The current grew stronger, carrying me down river and away from Asmodeus’ throne room to the next unknown layer of Hell.
Chapter Fourteen
Rayven
My lungs burned asthe current rushed me along, but I couldn’t move or swim to the surface. I was trapped, my limbs pinned to my sides as I slowly suffocated.
I couldn’t die like this.
I hadn’t survived Asmodeus’ sexual torture just to accidentally drown.
When there was no air left in my lungs and unconsciousness began to leach from the corners of my mind, something grabbed me by the arm and wrenched me upward.
Before I concerned myself with who or what had hold of me, I gasped and swallowed as much air as I could get into my lungs the second I breached the river’s surface.
I sputtered and coughed, wiping the blood from my face with equally blood-soaked hands.
I was drenched and dripping with death, half-starved and out of my mind, but I was alive.
A few blinks cleared my vision, and I stared up at my savior, who was perched on the river’s bank, looming over me with a curious gleam in his eyes.
Without his masquerade mask, Leviathan's face looked much more serpentine. Pronounced cheekbones curved down to his pointed chin, and his slitted eyes locked on me with unbridled curiosity. His skin was green and snake-like, his scales glimmering like wet stones in the dim lighting.
I immediately snatched my arm from his grip.
“I’m surprised you got away from my brother in one piece,” Leviathan chuckled, reaching down to offer me a hand. “Asmodeus must be losing his touch.”
I shrank away, crossing to the other side of the river. “He definitely lost more than his touch,” I snapped, voice dripping with poison.
My eyes darted past the serpentine demon to observe this new area.
It was another cavern, built straight into some cliff face or another, but this cave had a totally different feel from Asmodeus’. Streams of water dripped down the dark walls like an oil spill, and the steady crash of water in the distance hit my ears. It was exactly the kind of place a snake like Leviathan would call home, but at least it wasn’t covered in blood and littered with body parts. Not to mention, the temperature here was normal, and it smelled vaguely of salt, seaweed, and something entirely unique to this realm, exotic and smokey.
My attention slipped further down the Styx, noting how it stretched into the distance and dissolved into darkness. I couldn’t make out anything that far into the cavern, but I wastempted to keep following the bloody river. Granted, it was taking me farther away from Belial, but the thought of lingering in any of these other realms was enough motivation to keep running.
“You won’t find what you’re looking for down there,” he said, jerking his head in the direction I’d been staring. His snakelike tongue uncurled from his mouth, licking his thin lips before darting back in again. “Come. I can help you.”
“And why the fuck would I believe you, asshole?” I stared at his hand like it might grow fangs and bite me. “How do I know you won’t try to rape or kill me?”
A thin smile split across his face, making him look even more serpent-like. “You don’t. But as the Lord of Lust, it’s kind of Asmodeus’ thing to rape and pillage. The rest of us aren’t such…” He clicked his tongue as he seemed to search for the word. “Brutes.”
I barked a hollow laugh. “Brute? Fuck off. The guy is the straight up devil.”
“We all are,” Leviathan mused. “The Demon Lords of Hell all have their unique ways of showing it. Asmodeus’ is just the least creative.”
My head was spinning as I scrambled to come up with a plan. At first, I thought it was because I was overwhelmed, but then, the cavern began to spin too. I stumbled, my eyes fluttering. After everything I’d done to get here, I was going to pass out and drown in the damn Styx. Leviathan only cocked his head, bemused.
“I…” No words would form. It was too late. I was going down.
I slumped, trying and failing to catch myself on the slick stone wall behind me.
Then, just as Leviathan stepped into the Styx with darkened eyes, everything went black.
I was swaying, rocking slowly back and forth, clutched tightly in the strange safety of Belial’s embrace. He’d removed his mask, his handsome features and scars on full display as he carried me across his bedroom.
“Belial,” I tried to say, but my voice didn’t come.
He laid me on his bed, the familiar ceiling stretched overhead, and smiled down at me. One of his hands danced over my arm, teasing my breasts, dipping lower. I gasped, surprised by the coldness of his touch.
