Page 51 of The Road to Hell

“Rathiel!” Lily’s voice cut through the chaos.

I didn’t hesitate.

A single wave of my hand, and the blood ripped free of the bodies on the ground, condensing into one massive spear.

The fleeing hellspawn barely made it two steps before the blood spear punched through his back, stabbing him clean through the chest. He lurched, arms flailing, before collapsing face-first onto the cavern floor.

Silence.

Lily lowered her swords. Eliza, still gripping her daggers, straightened, eyes flicking between me and the carnage. Lily had told her I drank blood, but she hadn’t mentioned my abilities. And if I wasn’t mistaken, the siren looked a bit shaken.

However, the hellspawn were dead. And right now, that was all that mattered.

I let my power go, and the blood collapsed back to the ground, pooling around the bodies in thick, glistening puddles. Hunger hit me instantly—not enough to slow me down, not yet, but enough to remind me of the cost. There was a cost to using my power, and that cost was hunger.

I’d need to feed tonight. Ideally before we found the next cave. I couldn’t afford not to. Lily needed me strong and powerful—which meant, I needed blood.

“You couldn’t have done that at the start?” Eliza asked.

“Blood has to spill before I can command it,” I told her. “No blood, no power.”

Lily touched the wound on her shoulder. The cut wasn’t deep, but I still caught her wince.

I also caught the scent.

Copper cut through the thick stench of death in the cave. It hit me hard—harder than it should have.

Hellspawn blood was thick, acrid, tainted by this place. But Lily’s? If I lived another thousand years, I would never forget the taste of her blood. The smell of it had my hunger gnawing at the edges of my control. It didn’t help that she’d been my last meal, or that it’d been a few days since I’d fed.

I forced myself to focus. I wouldn’t give in to my need. I’d get her and Eliza somewhere safe, then find myself a fresh meal. Maybe a hellcat.

Lily straightened. “We should move. There could be more.”

I barely heard her. My pulse thudded heavy in my ears, the scent of her blood lingering in the air between us, wrapping around my senses, coaxing something darker to the surface. My fingers twitched, my hunger growing stronger.

I forced the reaction down, shoving it back where it belonged. I’d already taken enough from her.

“Rathiel?” Lily called through the haze, her voice grounding me.

I dragged in a shuddering breath. “You’re right. We need to move,” I said, my voice harsher than I meant it to be.

She studied me for a beat longer, but didn’t push. Instead, she nodded once, then quickly cleaned and sheathed her blades.

The moment Lily finished securing her weapons, a familiar voice rang out behind us.

“Well, that was unnecessarily dramatic.”

The three of us turned to watch Vol and Purrgy strutting toward us, Vol atop Purrgy’s back. The imp slid off and stared at the corpses. Purrgy, however, sauntered away, completely unaffected by the sight of them.

“You know, when you said, ‘keep the cat safe,’ I thought you meant from danger. Not from missing all the fun.” His teeth flashed in a grin as he peered at the nearest body. “Vamp-boy sure did a number. Not bad, though. Very bloody.”

Lily wiped her blade against her sleeve before sheathing it. “It wasn’t fun,” she muttered.

“Speak for yourself,” Eliza said, flicking a bit of hellspawn flesh off one of her daggers.

“Pack it up,” I told everyone. “We need to leave, now.”

Lily grabbed her pack and strode toward Purrgy. When she grabbed the carrier, he yowled his displeasure, but this time, he didn’t fight her when she stuffed him inside. Small miracles. Once she had the carrier secured to her pack, the three of us—four if I included the imp—hurried out of the cave.

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