Page 87 of Frosted Torment

Vallen spat a drip of blood on the ground and sneered. “A few days. A week,” he said. “I haven’t been able to keep track, but don’t worry, pup; once she gets her soul, neither of you will go to hell.”

“Shut up!” I rubbed my eyes with the heel of my hand. We couldn’t afford to waste any more time arguing with him. “He isn’t going to help because he’s locked up and we’re the entertainment.”

Vallen smirked, his eyes glinting with mischief. He lifted what he could of his wrist chained to the wall and pointed at my face. “I gave you the ability to hold the secrets, Noa, so you could stay alive. Don’t you want to be a hero?”

A gasp escaped my lips as I exchanged horrified looks with Baz and Lex. I shook my head and turned away, refusing to play his game.

“Maros is no ordinary demon,” Vallen insisted as he chuckled darkly. “He will devour and violate you in every gruesome way you can imagine.” Leaning back, he looked at the ceiling and began listing the ways out loud. “Rape. Sodomy. None of it is out of the question as he drains those secrets from you and destroys humankind.”

I turned, unleashing the entirety of my anger at him in the chest, screaming, “Die, asshole!”

A bolt of electricity slammed him back against the wall, but it didn’t injure him. He hung there, laughing at each of us. All I could do was back away, knowing there was no hope left. But it didn’t stop him from delivering the blows again and again.

“Maros will give what’s left of you to his pests so they can take turns,” Vallen added. “For eternity, Noa!”

His muscular form was hard as steel as he yanked the chains away from the wall to reach me. His voice cut through every inch of tension in the cave as it turned into a rumble.

“Water!” Vallen thundered across the cave.

I unsheathed a dagger from my thigh again and held it to his throat, clipping the skin right under his chin. “What do you mean, you want water? I’m not giving you another fucking ounce. So unless you want me to end your misery now, give me something useful.” My eyes flashed to Baz and Lex. “Or I will watch you burn alive, still chained to this fucking wall.”

Vallen flashed me a wide grin and barked, “Give me something, too.”

My eyes widened, but they never left his. I studied his face, hard and tired. Then, a quick breath slipped out of his mouth. He was ready for just as much vengeance as I was, and for what? Because he got a bad deal going in with a demon? He didn’t fool me.

“You want out,” I revealed with a laugh.

“The way you understand me, Noa,” he slurred and tilted his hips in my direction. “Makes me?—”

My hand moved on its own, reaching for his cheek as I brought down the dagger, leaving a deep cut. But my excitement turned to disappointment in an instant as the wound healed within seconds.

“Pig!” I hollered, slashing his face again even though I knew it wouldn’t hurt him.

He raised his hands, palms open and fingers splayed. “Oh, I wouldn’t dream of touching you, but think about Maros,” hereminded me. “I can help you and your little doggie stay out of hell.”

Lex began pacing in front of the pool. “Hell no.”

Baz’s fingers tightened around my arm, his eyes narrowing, while Vallen’s lips curled into a frustrated grimace. “I don’t like this. We came for answers, Noa, not to help him escape,” Baz whispered as he dragged me to the other side of the pool.

“Escaping isn’t an option,” Lex agreed, walking up to us.

Vallen’s chuckle reverberated through the damp, shadowy cavern, bouncing off jagged rock walls that seemed to close in on us. “I see your fear is getting the better of you.”

Baz scoffed, then turned to me. “We don’t have much time, Noa, and I don’t know about you, but I’m not in the mood to negotiate. We can still make it back to Dawson’s tonight.”

“Let’s get out of here and we’ll figure it out with O’Neil and the others. We have enough to go on,” insisted Lex.

“And how do we leave? We’re trapped.” I stared up at them and shook my head. “He has my soul and, according to him, if I die without it, Baz and I both go to hell.”

Baz eyed Vallen suspiciously, then took a deep breath before speaking to me. “You caught that, did you?”

I shoved his chest hard enough to make him stumble back. “You omitted that little detail,” I snapped, as the weight of our predicament pressed down on me.

“We’re signati,” he muttered, knowing he had to stay with me. He raked his fingers through his hair in exasperation. “And you’re right, we can’t leave until he tells us how,” Baz conceded.

“I can make him think he’s getting out,” I added with a wink and a tilt of my head.

“I’m here if things go south,” Lex chimed in with a heavy sigh. “But think fast.”

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