Page 1 of Till Death

CHAPTERONE

Darkness.

Thick and heavy. It surrounded me.

There was a moment when I forgot I was falling, since there was no way to tell which way was up or down. Nothing but infinite blackness and the overwhelming dread that I wasn’t going to reach Cole in time.

That I’d lose him forever.

Peering up, I realized the opening to the Hell pit had closed after I’d decided to jump inside after him.

Down here, the darkness lived, thrived, breathed. It shifted around me in varying shades of black so intense the normal human eye would not be able to distinguish them.

The last time I’d visited Hell, I’d seen barren hallways, waiting rooms, and fake apartment sets. But now, it felt different. Less like an abandoned office building and more like an endless pit of doom.

I forced my eyes open until they burned and teared, but nothing but total blackness stared back at me. The stench of rotting eggs filled my nostrils and the heat pressing against me made it hard to breathe.

Who knew how long I was falling for—I sure didn’t—but when the ground came up to meet me, my ass was the first thing to greet it.

Pain ricocheted up my spine and my teeth clattered in my skull.

Holy shit, that hurt.

My head felt ready to split openà laa ripe melon, and I was pretty sure my butt cheeks would be bruised for eternity with that not-so-graceful landing. Groaning, I rolled and slowly pushed myself up onto my knees, then eventually my feet. Gripping Bertha tighter, I peered deeper into the endless darkness.

The shadows crept closer, growing out of the darkness and the chaos, accompanied by groans and howls from creatures that definitely weren’t from the land of the living.

Halflings.

The danger of the situation slammed into me as hard as the bottom of this Hell pit had, and for a second, I wondered if jumping blindly into it had been such a good idea after all.

The doubt only lasted a second though because the reason I was here was enough to risk my life for. Risk it all for, actually.

Cole.

Saving him from Hell and from himself.

I thought back to the last view I had of him. His skin was graying and turning scaly before my eyes, his muscles bulging, and his nails elongating into monstrous claws. Eli’s haunting words echoed from my memory, too.

“Cole knew what he was doing. He sacrificed himself to save you. That was his choice.”

Yeah, well, it wasn’t one I wanted him to make.

But when I finally found Cole down here, would there be anything left to save?

My gut tightened. I couldn’t think like that. There was still time.

I still had time.

When vicious growls rumbled out from the shadowy places around me, I swung Bertha right then left, trying to use her white glow to pierce the darkness. What I found had me backpedaling fast. Dozens of skeletal faces… All with glowing red eyes, sharp fangs, and warped, demonic features stared back at me.

Oh, fuck. Here we go again.

They attacked all at once, like a massive wave crashing into the shore. Frantically, I swung my sword, cutting down as many as I could in quick succession. A Halfling shot out from my left with twisted horns on its head. It used them to ram into me, sending my flying sideways and tumbling across the ground.

The others took their opportunity and descended on me.

Teeth snapped, fists punched, talons slashed. They came at me from every angle. Every bite, every cut, had me gasping for breath. I’d almost forgotten pain was amped up down here—for the torturing and whatnot—and boy, was I feeling it.

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