I stood. Vertigo hit. I shot my arm out to steady myself and knocked over a water glass on the end table.
“Lucy? Are you awake?”
“Oliver?”
He stepped into the large bedroom. But he wasn’t alone.
“What is that Soulhound doing here?”
Oliver approached. “She lives here.”
As I met the beastie’s deep, golden gaze, a blanket of safety enveloped me.
Going off instinct, I held out my hand. The beastie came bounding over, head-butting my palm with her wet nose and pushing me back into the bed.
“Huh, I expected a panic attack over her, not whatever”—he gestured to us—“this weirdness is. Do you know this Soulhound?”
“We’ve met.”
“Oh.” Oliver sank onto the bed. “She’s sweet.” He ran his hands through her shadow fur. “Aren’t you, Rune?”
Rune scooted away from him and plopped down beside me, leaning into my side.
Heavenly Hell, she weighed a lot.
I smirked. “We met when I tried to escape Aspen and Brock.” But the more I thought about it—the size of her, the ebony fur, the way she pushed into my touch—I wondered if that really was the first time I saw her.
“Right, well, if you weren’t all broken and weak, I’d guarantee she’d be snuggled next to me and not you.”
I rolled myeyes, then took in Oliver. Usually, his hair lay like a messy mop atop his head. But now it stuck up in every direction. He’d been stress-scrubbing—a lot.
“Oliver.” My attention drifted to the intricately carved door near the crackling fireplace. “Last time I saw you, I knocked you out while you were under the influence of Magda, and now you’re here, whereverhereis. What have I missed?”
“You’ve been mostly unconscious and healing for a week. And…”
“And?”
Oliver ran a hand through his chaotic hair. “We’re stuck in Hell for the foreseeable future.”
“What?”
He sighed. “After Hell’s general rescued us and your mom, I met the king. He told me it’d be at least another year before the gates opened again. Another year before he could help rescue my sister in exchange for returning you and your mom. So we’re stuck here.”
“No.” There had to be a punchline.
Oliver ran his hands up his face. “We are. One more damned year to add to the ninety-five.”
“No!” I wanted to stand and pace, to shriek, to—to do something! Aspen needed me.
“Trust me, I get it. I’ve done my screaming and might’ve destroyed a few things in the rooms I’m staying in.”
“There has to be a way out!”
I couldn’t let Lilith control Aspen for one more day—let alone another year—and Oliver deserved a chance to findhis sister. She was all he had. He never talked about the angel who fathered him—only her. Thinking about his family reminded me of my own.
“You said my mom’s here?” Dark wood trim framed the painted gothic roses blooming in reds and blacks on the walls. “Where is here, exactly?”
Oliver flopped onto his back, pulling me down with him. “She is, but I’m not sure where. You’ll have to ask the king. We’re in his castle.”
