Page 75 of Incubus

51

Roth

I creptdown the circling stairs, silent as a shadow. I didn’t allow myself to ponder Lilah’s fate. In Istanbul, I’d just missed her, barely catching a glimpse of her pale skin and dark hair as she sped away from me in a rented car. She’d never even registered I was there, though she passed the corner where I stood. Her eyes were haunted, not seeing, yet she drove like the devil was chasing her. But I knew it was the other way around.

I’d only now managed to catch up with her. Navigating the maze of this cursed valley had proven difficult. The thought of Lilah making this treacherous journey alone set me even more on edge, but I followed after her.

There was only one plan, one way to retrieve her from the god of war. I would offer myself to save her. Ares would stop at nothing to have my body hanging in the crater of rot and death that marred the black obsidian walls of the cave. And I would stop at nothing to see Lilah safe.

I padded down the final steps, avoiding a pile of skin and bones that lay in a heap at its base. The whole place was eerily silent, and there was no sign of Lilah. I wouldn’t let myself think the worst, couldn’t. If I even believed for a second Lilah was gone, I wouldn’t be able to take another step. So I pushed the dark thoughts aside and followed the river of blood that no doubt led to Ares.

A gaping cavern lay before me, the roof soaring overhead like the ceiling of a hellish cathedral. What little light showed there was immediately swallowed up by the blackness of the stone and the chill that hung in the air. If dread were palpable, it would feel like this.

I edged around, sighting the throne on top of a dais surrounded by a moat of blood, but no Ares. Crouching behind an outcropping of stone, I let my senses reach out to Lilah.

An agonized scream cut through the air, and I thought my entire body would shatter. It was Lilah, and she was in pain. The incubus roared to life within me, its power pulsing through my veins and sinews. MINE!

In an instant, I was on my feet, rushing headlong toward the sound. My scabbard and satchel jingled against each other as I ran, but I couldn’t stop. Nothing could keep me from her. I hurdled the throne and continued at breakneck speed, spying an opening in the stone at the rear of the room. I made for it, dashing through and darting down another stairway, this one even more narrow and precarious. Another scream cut me to the bone, and I was moving faster now, my surroundings a blur. I finally hit the bottom and took off through a long corridor. Lilah’s groans wafted to my ears through the icy air. She was in a room up ahead, the door slightly ajar.

I slowed and forced myself to approach the door cautiously. Creeping closer, I moved so that I could barely see through the crack in the doorway.

What I saw made the frozen circle of hell seem like a summer’s day.

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