“If you’re here, I’m here,” Iggs said, transforming into his true, huge shape as he grabbed the mangled doors. “You never found my family in Limbo. That means they’ve got to be inside that Hell somewhere, and I’ll let this toxic sludge burn off both my legs before I leave them behind.”
There was nothing Bex could say to that. She just grabbed a door and started pushing with him, blasting her fire for extra power as she and Iggs forced the entrance all the way open to release the crowd of demons trapped inside.
They came out like an avalanche. Bex had had her doubts since ordering demons by their names only worked if they were physically capable of executing the command. Adrian must’ve been right about the power of demonic regeneration, though, because while they looked like a parade of skeletons, the demons of Wrath didn’t slow down for anything. They rushed past her and Iggs without so much as a look, driven by the single-minded purpose Nemini’s command had instilled in them to get up the stairs as quickly as possible.
“Thank Ishtar Gilgamesh never bothered to chain them,” Bex panted as the disgusting water poured over her feet. “If we’d had to unlock everybody, the flood would’ve been over our heads before we made it halfway.”
“I’m going to look for my family and help anyone who isn’t able to stand,” Iggs said as he sprinted past her into the Hell. “Tell Leander to put something over the hole we made in the stairs!”
“I will,” Bex called after him, but Iggs was already gone, his huge red body disappearing into the dark hole Gilgamesh had buried their people in.
Seeing it caused Bex’s fire to blaze up all over again, but she didn’t have time to lose her temper. They still had another Hell full of demons to save, so the moment she was certain all the wrath demons were on their way to higher ground, Bex sloshed back through the putrid flood toward the rest of the team, who were still hovering on Adrian’s broom in front of the sealed doors to the Hell of Pride.
“Did you get everyone out?” Adrian asked when she got close.
“Working on it,” Bex replied, turning to face Leander, who’d also jumped into the water and was standing next to Nemini in front of the giant sealed doors.
“Hey, Leander,” she said. “Got anything in your spell catalogue that will fix the hole in the stairs so my demons can get past?”
She’d said that pretty loud, but Leander didn’t even turn around. Bex was about to ask him again, much less politely, when Boston suddenly leaped off Adrian’s shoulder.
“I’ll do it,” the cat said as he landed on the last still-dry step of the spiral staircase. “I know several bridge-mending charms, and it looks like you’ve already got your work cut out for you.”
“I’ll help too,” Lys said, flapping off the broom to join him.
“Are you sure you should be moving?” Bex asked nervously.
“They absolutely should not be!” Adrian yelled. “Lys, get back down here!”
“Sorry, darling, but you don’t give me orders,” Lys replied, blowing Adrian a kiss before holding out their arms to Boston, who jumped right in.
“Boston and I will handle the evacuation,” they said, flapping steadily despite the pain Bex could see on their face. “The rest of you make sure the pride demons get out before we’re all floating in the drink.”
“Got it,” Bex said. “Don’t push yourself too far, Lys.”
“I’ll sit down before I fall down,” they promised. “But only just. I’ve been lying around this whole operation. You can’t expect me to stay bedridden and miss the fight I’ve been waiting for my entire life.” They smiled at her one last time. “I’ll be fine. Just make sure you follow me soon, or I’m coming back down here to get you.”
“We’ll make it,” Bex said, waving at Lays as they carried Boston up the center of the stairwell toward the broken section near the top.
“They’re going to reopen their wound,” Adrian growled.
“Probably,” Bex agreed. “But that’s the challenge of working with Lys. You can give them all the orders you want, but they always manage to get their own way in the end. It’s easier if you just learn to live with it.”
Adrian was still scowling, but he didn’t say anything else as he leaned down to help Bex out of the water.
She took his offered hand gladly. She’d been willing to stand in the sludge for her people’s sake, but she wasn’t going to hang out in it and burn all the skin off her legs if she didn’t have to. She was delighted to let Adrian haul her onto his nice, dry, non-toxic broom. But when she bent over to examine the holes the caustic sludge had burned through her fatigues, Bran’s wings tipped like a raft as Leander suddenly appeared beside her.
Bex lurched away with a yelp, nearly tumbling back into the water before she caught herself. “Don’t do that!” she yelled at the prince, clutching her heaving chest. “Seriously, what is your problem?”
“We all have too many of those to count at the moment,” Leander replied, his gaunt face deadly serious as he crouched down to look her in the eyes. “I need your help.”
Bex didn’t feel like doing anything for someone who’d just scared the life out of her and didn’t even seem sorry about it. Leander had always been a strangely awkward man, though, and hehaddone a lot for them since she’d pulled him out of the Lowest Hells, so Bex forced herself to shove her ego and listen.
“What sort of help do you need?”
“I need it from both of you, actually,” Leander said, flicking his mirrored eyes to Adrian, who was hovering at Bex’s side. “I can undo the seal over the doors to the Hell of Pride, but in return, I need you to help me get someone out.”
“There’s no need to make it transactional,” Bex grumbled. “I was already planning to get everyone out.”
