The memories rushed in. The image of a long tail whipping toward her had her sucking in a breath.
The scorpion.Just like in her dreams. But it hadn’t been an arachnid. The barbed and segmented tail belonged to the eyes and the horns of a …
Demon.
A fucking demon had taken her.
But of course it was a demon. This was what her dreams had been warning her about. This was the cause of the dread she’d been carrying around for weeks. She’d chastised herself endlessly for her paranoia, but it seemed she’d been well justified.
Not that being paranoid had helped. The owner of thosebloodshot eyes had found her nonetheless, and now, here she was—
Wherewas she?
She patted her pockets, not surprised to find her phone and keys gone. And she’d lost her knife earlier when she’d stabbed the demon—which hadn’t made any difference, unfortunately. She touched the sore spot on her neck, feeling the two puncture wounds.
The room around her was square, all made of the same black rock, rough and unpolished. The only interruption in the stone was in the left corner—a small doorway was cut into the wall, covered by thick steel bars.
Opposite the door was a bucket with a lid. Was that supposed to be a crude toilet? The air had a stale, sour smell, with hints of sulfur, and she sensed she was underground. The only source of light came from a torch mounted on the wall outside the cell.
She was in some sort of archaic dungeon. A demon had taken her through a hellgate, and based on her surroundings, she could only conclude …
She was in Hell.
Heart suddenly slamming against her ribs, she lurched unsteadily to her feet, pressing her spine against the wall and staring at her cramped surroundings.
She was in fuckingHell. She was a living, breathing human in Hell. She was so fucking screwed.
But what use did she have to a demon? She was a blood-born witch, which meant he could kill her without consequence from Heaven. So if he’d just wanted to mess with her, why not do that? And if he’d been out for witches in particular, why focus on her specifically?
He’d been stalking her for over two weeks—there was no doubt in her mind that the demon who’d taken her was her neighborhood park creep—so he’d obviously been afterher.This hadn’t been a random snatching. This was a carefully planned operation. What did she have that a demon wanted? What warranted that kind of forethought?
Whatever the case, she had to find a way out of here. She had to gather her wits and make a plan. She pushed off the wall and approached the bars, the only way in or out of her cell. They were too close together for her to stick her head through, and she was only able to see a few feet down the passage outside.
“Hey!” Suyin hollered. Her voice didn’t echo. It deadened immediately, like she’d shouted into a pile of blankets. It was eerie.
“Let me out of here!” As if that was going to work. “What do you want with me?”
Nothing but that muffled silence greeted her.
She fought her rising panic. She couldn’t afford to go there. If she was going to have any hope of escaping, she needed to keep her head.
She’d been brought here by hellgate. That meant, all she needed to do was draw one on the floor of her cell, and she could leave the same way.
She hadn’t drawn a hellgate in a long time, and her memory was shaky, but with some trial and error, she was sure she could get it. It would be a challenge, but she could hopefully link it to the gate the demon had used to get here by visualizing the dark room she’d seen for a split second before he’d stepped through.
Another challenge would be finding casting material. She had nothing to draw the sigil with.
But there was a solution for that too. A sigil could be drawn in blood. In fact, blood was more powerful than chalk or salt. She wasn’t keen on bleeding herself out while she tried to remember the details of the hellgate sigil, but she would do whatever—
Footsteps snapped her out of her thoughts.
She retreated to the safer depths of the cell as a looming shadow stepped in front of the torch, blocking out the light.
The demon cut an impressive silhouette. He was easily seven feet tall, with impala-like horns crowning his head. He held his chin high and his spine erect like he fancied himself royalty.
But his intimidating presence wasn’t what caught her attention.
At his feet, thick smoke swirled like he was walking on liquid nitrogen. Stray wisps rose and formed into hazy shapes, backlit by the torches. As the shapes coiled in and out of existence, Suyin swore she saw the outlines of faces and hands clawing at the air.
