I took the path out of the main room. It tunnelled through rock, twisting and turning so quickly that it was impossible to see more than a few steps ahead. That plus the darkness made me feel as though I was so far beneath the earth that it would take me hours to reach the surface.
The further I walked, the more time I had to think. I didn’t understand what had happened, but something had gone terribly wrong. Az and the other demons had vanished. So had the girls. It didn’t seem like a coincidence or random accident. Nothing ever was when Lucifer was involved.
He’d planned this. He’d known that we weren’t going to go along with his deal, no matter what we told him. He’d put assurances into place, designed to stop us from working against him.
Despair pressed down on me, as heavy as lead. With every step I took, it only got heavier. We’d all made a terrible mistake. We should have done something more random, something harder for him to anticipate. Lucifer had moved his little pieces around the board and watched as we slid ours exactly where he’d expected.
If I could go back in time and change it, I would.
I finally reached the end of the path. From here, it branched in opposite directions. One path led into darkness. The other toward light. I shifted on my feet. Lucifer would expect me to choose the lit path.
Gritting my teeth, I turned toward the shadows and followed the darkness down into the earth. Time ticked by slowly. My steps were quiet and short. I didn’t dare walk too quickly for fear I’d stumble upon a sudden cliff and tumble to my death.
The path opened up into an enormous cavern. A glimmering seal shimmered in the distance. Flames whorled around the symbol, sparking up the cavern with orange light. I ducked behind a boulder and stared, heart thundering in my chest. I recognized that seal. It was Lucifer’s.
Twice as tall as I was, the glowing seal hummed with a powerful energy that set my hair on edge. My mouth went dry. I had a sneaking suspicion I knew exactly what that thing was. A gate. A portal. A first-class ticket to Hell.
Voices echoed off the walls. With my breath in my throat, I ducked behind the boulder and shoved my back against the rough stone. Two pairs of footsteps headed my way. I tried to calm my breathing. Demons had enhanced hearing. Any sound I made would snag their attention in an instant.
A familiar voice filled the cavern. “Thank you for your help tonight, Rafael. Everything is finally going according to plan.”
Chills swept down my arms. Rafael.Noah. Lucifer had brought him here to help with the standoff against Az. He hadn’t been alone when the Legion had stormed into the dungeon. It would have been enough to help even out the fight.
Shit. Heart pounding, I loosed a silent breath and pulled another in.
“My pleasure,” Rafael replied. “Asmodeus has gone far too long without facing repercussions for his actions. I’ve been trying to tell you for years. I’m glad you finally saw the light.”
“Careful,” Lucifer said, his tone lethal. “I do not appreciate being questioned by the likes of you. There is no loyalty between us, Rafael. Wrong me, and I would not hesitate to make your fate the same as theirs.”
A knife of pain stabbed my heart. Hands fisting, I bit my lip to stop myself from crying.The same fate. Surely that couldn’t mean what it sounded like.Death. It wasn’t possible. Az was the strongest person I’d ever met. He couldn’t have gone down that easily. And yet...where was he? Where were the others? Lucifer had done something, but what?
Rafael cleared his throat uneasily. “Of course, Your Highness.”
“Good.” Lucifer’s voice echoed as he drifted through the room. “You’re learning quickly.”
Rafael followed him toward the gate. Their voices were growing distant, and most of their words were hard to make out from this far away. With a deep breath, I darted from one boulder to the next. I needed to hear what he said. Maybe Az was still alive, trapped somewhere. If Lucifer said more, I couldn’t miss it.
“So, what’s next?” Rafael smiled. “Where do we go from here?”
I could hear the evil in Lucifer’s voice far before I felt it. “Mia McNally is here in the dungeon. It’s time to hunt her down.”
31
That was all I needed to hear. I crouch-walked away from the boulder, darted toward the next rock, and then practically crawled the rest of the way out of the hellgate room. When I made it to safety—ha!—I let out a long, shuddering breath. Lucifer was still by the gate with Rafael, and I could no longer make out their words. Maybe they couldn’t hear me either.
Right. I couldn’t focus on Az and the others right now. If I did, it might crush me. Lucifer hadn’t said he’d actually killed them, so there was still a chance they were alive.
There was another option. He’d sent them to Hell. I didn’t know how he’d gotten them from A to B without so much as a shout, but that was what I was working with right now.
As I crept down the tunnel away from Lucifer, there was a part of me that wanted to rush straight toward him and beg to be taken into the underworld. I wanted to reach Az. I wanted to get Serena and Priyanka out of there. I couldn’t stand the thought of any of them trapped in that horrible place forever.
There had to be something I could do.
But I couldn’t be certain that was even where they were. And right now, Lucifer was hunting me.
When I reached the fork in the path, I took the tunnel toward the light.
I needed to remember that I was the only one left. If I let myself get caught, I’d be no help to anyone. Besides, I’d never been to Hell before. What was it like? Was it just a bunch of volcanoes and fire pits? Were there cities? How did I avoid getting eaten by monsters?
