Page 68 of Hell's Secret Omega

“Hush, now.” Cyrus raises his voice to a quiet murmur. “It’s alright. You’ll get used to it. Just be calm.”

Ekko turns toward his voice. He shakes his wings and folds them back with a shudder, bowing toward Cyrus in the gesture he uses to pick up sounds. Cyrus tries to blabber more platitudes at him, words tumbling from his lips unfiltered.

“You’ll be free soon, never to see this place again. You’ll feel the wind in your feathers. Have you ever felt the wind before? It’s glorious.” His breath is shuddery. Will he feel the wind again? He tries to stuff the thought back.

Slowly, Ekko’s swaying stills. Cyrus inches closer and closer, his ears peeled for the sounds of demons trying to scale the sheer rock face. Finally he sinks his fingers into Ekko’s breast feathers, stroking him soothingly.

“This way,” he says softly, stepping back. “Follow me.”

Ekko bows again, listening to his voice.

“That’s right. We’re going on a little trip.”

He holds his breath as he walks backward, hoping with everything he’s worth that all this isn’t for nothing. He can’t force Ekko to follow him. He can only hope the bird trusts him.

Ekko tilts his head—both eyes are hidden now, so it’s impossible to say what he’s thinking. He takes a step forward. And another. Cyrus is leading him out of the cave, through the door, one step closer to freedom.

His heel crunches gravel. He swallows. “Now for the part you won’t like.”

Next to come off is his shirt, sticky with ichor and sweat. He encircles Ekko’s wings quickly, before he can react, fashioning a makeshift harness. Ekko shrieks in alarm as Cyrus lashes the chain to the back of the harness, yanking it tight. Cyrus tenses at the noise. But there’s no hiding the bird now—even muffled, his cries are loud enough to hear all the way up the hall. All he can do is work faster.

He leaves Ekko on the chain and hauls himself up the cliff, ignoring the protests of his body. Fresh adrenaline propels him to the top. He grabs the chain and drags it up hand over fist. In spite of Ekko’s size, he’s light—feathers and bone and fury. Ekko’s enraged screeches ring off the cavern walls. Demons shout from below. Cyrus grits his teeth.

It doesn’t take long to pull Ekko over the edge of the cliff. His claws scrabble against the stone and Cyrus helps him rights himself. His feathers puff up with rage around the makeshifthood and harness. He shrieks through the hood right into Cyrus’s ears, making them ring painfully.

“Sorry,” Cyrus whispers again, unlatching the chain. He lets the chain fall into the abyss, where it clatters against the stone.

Behind him Ekko’s cry changes tenor, and Cyrus’s blood runs cold.A warning.Footsteps sound at the mouth of the cave. He turns. Shadowy figures rush the entrance. But they’re not soldiers—they resolve quickly into a ragged band, and at their head is a now-familiar face.

He groans in relief. “Claudius!”

“Cyrianus.” Claudius grunts in surprise. “All the shadows in Hell, where did you come from? What happened to you? And what isthat?”

Cyrus shakes his head. “There’s no time to explain. You promised to help—I have to get him out before Quartermaster Magnus comes back.”

“Oh, he won’t be back,” says another demon with a smirk. There’s a glint in his eye that instantly puts Cyrus on edge.

Behind Cyrus the rest of the Grey Company are already climbing out of the hole, and Claudius turns away to greet them. The two groups merge around him with whoops and shouts. He goes to Ekko’s side, suddenly overwhelmed, his instincts screaming that something is wrong.

Did they kill Magnus? He shouldwantthat. But there’s a fervor in the air that sets off alarms.

“You two! Grab the bird,” Claudius barks, pointing at two of the demons. “Let’s get out of here.”

The other demon who spoke up makes a sharp gesture at Cyrus. “Make sure this one comes along.”

Cyrus’s arms are seized again, but this time the demons on either side are grinning and laughing. He fights the urge to shake them off. It doesn’t feel like camaraderie—it feels like he’s in danger. He trusts Claudius. He doesn’t trust the rest of them.

“Be gentle with him!” he cries as they lift Ekko. They’re careful to stay out of range of his massive claws. “Where are we going?”

“We’ve got clean-up to do.” The demon on his right laughs raucously. He has a dark, livid scar around his neck and a too-wide grin. “We did a little already. One crack in the dam andwhoosh—there went the tunnels!”

The other demon points at Cyrus’s back. “That’s an ugly looking gift from your former master, lieutenant.”

“It’s nothing,” Cyrus snaps, twisting away. His stomach clenches with sudden fear.

“Touchy.” The demon shrugs. “If it were me, I’d want revenge for a whipping like that. But minor demons aren’t like that, are they? You lot will just let anyone do anything.”

He reaches out before Cyrus can react and pinches his ribs. Hot rage flashes through Cyrus, and he swipes at the retreating hand. His claws meet flesh. The demon yelps and snatches his hand back.

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