It had worked!
When I reached the fork in the tunnel, I swung a right. My boots pounded the ground like thunder. I stumbled into the torture room and spun onward to the stairs. I had no idea how I’d gotten Az’s ring to work a second time so quickly, but I wasn’t done with it yet. By sheer force of will, I was going to make that damn ring listen to me.
I threw myself up the stairs. Fingers clutching the ring, I squeezed my eyes and focused with all the strength and determination in my soul. Power rumbled beneath my skin. Slowly than last time but still very much there. It bubbled through my pores and shot toward the door and—
A hand gripped my arm. It pulled me back. The ground vanished from beneath my feet, and darkness consumed me.
I think I screamed, but it was impossible to tell. The darkness was absolute, like an infinity of nothingness. Sorrow filled my soul as I tried to make sense of it. It was like the world no longer existed anymore.Ino longer existed.
And then everything shuddered back into place.
My feet hit ground. The darkness poofed away. Sights and sounds roared around me, filling my head with static. I blinked, vision clearing. I was standing in the goddamn hellgate room.
Rafael stepped away from me and brushed his hands against his jeans. I shot him a glare. “You used your weird shadowy magic to teleport me. Didn’t you?”
“If you hadn’t tried to escape, it wouldn’t have been necessary,” he said with a roll of his eyes.
All I could do was stare at him. It still unnerved me, seeing him like this. Once, I’d thought he was a boring, slightly insufferable hipster who loved coffee and my best friend. Now he was the dick who’d tried to kill me. More than once. And he’d been successful with dozens of others.
“What did you do with Serena?” I asked through gritted teeth.
“Serena is fine. We didn’t want any werewolves making things more complicated. You should thank me. Normally, I would have just killed her.” He shrugged. “I took her and the fae to her apartment in Brooklyn. By the time she gets here again, we’ll all be long gone.”
The hellgate shimmered before us, casting eerie orange hues upon the stone walls. “Because you’re taking me to Hell.”
“That’s the idea.”
“But why?”
“You’ll have to ask him.” Rafael turned toward the tunnel entrance as Lucifer approached. He strolled toward us with his hands slung into his pockets and a slightly annoyed expression on his face.
Looked like I hadn’t done any permanent damage. That was a shame.
“Nice try, Mia,” Lucifer said easily as he joined us by the gate. “I didn’t expect you to be so bold. I won’t make the same mistake again.”
I bent my knees and sliced the stake toward him.
He stepped back, arching a brow. “Lars was right about your feistiness. Do you not have any idea who it is you’re trying to fight?”
“Yes,” I hissed, feeling a bit feral. “The King of Hell.”
“And what exactly do you think you’re going to do with that?”
“I mean, the first thought that pops into my mind is that I want to shove it right into your face. But I figure the heart is better. Or maybe your neck. That way I can separate your head from your body and bury you thousands of miles apart.”
“I see Az has been sharing our secrets,” Lucifer said with an ease that made my head spin. The least he could do was look a little bit nervous.
“It sounds to me like you’re not willing to fight me.” I shot him a smile that matched his own. “Are you scared of the angry human?”
He rolled his eyes. “Please. Your little act is tiresome. I know you don’t really want to fight me.”
“Actually, I do.” I inched a little closer, wafting my scent toward him. “Take a sniff and tell me I’m not dying for a fight.”
Lucifer’s lips flatlined. He huffed out a sigh of annoyance. But I knew I had him hooked. With a roll of his eyes, he sniffed. And then his gaze sharpened on my face. “Interesting. Most humans would run screaming in the other direction when faced with the hellgate.”
“I’m not really a human,” I said. “And nothing you can do will ever make me run screaming.”
His smile widened. “I’m afraid I’m going to have to prove you wrong, Mia McNally.” He held out his hand toward Rafael. “My sword.”
