Page 10 of Pain

“Okay, now talk.”

That was the last thing I wanted to do. Especially about my parents.

She lifted one solitary brow. “Talk, Sparky, or I’m putting my bra and shirt back on.”

It was my turn to roll my eyes. “Fine. They’re in Hell.”

“LikeactualHell? It’s a real place? Is Heaven real too?”

“Hell is real. And they say the Fates and Gods and shit live in Heaven, but nobody has ever been. Or at least, I’ve never met anybody who has. But Hell is real. It’s ruled by demons.”

I could tell she was about to have information overload again, the way she was squinting and tightly shaking her head. “By demons? Is that where my father lived? Am I expected to live there?”

I shrugged. “I think he hadahouse, or a few houses there, but I don’t think that’s where he lived most of the time. It’s not a great place. It’s like Florida. Hot, humid, and full of cranky old people. It’s where a lot of demons go to ‘retire’ after they’ve had enough of the human world. But it’s also where the Realm prison is located.”

“How do you get to Hell?”

I shrugged again; though, this time it was a bit too enthusiastically apparently, and pulled at my dressings and wounds enough to make me suck in a sharp breath.

“You okay?” She sat up straight, pressing both hands to my chest now. “Did something happen?”

“I just shrugged too hard. I’m fine.” I grinned. “Though, just to be on the safe side, youcoulddangle those tits back in my mouth.”

She crossed one arm over her chest so I couldn’t stare at her nipples. “Keep talking. How do you get to Hell?”

“Well, I’m in my own personal Hell being denied the sight of those nipples—Ow!”

She swatted my arm. “Enough with the goofing off. Answer my question.”

“Will you let me suck those tits again if I do?”

“You’re impossible.”

“And you’re sexy as fuck.” I held out my hand. “Do we have a deal?”

Her eyes were rolling a lot now, but she was also smiling. Anything to keep her from fretting over her friend lying in the infirmary, or the fact that her uncle nearly killed all of us a few hours ago. Her smooth, delicate hand slid into mine. “Fine. But only once I haveallof my questions answered.”

“Deal.”

“How do you get to Hell?”

“There are various portals all over Earth.”

“Have you ever been?”

“Twice, but I’m not a fan. They don’t have any beaches. I like the beach.”

“I thought you said it was like Florida?”

“Yeah, Florida without the beaches. The monsters are bigger and angrier than the crocs and gators in Florida too. Like I said, not a great place.”

“When was the last time you saw your parents?”

My smile faded and the image of me screaming as my parents were carted off to prison by Realm police, my grandmother holding me back as best she could, flitted through my mind like an old movie reel. We lived in Europe at the time, in a castle. I was completely oblivious to what my parents were plotting—to what they almost achieved. A plague unlike anything ever seen before was going to be unleashed onto the humans, killing them all in a vicious and violent way.

Omaera’s cool palm back on my chest brought be back to reality. “Maxar, when was the last time you saw your parents?” she asked again.

“Three hundred years ago. I was thirty-four and my grandmother finally toldme that it was she who turned them in for plotting to kill the humans. She turned in her own son and daughter-in-law.”

---