“Well, that was all quite a little show there. I enjoyed it immensely. It's not every day that I get to watch a porno. Very hot by the way. I might jack off to it later.”
Death took a step forward and growled at him, but I put my hand on his arm, preventing him from going any farther.
“It's okay. I'm sure you need the entertainment with that shriveled up thing you’ve got between your legs,” I taunted out with a smirk as I stuck my tongue out at him.
Bel's eyes narrowed at me before we both started to laugh at each other, then I took a few steps forward to give him a hug. He squeezed me hard and I smiled.
He pulled me back, looking in my eyes. “Wow, so it's true.”
I slipped out of his arms as I nodded. “If you already heard that, I'm sure you know what I'm looking to do?”
He smiled widely and nodded as he put his arm out like a gentleman. “Your chariot awaits.” He stuck out his butt to the guys as he threw his voice over his shoulder, “Baggage gets to hold the caboose.”
We both snickered at his joke, and the guys all grumbled about how that was not happening and touched his shoulders before he winked us.
We knew the second we got to Wrath’s circle gate because the temperature was already swelteringly hot. It instantly made my mouth parched. I looked at Bel, raising an eyebrow, asking him what I should expect without saying a word. Sathanas was always hard to predict. He was ruled by his emotions, and sometimes he was level-headed and other times… he was not.
Bel looked over the wall with a small smile as he sniffed the air. “Smells like he just got done with a mock war, so you might be in luck. What are you going to do about Levi?”
I gazed over at the guys, who were all preoccupied with the soul-head-wall of wailers and traitors that surrounded the Wrath circle. “Are you going to talk like a gossiping ninny?”
He snorted. “Naw, but I am curious. He didn't do so good when you left. He also tried to wage war against Mod and me for helping you.”
My eyes shot to his, angry on their behalf. It wasn’t their fault.
He rubbed my head like I was a kid. “Don't worry about us. We can take care of ourselves, and we both love you so it was worth it, but I worry what he might do if you suddenly show up with four mates to shove in his face.” His concern bled through his words, and it made me wince.
“That's why I'm planning to take a shortcut. One of the mirrors ends up right in front of the mansion, and then I don't have to travel through Pride.” I was sure that this plan would work.
“I wish you the best, Lil. Remember, you’ve always got a big brother in Envy.” He winked at me as he disappeared back into his circle, leaving me to deal with Sath.
As we walked into Wrath, there was a distinct smell of copper and sweat in the air. For normal people, that would be disgusting, might make them gag, but for me, it smelled like excitement and victory.
The guys looked around at the river that ran red with blood, and the souls that were in little skirmishes all around us, using weapons, hands, teeth, whatever they could use to win.
I could tell that War was being affected by the atmosphere, and I couldn't blame him. My Wrath magic was itching underneath my skin, vibrating to be let out to join in on the fun.
War watched one of the souls lift another above his head, then it cracked its spine in half and threw the flopping body into the river. He watched a few more victorious souls doing the same, then he looked at me.
“Winners throw defeated souls into the river for regeneration. It takes the soul and revives it, but the river takes something as payment. It could be a limb, it could be an eye, it could even be their bladder, but it takes something from you every revival. If you win, you can earn something back.”
War's leg was shaking, and I could tell that he wanted to run into the fray, so I decided to tell him the end of the story. “If you lose so much that you don't have anything left to give, then you get ground up and put into the soil.”
They all looked down at the ground beneath their feet.
“If you get close to it, you can hear their screams, begging to be made whole again.”
They all looked like they wanted to put their ears to the ground but were nervous to do so.
“I'm going to speed this up, okay. Just let me handle this.” I took a few steps away from the guys, looked up into the sky, and belted out, “Sath! Come out, come out wherever you are, you big old bastard!”
All of a sudden, the land shook, and those who had been fighting near us scattered. In a blink of an eye, Sathanas, the Prince of Wrath, appeared in front of me with his flaming red hair and wearing only a loincloth. He eyed me up and down.
“Welcome, Queen of Hell, how can I help you?” His voice boomed so loudly that the rocks shook.
I smiled as I looked him up and down like I was sizing him up.
“Great Prince of Wrath, I need you to help me and my mates across your lands safely.” I motioned to the men at my back but didn't take my eyes off him.
