Page 27 of The Road to Hell

“Lucifer found me. Sent Deidre after me. We killed her—thanks again for helping with that. I started dating Jack. Rathiel showed up again. Told me my father wants me dead—how unoriginal, right? Rath promised to protect me. Dropped the bombshell that he still loves me. And now…here we are. In Hell.”

Eliza sat silently, blinking in the shadows of the cave. After a moment, she released a breath and rubbed her palms on her thighs. “Wow. That is a lot.”

“I warned you.”

“You did,” she said, her head bobbing. “You truly did.” She leaned back against the cave wall, her expression somewhere between amused and overwhelmed. She let out a soft whistle and shook her head. “I mean, I expected drama, but that was…epic. You’ve lived three lifetimes’ worth of soap opera in, what, ten years?”

“Longer than that,” I said dryly. “The Earth portion alone was ten years. As for everything before, it’s hard to say. Time doesn’t pass the same here as it does on Earth.”

When she didn’t respond, I shot her a glance and grinned. “Welcome to my life. If you wanna leave?—”

“No chance,” she said, nestling against the cave wall. “I’m invested in this now. Besides, your life is far from boring. Horrifying and terrifying and ludicrous, but definitely not boring.”

I laughed softly. For a moment, the silence stretched between us, comfortable despite the heavy subject matter.

Eliza tilted her head toward me, her gaze thoughtful. “So, what’s your plan with Rathiel?”

“Plan?”

“Yeah. You know, the part where you stop pretending it’s complicated and just admit you love him too.”

I shot her a glare, but the heat behind it was half-hearted at best. “You’ve been here for all of five minutes, and you think you’ve got us figured out?”

“Yup.” She popped the ‘p’ with infuriating confidence. “I’ve seen the way you look at him. The way you two talk to each other—well, when you’re not brooding or bickering, that is. It’s obvious to anyone with eyes. You’re just too stubborn to admit it.”

I opened my mouth to argue, but no words came out. Instead, I let my head fall back against the cave wall with a groan. “It’s not that simple.”

“Because nothing in your life is, apparently,” she said. “But maybe it could be if you let it.”

I didn’t respond immediately, my gaze fixed on the many stalactites hanging above us. Could it be simple? No. It never would be—not with my father looming over us like a shadow, not with the wounds of our past still bleeding into the present.

But the thought lingered, stubborn and unwelcome.

Eliza reached out and patted my knee, her tone softer now. “Hey. Whatever happens, I’ve got your back, all right? Even if that means dragging you kicking and screaming toward your own happiness.”

I snorted, a reluctant smile tugging at my lips. “Thanks, Eliza. That’s…weirdly comforting.”

“You’re welcome,” she said brightly, leaning back and crossing her arms behind her head. “Now, let’s just hope Purrgatory hasn’t killed Rathiel or Vol while they’re out there. I don’t feel like babysitting a hellcat with a taste for vampiric blood.”

The faint flapping of wings rose to my ears and I lifted a finger to my mouth, silently shushing Eliza. She winked, then nodded. A moment later, Rathiel appeared in the cave entrance, Purrgatory and Vol perched indignantly in his arms.

Rathiel stepped inside, his wings vanishing in the blink of an eye, and set Purrgatory down with an almost comical amount of care, as if the cat might explode at any moment. I stood to tie our resident kitty’s leash to a rock, then stood back and watched him. Purrgatory twitched his tail, clearly unimpressed, before stalking off to reclaim his corner of the cave with Vol once again astride his back.

“It’s clear outside,” Rathiel said, his voice calm. “For now.”

I nodded, offering him a canteen without meeting his eyes. “Good. Let’s keep it that way.”

As he took the water from me, our fingers brushed, a fleeting touch that sent an unwelcome jolt up my arm. I quickly pulled back and refocused on setting up camp and making us some food. Rathiel sank onto his own bedroll, and Eliza smiled knowingly at me from across the cave. Oh yeah, this was going to be a super fun night.

ChapterEight

RATHIEL

I sat on my bedroll, back against the cave’s cool stone, absently sharpening my blade. The rhythmic scrape of steel on whetstone was steady and familiar. A habit from old battlefields where vigilance meant survival. It kept my hands and mind occupied.

Lily slept nearby—next to Eliza, Vol, and Purrgy—though rest didn’t seem to come easily. Even unconscious, her body remained tense, her fingers twitching as if anticipating a fight. Maybe she was. Hell wasn’t a friendly place at the best of times. Returning after ten years of freedom must have made it worse.

I watched her in my peripheral vision. A compulsion, I supposed, conditioned into me from so many years of worrying about her safety, too many nights keeping watch even when she didn’t realize I was there. And now we were back in the one place I’d never wanted her to return.

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