Her face changed from shrewd to impassive on a dime. “Yes, that’s correct. But before you get any ideas about going without me, they house our beasts below. You would not survive on your own. The reason my cell is located in this region, is because, on occasion, they must keep me in line. To do so, they bring the beasts up from there.” She pointed to the piece of flooring I hovered over. “And I can promise you, it is less than pleasant in the bowels of Hell.”
I didn’t need convincing. I knew it would suck down there. I’d already seen my fair share of tunnels today and I was already sick of them. I could only imagine what lurked beneath. The thought of climbing down to another one made my head pound.
I had to remember that there was a big difference between being weary and being dead. I had to survive.
Not only did I have to survive, I had to get my brother back. Even if that meant crawling around in every tunnel in this godforsaken world. “If this is where they bring the beasts up, why didn’t they just send the hellhound up through here?”
There were more noises and shouting from outside. We literally had only moments left.
“Because the hellhound is too big, The hole beneath you is meant for creatures to torment me, not devour me whole.” Several thumps sounded against the door, followed by some demonic howls. “They are having trouble controlling the hound as we speak or they would be in here already. It is a wicked thing with long claws and hideous teeth. They are taking no chances with you.”
I curled my claws around the seam in the floor. The separation was barely there. I had to dig my nails in hard to get between the tiles. Once I got a grip, I tore the piece of flooring up in one pull and tossed it to the side.
I’d exposed a smooth, open cylinder under the floor that appeared to be made of something like PVC. It was white and just big enough for a human to slide through.
The roaring outside became louder. We were out of time. The demoness rushed forward and pushed me toward the chute. “Go, go! You must take a lock of my hair.” She ripped a chunk off the end. “Once you reach the bottom, put the hair in the mouth of the chute and say these words in Demonish: Dys swez kytaf hozz. Do you understand? It’s the only way to break the spell keeping me here.”
“Okay,” I said, taking the hair in my fist.
The door burst open behind us and a vicious howl rent the air. The demons rushed the curtain, their faces furious. Their loathing of Lily was clear.
“Why are they so angry?” I asked right before I slid down.
Her face was grim, but resigned. “Because I am the devil’s concubine.”
7
The ride was short and fast. The chute plunged downward at an extremely steep angle. I landed with a gigantic thud into something soft and squishy. It took me a moment to gather myself, and then the smell hit me.
It was atrocious.
I brought my hands up in horror, shaking the gunk off. “Are we sitting in feces?” I yelled out loud. I couldn’t help it. It was the worst smell I’d ever encountered and it was indeed from excrement of some kind. I glanced around, taking a quick inventory of the place. From what I could gather, before the beasties were shot up this pipe, they must have lost whatever was in their bowels.
There was no other explanation.
I scampered out of the pile as fast as I could, which meant I slopped my way out of thigh-high muck slowly, scraping the putrescence off me as I went. “This is completely disgusting,” I muttered. “And did I just agree to consider making a deal with the Prince of Hell’s mistress?”
A horrid scream echoed from above through the tube.
“Dammit, I forgot to throw the hair in!” I frantically sloshed back through the pile of crap. I’d inadvertently let go of the hair while I was trying to get the feces off me. I pawed at the pile, searching, and then I spotted the long locks half covered in a nearby clump. I snatched them up, hoping it didn’t matter if they were covered in goo and tossed it into the pipe and spoke the words.
Almost instantly Lily came shooting down the tunnel.
She was covered in blood.
“Oh, good gods, are your fingers missing?” I gasped as I took in her appearance. Reddish-purple liquid flowed freely down her arms and onto the heap.
“Yes.” She took in a deep breath and arched her head back, closing her eyes for a brief moment. “It was better to lose them than my neck. They will regenerate. Come, we must go. They must harness the hellhound first, but they will follow soon.” She stood, wobbling slightly. She seemed unfazed by the large pile of crap we were standing in, and waded out without comment.
She’d done this before.
I followed, still swatting the crap off me, trying not to take in too many breaths. Lily walked purposefully to a door I hadn’t noticed before, as it was artfully concealed in the rocky wall.
This level of Hell was covered in charcoal-colored rock with specks of something dotting throughout that looked like flint. Whatever it was made the walls glitter in the low light. Lily placed her broken and bloodied hand onto a flat surface next to the door and muttered something under her breath. After a moment she tried again. Nothing happened. She swore. “They’ve locked me out.” She stepped back. “You must break this ward or we can go no farther.”
“Me?” I said. “How do I break the ward?”
“Your magic signature contains demon essence, as I noted before. It should be enough to break this ward. We are on a lower level of Hell and the security here is less than above, because none willingly venture here. The beasts provide their own security.”
“It’s that easy to break?” I didn’t believe it was. “How can I possibly get through something you can’t?”
“I have done it too many times already.” She shrugged. “They have found a way to keep my magic signature out. But I know you can do this, and you must. They will be arriving shortly, which means we have a limited time to get to the Sholls. If we do not, we die. It’s that simple.”
I switched places with her reluctantly. “So many ways to die, so little time,” I grumbled as I placed my palm on the flat surface as she had done. A strange pulse immediately needled at my skin, pulling and prodding it like sharp fingernails. “What is it doing?” My wolf snarled, wanting us to pull back immediately. But a powerful suction had glued my hand to the wall. If I yanked it back, I would tear it open.
“It’s trying to figure out what you are,” Lily said patiently.