Sonam looks furious. So much so I fear he will strike me down here and now. “You dragged my guards down with you?”
I sneer back. “I did no such thing.”
Lin chews on her disgusting nails. “Can we eat this mean one?”
I almost laugh. I’m starting to like this one. Unfortunately, it’s out of the question. “This one’s mine, I’m afraid.”
“But there’s so little for the rest of us.” She pouts her lips. “Live humans never come this way.”
“He’s… special. I need to keep him around.”
“Like a pet?”
I do laugh now, an ugly little sound from the back of my nose. “Yes, exactly. He’s my pet.”
“Mind your words, Fox,” Sonam grumbles. I ignore him, taking great pleasure in his irritation. “Bring me to these other humans, girl. It’s important.”
Lin sticks out her tongue, causing Sonam to frown deeply. It’s a privilege to see the captain cut down to size by someone who barely comes up to his hip.
I personally don’t care what happens to the captain’s guards. I’m more than happy to leave them behind to rot. Sonam is the only one I’m bound to see out of Hell. Bringing another pair of humans along isn’t a part of the deal. I barely trust Sonam not to kill me when my back is turned, and I certainly don’t trust his lackeys.
Looking behind us, I see that the city has reassembled itself stone by stone, no trace of that monster anywhere. The palace looks like a glowing green heart in the middle of the rib cage of city sprawl, ready and waiting to tempt its next victim forward.
Perhaps rescuing the guards could prove useful. There’s might in numbers and all that. Who knows how long it will take us to leave this forsaken place, or how many other nasty creatures lie in wait. I do stand a better chance of seeing our deal to completion with a few helping hands. They’ll protect their captain at the very least, and in doing so, unknowingly protect me. It may be worth the risk.
I turn to Lin. “Will you help us? We’re terribly lost, and we don’t want to anger the guardian again.”
“Very well,” she says, offering me her hand. “Just make sure your pet doesn’t wander off.”
“Don’t worry. He’s not going anywhere.”
Sonam sneers. “I hate you.”
“Oh, how I weep,” I reply dryly.
10
The stars screamed their way down to Hell and awoke together engulfed in complete darkness.
This couldn’t be. They were gods, after all. Destined for the Kingdom of Heaven. To be felled by a mere mortal was insulting enough, but to be banished to Hell despite their divinity was a slight of unforgivable proportion.
They confronted Death together, seething with self-righteous fury.
“Remedy this at once,” one of the brothers demanded.
“An outrage, an outrage!” cried another.
“We deserve better than to wallow in all this filth!” wailed a third.
The lord of the underworld merely looked upon the star gods one by one, seeing neither higher power nor lowly life-form. In the eyes of Death, all were equal—and the star gods were no exception.
“It is not I who keeps thee trapped here,” he explained, “but the heavy weight of sins bearing down on thy souls. Redeem thyselves in servitude and earn thy place once again among the Heavens.”
With a sweep of his hand, Death trapped them within the shifting structure of his palace, separating the nine brothers to nine different courts, standing in the way of the Gates of Hell at the very center tomake ten full circles. They were sentenced to serve out the next millennia among those whom their cruelty once touched in life.
That was, until one day, when the youngest star god made his daring escape. He quietly slipped through the gate between worlds, vowing to one day return to free his dear brothers.
11Yue
