“But that was all that happened, to be honest. So maybe, it was better than before, when the humans made weird experiments on us. At least, since the demons took over, we’ve been mostly left alone.”
“Have you ever seen who runs the place?”
The angel shook his head sadly. “I wish I did so I’d know who to both blame and thank.” He saw the confused look on my face and explained. “Blame for holding us hostage when they very clearly don’t have any use for most of us. Thank, because I’d gladly take a beating once in a while rather than be a lab rat.”
I pondered it for a while, even as we fought more demons and freed more people.
But all the prisoners we found were either Divine-blooded Earthwalkers or simple Divines. Not a single Hellriser blooded Immortal in those horrifying cells.
Which meant, we were still looking for Marcus’ lovers…
By the time we reached the “restricted area” door, we’d freed over two hundred prisoners, and there were seventeen of us fighting and progressing in the building.
“I’m not going in there,” a shifter said, taking a step back and colliding with a Divine who moved to stabilize her.
“What’s in there?” I asked.
She shook her head and looked away, holding herself tight. The one behind her answered, “We don’t really know. But, the few Immortals I’ve seen who were brought behind this door never came back.”
Marcus’ head perked up. “Were they also Divine?”
Most of them shook their heads darkly and I met my friend’s gaze. It could be where they were taking the ones that could be brainwashed. All the Hellrisers and some of the Earthwalkers. Maybe we’d find the one responsible for this mess—and Arc.
“All of you go with Marcus and keep freeing the prisoners you find,” I said, leaving the back of the group to get to the door. “I’ll go and check what’s going on behind—”
“No,” Marcus snapped.
His hand was a tight cuff around my wrist. “Marcus—”
“I said no. You’re not going in there alone.”
“What aboutthem?” I asked, waving at all the Immortals we had freed and who’d been fighting with us for the past hour. “You can’t leave them here to wait and—”
“With the map you gave us, we can handle the rest of the rescue,” one of the oldest Earthwalker said, his eyes crinkling at the corners in a reassuring smile. “You folks go and do what you have to do.”
I turned back to Marcus. “It might be dangerous, you can’t—”
“Oh, andyoucan?” he quietly snapped. “I told you, whatever you do, I’ll follow. I’m not leaving you behind. You’re myfriend. We’re a team.”
Anxiety turned my stomach into knots but I forced a smile. “You’re just terrified Carter and Dimitri will skin you alive.”
“Firstly, yes. Secondly, we don’t know what’s behind that damn door. It could be a horde of demons. Could be other prisoners. Could beArcor the person running this Hell of a place.”
Damn stubborn demon. “Fine. You know, I like you better when you’re carefree and funny.”
“Yeah, well. Now you’re dealing with the less enjoyable side of me,” he said, releasing a bit of his hold. “I’m still a high ranked warrior, and this is a serious situation. We’ll have time to joke around once we’re all out of here and on our way back to camp.”
Chapter 36
Lola
The cells behind the restricted area were mostly empty, but the smell of death and iron still lingered in the air. The rhythmic sound of people breathing killed the chilling silence.
Marcus and I exchanged a worried look before we took our first step forward, straining our eyes to see through the darkness of this place.
I jumped and collided with him as a prisoner I hadn’t seen threw himself at the bar with an animalistic growl, trying to reach for my arm and only succeeding in scratching my skin.That was already too close.
The ruckus he caused had awoken the few other—Hellrisers and Earthwalkers—from their quiet slumber and turned them into feral animals.
