I scream out Dimitri’s name, hoping he hears my call wherever he is. My foot hits something soft—waxy. I let out one solitary keening wail as I fall in slow motion.
I never meet the hard floor. Instead, I fall into a void of nothingness. My last thought is a silent plea for Dimitri to save me. Except I know he won’t come. No matter how much I might want him to, I’m going to have to save myself.
I’m back in the cage. Omen’s nowhere to be found, but that’s not surprising. This time I check the door and find it open. I don’t know who’s calling me down here. Usually, it’s silent and empty. There’s a whole dimension set aside for rogue demons and beings being punished. Others are set up specifically for humans, though I rarely go there. This area became effectively defunct several centuries ago.
Metal screeches as I shove the door open. My magic’s been through the wringer over the last twenty-four hours. Karma’s curse didn’t help either. Add in the short time in the cage and I’m drained. I couldn’t produce even a flicker with Karma. When it came roaring back, I was too focused on punishing my sister and couldn’t enjoy it. I used up every ounce I had, and I’m lost in a sea of nothingness.
I wander about the dark space, searching for whoever summoned me. Since Karma said it was only when they call me, there has to be someone here. A heavy sigh echoes around me,and I spin around once, then twice. I know better than to call out. Even if I wasn’t a demon, I’ve seen some of the human’s horror movies. That person always dies first. I’d like to think I’d last a bit longer, but I’m not under the illusion I’d survive until the end. Not without my magic.
“You here to save me?” A familiar voice calls out, though there’s a lilt I’ve never heard before—an inflection different from normal.
“Thought you could save yourself, witch.” I’d ask how she got down here, but it’s Mari. She probably fell into the circle her sister carved into the floorboards. Why it dumps out in the underbelly of this part of Hell, I haven’t figured out yet.
She lets out a humorless laugh. “I thought so, too. Where is she?”
My brows pull low as I creep in the direction of her voice. “Don’t know who you’re talking about. Providence?”
Omen’s sister is the only person Mari’s met. Unless Karma paid her a visit before sending her down here. Maybe my sister meant to send us to the same cage, though whyhereI don’t know. She’s capable of sending us right outside my apartment. Feels like that would have been easier. Unless this is her revenge for practically skewering her.
My fingers tingle, and I breathe a sigh of relief. I rub my fingers together, creating a soft purple glow to light my way. It’s not enough to do anything significant except give me some peace of mind. A familiar cat jumps through the bars of a cage to my right, and an unbidden smile stretches across my face.
“Well hello there, Kitty.” I reach down and scratch under his chin. “Not surprised to find you here. You should go home, though.”
He meows before vanishing, and I huff out a laugh. When I glance up, Mari’s face appears through the bars of another cage. She tilts her head and studies me as if she’s never seen mebefore. As if we didn’t spend last night together wrapped in each other’s arms. As if I don’t know the sounds she makes when she comes.
My mouth parts, the whisper of her name on the tip of my tongue when I’m whisked away once more. As I’m dropped right outside my apartment door, I groan, staring up at the ceiling. Except it doesn’t look like the normal ceiling I’m used to. It’s dotted with glittering stars with random comets whizzing by.
Whoever’s fucking with the interior of our corner of Hell is doing a damn good job of it. Unless someone took my place and moved it to some random dimension. Still, I can tell I’m in Hell. It’s a weird concept and more of a certainty in my belly rather than actual knowing.
Pushing to my feet, I stumble inside and shut the door before freezing. Someone’s in my house. I glance around the entryway, trying to peer into the small living room and kitchen. Nothing moves, but I can’t really see anything. I should redesign everything, but I’m barely here other than to sleep. Besides, I get better sleep in Mari’s bed than my own. If I could just stay up topside with her, I would in a heartbeat.
“Hello?” I call, then immediately regret it. Didn’t I just go through this? Except no one has access to my place other than Omen. I doubt he’d extend it to anyone else. At least not without talking to me first.
There’s a shuffling deeper in, and I prowl toward my bedroom tucked in the back. As I suspected, no one’s in the other rooms. Everything’s exactly like I left it. When I reach the door, I nudge it open with my foot, desperately hoping my magic doesn’t fail me again. I need to get back to the cage room and free Mari. After I get her somewhere safe, I can go after whoever put her down there.
It feels like every time I’m in a situation, I’m pulled in several different directions—get info from Karma or fix things withMari, find out who’s in my apartment or get Mari out of a cage. It’s all a tangled web I can’t unravel.
I flip the switch and light floods the dark room. “Mari? How the hell did you get here?”
Mari freezes, then shoves her hand under the covers. She gives me a strained look, then her shoulders sag.
“Hi,” she whispers.
“How did you…” It’s as if my brain can’t fully comprehend how she’s in Hell. First in the cage and now here. None of it makes sense. Her tripping into the portal to Hell is plausible. Showing up in my apartment isn’t. Unless there’s some weird loophole I don’t know about, she should have been thrown into the main hall of Hell. The other demons would deal with her. A shudder rolls through me at the thought.
“I don’t know. I promise I’m not stalking you.”
I rear back, then glance over my shoulder, making sure there’s no one else here. “Stalking? Spitfire, you’re a lot of things, but a stalker never crossed my mind. I just don’t understand…I suppose it doesn’t matter.”
“I mean, you did crash into my house. Maybe this is just payback.” She lets out a nervous laugh, then drops her head.
I prowl closer, then tuck my knuckle under chin and force her to look at me. “Are you okay?”
A range of emotions runs through her eyes, too quickly for me to decipher. “I’m fine. Unless you count the book currently glued to my hand.”
She pulls her arm from under the comforter and winces. It glows a strange green color, and I realize it’s the necromancy book. I never gave this particular one much thought. Most witches have weird rabbit holes they burrow into when it comes to different types of magic. Mari didn’t seem the type to reanimate corpses, so I wasn’t worried.
When I reach out, she yanks away. “You shouldn’t. It’s hot.”
