Page 26 of The Road to Hell

Guess Vol was awake.

She lowered the bag to the ground, opened it, and my little imp came tumbling out with dramatic flair. He brushed imaginary dust from his stubby arms and shot me an accusing glare.

“Finally!” he huffed, planting his fists on his hips. “I’m a being of high standards and delicate constitution, not luggage!”

“Stop whining. You had it the easiest,” I shot back. “Now, go with Rathiel and Purrgatory while I set up camp.”

Vol grumbled something about “ungrateful companions” as he trudged toward Purrgatory, who had already curled up near the edge of the cave. Purrgy flicked his tail and gave Vol a withering glare, clearly unimpressed with his babysitter. I left them to their silent battle of wills and turned my focus back to the packs.

Rathiel approached the duo, clearly trying to figure out the logistics of this makeshift errand. Vol refused to climb back into the bag, and instead scrambled onto Purrgatory’s back like a tiny, disgruntled jockey mounting his steed. Purrgatory tolerated it—barely—and Rathiel gave me a long-suffering look before scooping the pair into his arms. With a powerful sweep of his wings, they descended into the fiery landscape below.

The moment they were gone, I exhaled deeply, the tension in my shoulders easing for the first time. Finally, some breathing room?—

“So,” Eliza drawled, her tone laced with curiosity. “Care to explain what’s going on between you and Mr. Broody?”

—or not.

I looked up to find her crouched over her pack, rummaging through it for supplies. Her eyes, however, tracked me, sparkling with barely contained amusement.

“Nothing,” I said, maybe a bit too quickly.

“Hmmm.” She tilted her head, the corners of her mouth twitching. “What I just saw wasn’t nothing. You two burn hot. And thanks to this place, I now have a whole new definition of the word.”

When I didn’t respond, she pushed a little harder.

“Oh, come on. You practically melted in his arms, and he looked just as lost. That’s not just ‘nothing.’”

I ignored her, focusing on setting up my bedroll with more force than strictly necessary. “It’s complicated.”

“Complicated? That’s just code for ‘I don’t wanna talk about it,’” she said, unrolling her bedroll with a grin. “I’m not judging. He’s…well, let’s just say I get it.”

“Great,” I said, straightening up. “You and Vol can start a fan club.”

Her laugh was light, genuine, and annoyingly infectious. Against my better judgment, I found myself smiling too, though the heat creeping into my cheeks was harder to ignore. Luckily, Hell’s relentless furnace-like atmosphere made blushing less noticeable—or at least so I hoped.

“It’s fine if you don’t want to talk about it,” she added after a moment, her tone softening. “But if you do, seems like now’s the best time, while we’re alone.”

I hesitated, crouching down to fiddle with my bedroll, even though I had already laid it out perfectly. Talking about Rathiel—even just thinking about him—felt like prodding at a wound that just wouldn’t heal.

“As you pointed out earlier, there’s a lot of history between us. I wouldn’t even know where to begin in the little time we have before he returns.”

“All right—bullet point it for me,” she said.

I blinked at her. “Bullet point it?”

“Yup. Imagine you’re making a list. Give me the cliff notes version. Bullet point it.”

I quirked my head, then laughed. “Okay.”

After a quick glance at the cave entrance to ensure Eliza and I were still alone, I lifted my hand and started ticking things off with my fingers, hoping I caught everything pertinent to this situation.

“Rathiel was my mentor growing up. My father’s second-in-command. I hated him. Thought he hated me. Turns out, he didn’t.”

I bit my lip and considered how to handle the next part and decided chronological order might be best.

“This is where it gets fuzzy, because I don’t remember half of it,” I admitted. “According to him, we waged a war against my father. Fell in love. Lost the war. My father tried to kill me. Stole my wings. Rathiel saved me. Erased a good portion of my memories. Sent me to Earth.”

I paused and glanced at Eliza, who was listening intently, her brows lifted high.

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