“Isn’t Hell hot?” Hudson commented.
Lucifer laughed. “On the contrary, Hell is a frozen wasteland of despair. Nothing says torment like an icy landscape.”
Oh, I can think of a hundred things that say torment more than a little cold weather. Good thing this isn’t a competition.
***
“For the record, I don’t support this adventure,” Aunt Liz grumped.
My family and friends had shaken off the effects of the mushrooms, and Maggie was nowhere to be seen. Aira had left, stating she needed to lie down after having so much fun. Leaving me with Hudson, Dave, Aunt Liz, Rebecca, Sebastian, and Harry, all shooting scowls of disapproval at my Uncle.
I sighed as I wrapped a wooly scarf around my neck and checked that my bag of tricks had everything I needed. Salt, gloves, nulling potion, cheese…wait, why did I have cheese? Oh right, I remembered now.
“Here,” Sebastian said, handing me three juice boxes. He glared at Lucifer. “She’ll need the sugar if she successfully performs a read and she might—”
“Why wouldn’t you be successful?” Lucifer interrupted.
I lasered Sebastian with a look that promised retribution. He had the common sense to look away. “Someone had blocked me from figuring out how the residents of Peach Tree died.”
Lucifer tilted his head. “Are you certain it was a block and not an issue with your gift?”
“No, but I guess we are about to find out.”
Lucifer offered me his hand. A growl rumbled from Hudson. He was a second away from exploding into his cat form and disappearing with me into the horizon. I offered a smile. “I’ll be fine, back before you know it.”
“Technically, if you are gone for an hour in Hell, it will be the next day here. So try not to panic and launch into a suicide mission,” Lucifer explained. That’s right, time moves differently.
“One day, hell spawn, then I’m coming for you,” Hudson growled.
Lucifer smirked and grabbed my hand. The world tilted, and my molecules began rearranging themselves in preparation. Indigo pushed against my spine, wanting to see what was happening.
“It’s fine, we are taking a little trip to Hell,” I told her. “The souls there have already been claimed, so settle down.”
“I don’t like it.”
“Nobody likes Hell, that’s the point.”
Darkness blanketed my vision and bile rushed up my throat as we traveled across dimensions the human mind struggled to comprehend. Perhaps one day they would know the truth definitively.
The temperature around me plummeted, sending a shiver up my spine. The echoes of the tormented wrapped around me and tugged at my soul. I had to remember you didn’t make it to Hell because you’d lived a good life. Lucifer might be the Devil, but he also had rules to follow, and the condition of the souls he claimed had firm boundaries. It didn’t make it any easier listening to their pleas for mercy. It was the human condition to offer comfort to those in pain.
My body rearranged itself and my vision came into focus. Lucifer released my hand and I spun in a circle. My eyes were wide as I surveyed the room we’d materialized in.
It was a huge cavern, with floor-to-ceiling arched openings giving me a view of the barren landscape outside. A freezing wind whipped through the room, and a growling three-headed dog snapped at me and jerked in his chains. This wasn’t my first rodeo in Hell—albeit, last time I’d been a child, but that was a tale for another day.
“Play nice,” Lucifer instructed the mythical beast.
I dug in my bag and extracted the large cubes of cheese. I raised a brow as the monster eyeballed the treat in my hand.
“Sit,” I commanded. The huge dog plonked its ass on the floor and growled at me. “Now that’s no way to greet a guest.”
Cerberus tilted all three of its heads and their tongues lolled out in perfect synchronization, drool pooling on the floor.
I took a step closer as my Uncle watched with amusement. I threw the first cube at the middle head. He caught it just as the other two heads snapped and snarled at him.
“There’s enough for everyone,” I uttered quickly, giving the other two equal amounts of cheese.
The huge monster lay on the floor and gazed up at me with adoration. Look at me, I’d made friends with a hell dog. Bella would be appalled.
