The five demons strode into the cavern, led by the tall bodyguard named Clark. The others spread about behind him in a V, their angry eyes darting around the cavern. Their bodies were tensed. Eyes were alight with fire. They looked ready to tear the place apart.
I shifted on my feet, wincing at how loud my breath sounded in my own ears. With the echo of this cavern, there was no doubt in my mind that the noise would drift toward them. They’d hear my thundering heartbeat. They’d hear the shift of my boot on the ground. At any moment, they would charge in here with the lust for blood ringing in their ears and—
Phenex roared and rushed out from behind his rock. His sword rippled through the air as he swung it right at Clark’s head, but the enemy’s own sword appeared out of thin air. Clark blocked the blow easily, ducked low, and then sliced his sword toward Phenex’s legs.
A shocked gasp popped from my throat, even as Phenex easily leapt out of the danger zone, missing the sword by several inches. We hadn’t planned for this. The newborn demons hadn’t carried any weapons with them before now, and Stolas had been convinced they wouldn’t be able to get their hands on any. Where the hell did someone buy aswordthese days? I wouldn’t even know where to look.
Stolas and Bael joined the fight. They sprang out from behind their boulders and charged forward with glittering swords. In the opposite corner, I spotted Valac lurking in the shadows. His eyes glinted with rage as he tossed three daggers in his hands, juggling them like balls. With a twisted smile, he pulled back one arm and chucked a dagger toward the nearest cult member.
It sank into the back of the newborn demon’s head with a crunch. I winced at the sound and the sight of the blood blooming on his neck. The demon tumbled to the floor, eyes open wide but dead to the world. It wouldn’t kill him completely—he could heal from this—but it would take him out of the fighting equation long enough for it to give the Legion an edge. Now, it was only four against six. Seven, if you counted me, which...probably best if they didn’t. I’d certainly never been trained to fight.
Caim rushed into the battle with Asmodeus by his side. Together, they were a whirlwind of terror and power. Shadows whorled around their frames, dipping them in and out of darkness. They took out two more of the cult members with the ease of masters in battle. Only Clark and one other male demon were left standing. And they were both surrounded by six very angry Princes of Hell.
Mia pressed a hand against my back as she edged in beside me. Her voice was a whisper as she spoke. “See, everything’s fine. The Legion is taking care of it.”
But her words, strangely enough, brought a fresh wave of dread to my gut. The thing was, she was right. The Legion was winning.Easily.So easily that something about it didn’t seem right. Where was the rest of the cult? Why hadn’t they come? If they wanted to attackInfernaland swarm the open hellgate, they wouldn’t have done it like this, right? They’d been eerily clever in their movements so far. This seemed like a glaring oversight. Surely, they would have guessed this was a trap...
“Something isn’t right,” I whispered as chills swept down my neck. Despite the seal overhead muting our powers, I still felt the heavy sense ofwrongsettle onto my shoulders, the same as it had before.
This was a trap for our trap.
“Where are the other Cult of Lilith members?”
Mia frowned. “How many are there?”
“At least thirteen,” I whispered back, all too aware that our conversation might be drifting toward enemy ears. “Maybe more.”
“Shit,” she said, the word clipped. She craned her head around the boulder to check out the fight. The Legion still surrounded the two cult members, angling their swords right at their heads. They were grumbling amongst themselves. I couldn’t hear what they were saying, but I could guess what it was.
Give up this fight, or we’ll rip every single one of you apart.
“Give us Eva, and we’ll go,” Clark called out, his voice booming through the cavern. My hands fisted as he lifted his finger and pointed right my way. Me,again. The damn cult still wanted me.
Caim let out a bitter chuckle and raised his sword. “Then, you’ve made your choice. Say goodbye to this world. I’m afraid you’ll never see it again.”
Clark smiled and lifted his hands. “AndI’mafraid the others might have a few words to say about that.”
Confusion flickered across Caim’s face as two dozen bodies shimmered out of the darkness, scattered throughout the cavern’s expanse. Several appeared just behind the boulder where Sarah, Anya, Mia, and I hid. Hands reached out to grab us, but Mia roared and yanked us out of their grasp. We stumbled back, arms linked, as the vicious smiles tracked our every movement.
The Legion roared, but their feet stayed rooted to the spot as Clark dropped back his head and laughed. “Stay where you are, Legion, or I’ll have my own legion kill those girls. Your precious humans and their mortal lives.Youmight survive a sword, but they never will.”
“You won’t kill Eva,” Caim growled. “You need her for something.”
“Maybe we won’t.” I could hear the smile in his voice, even as my eyes stayed locked on the three cult members slowly creeping toward the four of us. “But I don’t need the rest of them. Or are you willing to sacrifice Asmodeus’s wife just to keep your lover safe?”
Az let out a deep, terrifying growl that would make anyone sane turn and run in the opposite direction. Threatening his wife was a ridiculously dumb move. But it also seemed to work. The Legion didn’t move.
My mouth went dry as I considered the implications. Asmodeus didn’t know me, and I was new to this world. He had no allegiance to me, and I knew without a doubt that he would do anything to protect his wife, even if that meant handing me over to the enemy. I was doomed.
“You can threaten us all you like, but it’s going to come back to bite you in the fucking ass,” Caim roared. “I will never let you lay a single hand on Eva.”
Mia gripped my elbow and cut her eyes toward my dagger. Sarah clutched at my back, still supporting Anya’s weight. They were behind me, but nothing stood between them and the demons at our backs. And only my dagger—and Mia’s—kept the others from rushing at us from the front.
“What do we do?” I whispered to Mia, hoping my voice was low enough for the others not to hear. Somehow, they’d been able to use their demon powers to teleport into the cavern, but I was counting on them not being able to do much other than fight us now. They’d flickered themselvesin, but they couldn’t get out that way now. The witch seal would stop them from using that kind of magic. Which meant, they wouldn’t have enhanced hearing either.
She met my eyes and whispered a word without even moving her lips. “Run.”
I didn’t even think about what I was doing. All I did was move on pure instinct, fuelled by the look of determination on Mia’s face. And so I sucked in a breath, squared my shoulders, and spun on my feet. Then I ran.
