Page 19 of All's Hell That Ends Well

I followed her as she led me through the maze of hallways in the palace, past even more signs of neglect and destruction. We encountered far fewer demons than the last time I’d been here and had walked the corridors at Lilith’s side, and an oppressive hush lay upon the rooms, with the exception of a handful of suites where some demons seemed to mill about and entertain themselves in various loud and excessive ways.

I couldn’t help but feel that it was somehow distasteful, like someone laughing uproariously at a funeral. The whole palace gave the impression of a wake, or a memorial of sorts, and a part of me therefore expected everyone to act accordingly.

Of course, actually keeping a place locked down in constant mourning for years and years was unreasonable. At some point, one had to move on and allow feelings other than grief or rage back to the surface.

Only it seemed that Lucifer abso-fucking-lutely wasn’t moving on. And likely not permitting anyone else to do so either.

The demon who was showing me the way finally waved me through a door that led outside. The lightning-painted sky opened up above me, the first time after eight years that I saw Hell’s fantastically apocalyptic scenery again. Clouds of charcoal gray and red-tinged black billowed overhead, half obscuring a firmament of dark red and orange hues. Flashes of purple lightning crackled, illuminating those heavy clouds from outside and from within, a cataclysmic symphony of shadow and light.

I would never have thought it possible, but I was actually happy at the sight. Unbelievable as it was, Hell’s landscape was another piece of home. I couldn’t quite make sense of it—afterall, I’d spent longer living in Heaven than I ever had in Hell, and yet the latter felt much more like home.

My demon escort led me down a path through a bleak courtyard, through arches in walls and across what might have passed as a garden, if the point of it was to showcase the varieties of carnivorous plants that thrived in Hell.

“Why don’t we fly to the gate?” I asked my guide.

She grimaced. “It isn’t safe anymore, my lady. The dragons have been a bit bitey lately.”

I almost missed a step. “Are you telling me they eat unsuspecting demons who take to the sky?”

“Unfortunately.”

Yikes. That hadn’t been the case when I’d last been here. “Who’s in charge of the dragons? Shouldn’t someone control them?”

“The only one who can do so is His Grace.”

And he clearly didn’t give a fuck.

Cold sweat trickled down my spine.

The howling reached us long before we ever came close to the gate. My entire body seized at the sound. I knew that baying, and it struck a chord deep inside me, one that rang with another bit of recognition of home.

I sped up, rushing forward, with my escort jogging to keep up, across another courtyard with an inactive gate in the middle, toward an impressively high wall that could have rivaled the bulwark of such constructions as the Great Wall of China. A loud thumping echoed over from the other side, as well as the nail-curling sound of claws on stone and the shouts of demons.

Not waiting for my guide to open a gate or whatever, I simply jumped into the air and beat my wings hard to make a vertical takeoff—and lo and behold, I managed. Even with the dragons picking their snacks straight out of the sky, a quick hop over the wall should be okay.

I soared over the massive stone rampart, which wasn’t meant to keep out things that could fly, but rather those that would attack from the ground, and took in the scene on the other side.

Half a dozen demons had circled Vengeance, who intermittently clawed at the wall or tried to dig underneath it but saw herself forced to snap around every now and then with one of her three heads to push back the demons advancing on her. They each held a spear with a crackling tip, probably some type of electric-shock device.

My blood boiled. The words were out of my mouth before I could come up with something more diplomatic. “Get thefuckaway from my dog!” I yelled, landing between Vengeance and the demons with an impact that shook the ground.

The demons jumped back. Dust whirled up around me, and the next second, the full force of a hellhound the size of a rhinoceros slammed into me from behind. My face hit the dirt, and then three huge tongues doused my head in enough saliva to fill a bathtub.

Vengeance’s happy whining and yipping filled the air and drowned out all other sounds, except for my coughing and choking, maybe. She was so excited that she danced around, and with me pancaking on the ground, that meant she accidentally scampered over me a couple of times, likely dislocating some of my joints in the process.

“Ven—” I gasped, retracting my wings and rolling over onto my back. “Venny! You gotta—ugh, not the licking again. Listen, you gotta stop for a—” I hauled in a big breath and shouted, “Sit!”

Vengeance immediately parked her behind on the ground at my command, though her butt continued to wiggle as she stared at me with the most adoring eyes ever. I scrambled up to standing, brushed off some of the dirt, which I regrettedinstantly, seeing as it was now mud courtesy of Venny’s slobber, and then shot my dog the widest grin.

“Venny baby!” I squealed and dashed forward to enfold her in a hug.

Which, given her size, meant I kind of just plastered myself to her enormous chest. All three of her heads tried to lick me at the same time, which was logistically impossible considering our position, so of course my clumsy doggie lost her balance and toppled over.

All the better to give her a proper belly scratch.

“Where’s my good girl?” I crooned as I petted the soft fur on the underside of her torso. “Who’s been such a good girl, coming to find me? Such a sweet baby! You’re the bestest! I wuv you. Yes, I do. And I’ve missed you so, so much!”

“Excuse me,” a voice said from behind me.

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