My mind flashes to my conversation with Michael. I need to give her the freedom whilst I can. I drop her hand with effort as we emerge into the chamber with our original team, except Emi.
Lucifer scans us before offering some last-minute instructions. “We will arrive at the beginning of each level, just teleport to the point where we descended. The level will recognize us as having paid the tax. Jed, you need to hold on to one of us from Gluttony. Natia grabs someone in Greed. Zee, you need to stay with Zac throughout. Ready?”
“Stay to my right, I’ll grab you in Greed,” I murmur.
She smiles and nods. The world twists and we arrive in the upper area of Lust; each of us teleporting to the altar below. Twisted sounds of pleasure and pain surround us and I catch Natia’s eye with a smirk. A blush rises in her cheeks as we disappear and arrive in Gluttony, then Greed. We teleport to the top of the skyscraper and I reach out blindly to the right and grab Natia’s arm.
“Dude,” Jed starts, the world twisting quicker than before, cutting him off. We arrive in Anger, I grip her tighter as I glance up and we are transported to Heresy.
I glance to my right to find an aggravated Jed staring at me. I look around the group with a frown. “What? Where the hell is Natia?” I holler as my blood pulses faster in my veins.
Lucifer sighs and runs a hand through his hair.
Zee throws his head back and laughs. “Yet again, we underestimated her.”
“Where is she?”
He stares me dead in the eyes. “She’s rescuing Duncan, where the fuck else.”
28
Chapter Twenty Eight
Natia
Tauruses are very protective of their loved ones, so when on a mission, stay the fuck out of their way.
The sky darkens in my presence, my anger feeding the storm as I scour the streets of Greed for Duncan. I fear I may be too late. That he will have been devoured by the damned. If that’s the case Archan better hide, he’s already on the top of my shit list for the memory crap he tried to pull. It had worked for all of five minutes, but you can’t make someone forget that which is buried in their soul. Duncan is my light, he’s my best friend and I would do anything for him. Sacrifice everything for him.
So I played the dumb little goddess whilst they spilled the information I needed. Then I abandoned their asses, leaving a barrier spell in place on the skyscraper. I had maybe an hour before they could breach it and drag my ass out of here; by then I will have Duncan by my side as we go onwards through Hell to defeat Zeus and contain the monsters of Tartarus. Simple.
I round another corner, the concrete jungle looming around me. Other than Lucifer’s skyscraper they are identical – commercial, boring, lacking imagination or individuality. A scuffle behind me has me darting around the corner, the trident humming on my back. There’s a distinct lack of water here, but I’m counting on the spiky end being able to slay.
Shouts of pure terror echo from the street. I brace myself and glance around the corner. A barrier of demon creatures spans the width of the road. A stream of pure white power bursts from the demon in the center, it rains down on the damned who are being herded towards him by a group of demons at their backs.
My breath catches as some of the damned fall to their knees clutching their throats as slithers of iridescent energy erupt from their gaping mouths and snake their way towards the demon with the power. His body jerks as they climb his legs and sink beneath his clothing, the nearest demon putting his hand on the main demon’s back as if offering support.What in the actual fuck is going on?
The bodies of the damned crumple to the floor, their faces a contorted husk of pain. Blank eyes stare at me between the legs of the demons. My mind tries to make sense of what is happening. They can’t be killed because they’d multiply, so what is going on? The knowledge hits me like a freight train—the demon has somehow removed their souls. I suck in a breath at the evilness of it. The leader spins around, his familiar eyes landing on mine and widening. His mouth parts in a shocked gasp when I step out into the street to face him.
“What have they done to you?” My hands fall limp to my sides. The other demons turn as one, his team, I realize.
There might be a few hundred feet between us, but he hears me. He takes a step towards me. “Locks?”
I shake my head and take a step back. I came back to rescue my best friend, not a demon wearing his body. His features tighten. “Locks, it’s me. I…” He looks around at the demons surrounding him. “I can explain.”
I pause in my retreat. Spying his normal aura, altered but untainted by demon essence. Whatever he’s done, it’s been to survive. He’s still my Duncan. He has to be. I can’t fight this war without him.
The group moves towards me. “Seize her, she’s a soul bearer. The Prince will want to see her,” the demon on the right of Duncan says, his lizard tail twitching behind him.
“No,” Duncan grinds out.
I open the telepathy link, praying to any freaking god that is listening that it hasn’t altered our ability to communicate this way.“It’s fine, let them take me.”
“What? No, he’ll force the same on you.”
“Doubtful, have you seen my upgraded weapon?”
He stares over my shoulder at the large golden glowing fork protruding over my head.“What the hell is that?”
