The Eighth Circle - Past
Living in the Eighth Circle was a nightmare I could never wake up from. The chaos and brutality of it all were my normal.
After all, this was home to only the evilest of demons and human souls.How I ended up here, who knows. At least it had made me strong.
Nothing could break me.
But it seemed this new king was going to try.
I thought nothing could scare me anymore. But there wasn’t a damn thing that could have prepared me for the wave of sickening horror that crashed down over me like an avalanche of crumbling stone.
I stared at the finger summoning me.
Come here.
His order echoed in my ear, again and again. Then, in my other ear, the voice of my demon.
Run.
No, I couldn’t.
I stood in the middle of a crowd of thousands. I wouldn’t make it out of here. Maybe if I shifted, I could fly away, but then I’d be leaving my pregnant sister behind. They would punish her instead for her sister dishonoring the king. I wouldn’t do that to her.
My mind had launched into a panicked gallop.
Why me? Maybe I was resistant to the crown’s power but wasn’t it more likely that I just had slow reflexes? Why would he want a slow female who preferred to appear in her weaker form?
But all eyes were on me, and the only one who looked at me with pity was Nyx. The rest regarded me with a mixture of jealousy and anger for my hesitation.
My sister was as white as a sheet. “You can run. Don’t worry about me.”
She knew before the words were out of her mouth that I’d already decided to hold my ground. Even if she wasn’t pregnant, even if she could escape with me, there were some here who knew our home was in the caverns beneath Devil’s Head Mountain. They’d come for us, and they’d make us pay for insulting the king.
Urging my feet to move forward felt like what I imagined wading through the Mire of Gluttons on the Third Circle to be like.
The demon spirit inside me was resistant, but she seemed to understand that running would only make things worse.
I know I’m not very kind to you, I said to my beast inside.You probably think I resent you. But please. Protect me in this moment, if you can.
There was a beat of silence. Then she answered.
“Always.”
Steeling my nerves, I pushed my way forward, making my way around the cliff where the magma had sloped and cooled, creating a bridge.
I could feel everyone’s eyes on me, but his were the heaviest of all. Their intent curiosity made me burn, and I wished in that moment I would. That I would turn to ash and blow away on the wind.
But right now, I’d count that as a miracle. And miracles didn’t happen in the Eighth Circle.
As I approached the archdemon, my skin began to prickle, and my breaths went sharp. The air was thick with his power. It was almost like there was less oxygen in his vicinity. Like his intensity smothered all chance of possible life anywhere in his proximity.
My stomach flipped when I lifted my eyes and found my gaze locked with Abaddon’s.
He was even more striking in person. Almost handsome, if it wasn’t for the blood of the guard spattering his steely flesh. My attention briefly dropped to the headless body.
Was this how it was supposed to be? Was he really about to claim me in front of all these monsters, covered in gore, with a dead man not a few feet away?
“Focus,don’t let him see your fear.”
