A few feet to my left, I spotted him—and my stomach dropped.
Steam poured off his tattered body as rain pelted down on us. He was nude, skin scorched with burn marks, his entire form trembling from the aftermath.
“Barron!”
Idiot.
I ran toward my brother, heart pounding. Heaven might’ve thrown him back, but at least it let him live.
Chapter Fourteen
Kara
Hell was a damn maze.
I ran and ran—always ending up in the same room with the cell. No matter the direction, I circled back here. Again and again. It had to be the Dark One’s main room. His home, maybe.
He said there was no escape—then forbade me to try.
Which meant there had to be a way.
I just had to find it.
A sharp cramp stabbed my stomach, and I stumbled, clutching my side. The hunger was back, growing worse by the minute. I pushed forward, forcing myself through the shadows.
Another flicker of light peeked from under a familiar door. I approached, heart sinking. The same damn fireplace. The long table. The desk. The cell.
I turned on my heel, veering left into the cold dark.
I’d already searched every direction—but what else was I supposed to do? There had to be something beyond this endless bleakness. At least the bodies were gone. No more hanging chains or corpses on meat hooks. Guess he didn’t see the need to scare me anymore.
Not until he realized what I was up to.
I’d wear myself out before that happened. Or, more likely, gluttony would get to me first.
The hunger pangs came back, brutal and fast. The Devil had to be far away again. My curse didn’t like that. Another sharp pain curled through me and I doubled over, clutching my abdomen as a scream ripped from my throat.
It felt like my own bones were closing in, trying to crush me from the inside. My neck. My chest. My gut. Everything hollowed out and raw.
I wouldn’t last much longer.
This was the longest I’d gone without food since I was cursed, but it hadn’t mattered with the Devil nearby. His presence dulled the hunger.
With him gone?
That was a different story.
How long had it been? Forty-five minutes? An hour?
Oh, Hades.
Maybe more.
I’d never resisted my curse for so long before. I didn’t know what would happen when I denied it for too long—but now I did.
Pain racked every inch of my body so deeply that fear couldn’t even reach me.
There was only agony.
