“I do have a stake. I will help you, because you are my only ticket out of this place. Fine, we will make a formal agreement, then,” she said. “I will lead you to your brother, and to freedom, and you will agree to take me along to your human realm when you return.”
“Wait… what… what?” I sputtered. “I can’t agree to bring you home when I have no idea who or what you are. That’s insane.”
“Your brother is slated for execution this eve.” Her voice was stone-cold. “He has been… less than agreeable.” I could hear movement, but it was strange I couldn’t see her. “If you do not free me, all is lost for you and your kin.”
The beasts were right outside the door. Vicious snarls erupted as they began to claw at the material. Multiple demon voices rang out and footsteps were running from all directions.
I couldn’t let Tyler die and there was no way to know if the demoness—if that’s what she was—was telling the truth or not. “I’m not going to agree to bring you back to my plane right now, but I will agree to consider it. And you have to swear to”—what could I say to bind her to me?—“follow my rules with no exceptions as we move forward, and after that we decide from there.”
“I agree to this,” she answered. “But you must swear to give me fair appraisal as I risk my life to help you. My deeds must not be done in vain; as is custom in your realm, it is the same here, all favors in the Underworld are paid in return of equal value. If I save your life, and your brother’s, you will owe me at least one favor of my choosing.”
“I swear,” I agreed. Technically she was right. If she saved my life, I would owe her a life debt. But I could argue the payment, and I could choose to grant it later.
It gave me a small out.
“Now you must hurry, they are almost upon us,” she urged. “Step forward and wave your hand in front of you. The curtain will part to allow you through, and once you are on my side, you will be concealed.”
I took a bold step forward, the snarling and scratching intensifying on the other side of the door. My wolf howled her displeasure at my choice to trust in the unknown, but I ignored her. What other options did we have? My main objective was to find my brother. And getting captured by these demons was not going to achieve that.
I stretched my hand out in front of me as the door crashed open behind me.
6
The texture of the air was strange, like invisible feathers brushing along my fingertips. As the door behind me exploded open, the demoness seized me by the wrist and hurled me behind her in one clean toss.
I crash-landed behind a dresser. At least I think it was a dresser.
Demons stormed into the room I’d just been in, barking orders in a frenzy of guttural voices. I peeked out from behind a shiny metal structure that appeared to hold the prisoner’s belongings. It was light enough to see in here, not like out there. The demoness faced the invisible curtain, watching the demons swarm. It was like looking through a smoky screen.
“They cannot see in here until they part the curtain,” she said, not bothering to turn and face me.
I poked my body up farther. There had to be twenty of them out there. From behind, I could see that the demoness had long blonde hair tinged with metallic green strands. It shimmered slightly as she moved, the green combined with the blond like flowing liquid. I hadn’t thought she’d have blonde hair, or of any demon having blonde hair for that matter, so that was a surprise. I was going to have to refer to her as a her, not an it, because she was so clearly female. I was going to assume she was a demoness until she told me other. She had a curvy figure and delicate hands. I quickly overlooked the fact that she was dressed in a bizarre gray jumpsuit that, at least from the back, appeared to be made of a latex-type material. It wasn’t exactly like what I’d seen the other demons wearing, but similar enough. The shiny material gave her a definite ninja look. Again, I hadn’t been expecting anything like this. The demons were totally surprising me. I’d pictured reptilian horrors, sort of like you’d conjure from all the B movies, half man, half reptile. Instead they were glamoured humans who wore strange jumpsuits. Hardly terrifying at all. My wolf barked, ending on a growl. Well, sort of terrifying in an odd creepy way.
Alarms began to ring as steam shot up through the floor. The invisible curtain must be dropping. I ducked back down behind my small cover.
Immediately the demoness engaged in a violent argument with whoever had broken in to find me. They were all speaking Demonish, so I had no idea what they were saying. I couldn’t see anything from my vantage point, cowering behind the furniture.
All of a sudden there was a huge explosion and the demoness flew back in a shower of sparks. She crashed against the far wall of the cell and fell limply to the ground. There was more yelling, but then, surprisingly, the footsteps retreated.
The demoness lay there, in my sight line, breathing heavily, head down at a strange angle. I had no idea what had happened and I had no idea if I should try to help her. I made a move my wolf snarled, snapping at the air in front of her decisively.
Okay. Fine. Have it your way. We’ll wait. Instead of helping the demoness, I readjusted myself against the cool wall and slid from my crouching position into a sitting position, eyeing her as I made myself more comfortable.
Everything around this place was cold and slippery in the strangest way.
I moved my back in a circle and it slid against the wall like the surface was made of butter. I turned and placed my fingertips against it. What do you think it’s made of? My wolf ignored me in favor of keeping her eye on the demoness. Well, it’s not made from any material we have at home, that’s for sure. There’s no residue, but it feels organic, not artificial.
The demoness made a noise and I turned quickly, watching as she brought her head up. Her features from the front were pristine, very sculpted and angular. She had a long, slim neck and her skin was shiny like the Prince of Hell’s, but there was a marked difference.
She appeared to be more human somehow.
Moaning and in obvious pain, she turned toward me and met my gaze straight on. Good grief, she’s beautiful. My wolf snarled. She was gorgeous in a foreign way—as in, I knew she was beautiful, but I couldn’t explain why.
I extended my power outward, trying to get a better read on her signature.
“Your power feels demonic,” she said as her eyes on mine. “That is very peculiar.”