“That’s how Zeus could reach the outer levels so fast?”
He nods. “But as we forge this path, we leave behind a tunnel specific to us we can transverse. If we need to leave and return, we can now teleport through each level one at a time, up to where we have paid the tax.”
“Speaking of tax, how are we meant to pay this one if we aren’t allowed to eat or drink anything in here?” Emi asks.
“I didn’t say you weren’t allowed to eat or drink anything in here, just not from here,” Lucifer says as he points ahead. “Keep heading towards the throne.” Raised up on a dais, is a portly man in purple robes. His red shoulder-length hair is swept back, revealing a reddened face and cold blue eyes.
Zac groans from next to me as Lucifer disappears. “He made Henry a prince?”
I cut a sharp glance at Zac. “Who?”
Archan takes Lucifer’s place on my left side. “Henry the Eighth. One of the most famous people for gluttony. I believe he hung the previous prince by his intestines from the rafters of the throne room. It took weeks for him to die.”
I glance up, spotting the wooden beams and grimace. “This is the dude who got rid of his unwanted wives by killing them? Until he formed a new branch of religion which allowed divorce.” I resist the urge to sing an inappropriate song out loud. Archan glances at me with a smirk. I say out loud because my mind couldn’t resist.
“Who goes there!” Henry booms. Black slimy creatures crawl out from under the dais, their limbs bent at awkward angles like menacing versions of Gollum. They surround Henry in a ring of protection, their yellowed needlepoint teeth grinning at us in warning.
Lucifer reappears next to Henry, two glass bottles in each hand. “Henry, you buffoon. Let my guests pass.”
Henry jumps in his throne as he takes in Lucifer. “Sire, the rumblings of the minions suggest a change in management is afoot.”
Lucifer places the bottles on the floor, then he checks his cufflinks. “I see. And which side of this rebellion do you find yourself on?”
His movements are falsely casual. Henry swallows and his eyes widen. “Yours, of course, Sire, I would never think to usurp your authority.”
Lucifer smiles. Not the warm one he graces me with; this is full of menace and power, living up to his name of the King of Hell. “Then why do you have Lawrence’s lackeys crawling around you?”
I force myself not to step back from Lucifer, to remind myself that this extraordinary, powerful man is on my side. That we have built a friendship rooted in respect and a desire for the same goals. But it’s still a shock to the system as I acknowledge that he’s the most feared creature known to man. That people avoid sin, not to be in God’s good graces, but to avoid this man’s bad ones.
The creatures slither around the dais, their bodies expanding, swelling to twice their original size. Archan grips my hand and tugs me back. “Don’t touch them,” he murmurs.
“Why the hell would I touch them?”
“You have a track record.”
“Like?”
“Apple,” Zac states. “Jar.”
I roll my eyes. My hands twitch for the swords I haven’t seen since my return. Archan glances at me, then out of thin air he pulls out my beloved twin Sai swords. “You give me the best gifts,” I say, reaching for them. They aren’t replicas, they are mine, from the scratches on the hilt to the handles dented with my grip.
I spin them in my palms, their weight perfectly balanced. We spread out along the perimeter of the dais and I glance at Lucifer as his hand reaches for Henry’s throat. Henry disappears, his purple cloak dropping to the floor. The creatures lurch towards us and I spin in a flurry of limbs and sharp swords. The first creature loses its head courtesy of my sword. A blue orb flashes past me, the heat making my eyes water and lodges in another creature. It trembles and swells. “Shit,” I mutter as I pull the surrounding air to form a shield over the creature. It explodes and black goo splatters against the barrier before sliding onto the floor.
I glance at Duncan. “Just like old times.”
He grins. “Minus the lyrical theme song in the background.” Flicking through my mind, I start a rendition of Claire Guerreso’s “Battle Cry”.
Duncan chuckles and Zee groans. “They couldn’t have sent you back with the voice of an angel to match those wings of yours?”
Emi runs to Jed and he grabs her waist, throwing her backwards. She somersaults through the air, over the creatures, landing next to Lucifer in a crouch with one hand on the floor. “Badass,” I mouth. Her expression dissolves into an amused smirk before she winks at me and enters a battle with the creatures, limbs flying in a flurry of snapping bones and blood splatter.
Zac kicks out at a creature, flinging it to the floor. Zee slams a blade into its chest. They work together with an ease that suggests familiarity. Interesting. Little old Zacy has been spending time with Zee. Training him, maybe?
The air shifts behind me. I spin and thrust my swords out. Archan grabs my arm and stops me from piercing Henry’s heart by a centimeter. “No, if we kill him, the level will need a new prince. We don’t have the time to situate someone right now.”
I grit my teeth as Henry grins, deepening the wrinkles on his face. “Fine, we can put a pin in him.” I eyeball my sword.
“Not literally,” Archan says.
