense it might take me a minute to adjust.
I ran a hand over my shoulder, working out some knots, then frowned and looked down at my stomach. That was when I noticed something odd that I hadn't thought about until now—I'm not hungry. I had been down here for a couple days now and not had a bite to eat. Confused, I shook Gael's shoulder, waking him.
"What's wrong?" he asked in a voice thick with sleep.
"I haven't eaten in three days," I blurted out.
"You can, if you want to."
"But I don't feel hungry."
"Did you forget the part where you're a demon? We don't need to eat to survive. Which is good, because the agriculture down here isn't exactly thriving, you feel me?"
"I suppose that's true. But it's weird to imagine never eating a donut again."
"You can still eat, you just don't need to. You can still get donuts when you go up to Earth to hunt. I know you couldn't survive without them."
"Am I really that easy to figure out? Or did you stalk me or something?" I teased with a laugh. My amusement faded when he didn't respond. In fact, he stiffened slightly.
"Gael?"
"I watched you for a few years."
"Watched me? For years? Why?" I honestly wasn't that weirded out. I mean, yes, it was weird, but that was such an odd choice on his part. "You must've been really bored."
"Your life was everything I had ever wanted for my mom, y'know?"
I furrowed my brow. "You wanted your mom to be stressed out and such a mess that she frustrated her therapist?"
"No, the money. You had it so good. I didn't understand why you were always so angry when you had it all."
"Are you kidding me? I had money, yeah, but nobody in my life gave a shit about me. My parents only ever wanted me to succeed. They didn't care how or what I had to sacrifice, they just wanted something to brag to their friends about. I only ever attracted leeches in all my relationships, friends or otherwise. Money can solve a whole lot of problems, but trust me, it creates new ones of its own."
"How would you know what it's like being without?"
"My parents weren't rich, Gael. I put myself through college. I earned everything I had by myself, but they sure loved to take the credit. They loved to take my money, too." I laughed and shook my head. "I thought to myself, 'I owe them because they raised me.' But the truth was, I raised myself."
He touched a hand to my bare side and traced small circles with his fingers. "My mom was a hardcore Catholic. She'd be pissed if she found out I was here." His voice grew distant. "I worry, y'know, with Heaven being so closed off, what if my mom doesn't make it? She's so good. She did everything she could to raise us kids right. I made sure my brothers and sisters stayed on the straight and narrow while I was stealing, selling drugs, you name it. I just wanted life to be better for her."
"I'm sure she'll get into Heaven."
"I wish I was."
I lay down, my head resting on his stomach, his fingers making me shiver as they traced patterns on my skin. "We're both pretty screwed up, aren't we?"
"Without a doubt."
A comfortable silence drifted between us. For a moment, I could almost pretend that he wasn't the person who condemned me to Hell.
Gael eventually broke the silence, shattering my illusion. "If you're feeling up to it, I'll have you meet with Lucas today. He'll help you get your hound. I need to go speak with Samael anyway."
"I should probably do it as soon as possible. What exactly goes into taming your hound, by the way?"
"It's mostly out of your control, honestly. A hound has to find you worthy of being a hunting partner. They're fiercely loyal, so they're picky about who they choose as their familiar. But don't worry, Lucas is good with the hellhounds. It'll probably be the easiest part of all this."
Easy. I really wasn't a fan of that word anymore.
Gael helped me find the common area once more, then left to speak with Samael about my final trial and the matter of Berith and Lilith's interference. Hopefully he would have some answers when I got back. If I made it back. The more I thought about taming or gaining the approval of a creature like Drina, the less easy it sounded.
Hellhound aside, my stomach was churning at the thought of stepping foot into Hell itself. Despite everything that had happened, it was easy to think that this fortress was all there was to it. But I knew there was more out there. I just hoped it wouldn't kill me.
"You ever had a third-degree burn?" Lucas asked as we made our way to the fortress' entrance.
"I haven't." I flicked my eyes up to look at his smiling face. He seemed a little too happy about this whole thing. "Why?"
"No reason," he replied with a grin.
I took a deep breath as Lucas pushed on the doors, preparing for the worst. The doors swung open and a blast of heat billowed around me. I held a hand in front of my face, then slowly pulled it away as I stepped out into the blinding red light before me.
After basically living in a cave, it took me a moment to adjust my eyes, but when I did, my first thought was that Hell was a lot like I imagined it would look—yet somehow entirely different. The fortress I had been staying in was a massive thing that was built into a mountain. Honestly, it was so big that it was basically the mountain at this point.
As we descended the mountain the fortress was built into, I realized that being in Hell felt a lot like being on another planet. There was even a sky, although it was red and crackling wi
th lightning. There were trees, too, burning with bright flames or with their branches blackened and glowing from the inside like dying embers.
Various creatures scurried about, some almost looking familiar, others not. Those that looked like something from Earth at first glance would be revealed as different in the second. Horns, flames, fangs, wings, extra limbs—there was always something. Lucas watched in amusement as I jumped back from a fanged, winged rabbit that hissed from where it sat in a burning tree.
"How big is this place?"
"Endless, as far as I can tell. It's not exactly the sort of place you want to explore. Only Amberlynn is crazy enough to go out looking for that sort of trouble."
"I could see that."
"Yeah, her life was so bad that Hell is like a vacation for her."
"You really think that?"
"She told me so herself."
I studied him for a quiet moment as we walked. "You all seem so—I don't know—nice. None of you had to help me, but you did. Probably because you want to save Gael, but—"
"I killed people. For cash. I'm no saint, but I'm trying to do my part to be better."
"You were a hitman?" I asked in surprise. He was honestly the nicest of them all. I never would've thought that he was capable of something that horrible.
"Yeah. I only took on hits where I thought the person deserved to die. I was frustrated and angry. Felt like I was watching the world burn with each passing day and I just wanted to take out all the bad I could. Funnily enough, I thought I was out there doing God's work or something." A rueful smile crossed his expression. "Judging by my afterlife status, something tells me Heaven didn't agree."