Page 106 of Hell-Bound

Don’t lose control, Ren.

She couldn’t afford to panic.

Ren growled in outrage, producing a sound she didn’t even know she was capable of. She had no leads on the tome and nowhere to start looking even if she wanted to. She needed to get back. Return to Vergessen and help her family. But she was on her own with no magic to portal and barely understood her bearings as it was.

She looked at her bloodied hand, wishing she could smash it through Leo’s head.

Her only option was Azur. If nothing else, he could portal her to Vergessen, and she could carve the faces off of the three acolytes.

Ren slid down the tree and quickened her pace. Her wrath drew her forward, spurring her on with every movement. She did not allow herself to falter in momentum. It took her only three hours to approach a familiar hill overlooking Xarek’s castle.

“You’re first, Xarek,” she seethed.

Unlike the previous time she had snuck in, it was daytime, and the grounds had twice as many guards patrolling the lawns.

A good sign.

Patrols meant Xarek was worried, which could mean that Azur was somewhere inside.

Ren hunkered down and waited. She watched as each patrol passed and timed how long each pass took before the next guard circled around. She then formulated her strategy. Lulling the Devils to sleep didn’t seem logical here. Her piccolo were not loud intruments, and if the notes reached the ears of one set, the others would immediately be alerted when their comrades were asleep on the lawn.

She watched as a large yellow Devil curved around the corner, showing Ren his back. She had less than a minute to slide down the hill without attracting attention. She’d coated the bottom of her leather pants in ash to aid her momentum and pushed herself down on her bottom. She kept her eyes locked on the Devil to make sure he wouldn’t glance back.

Once there, she dashed for cover behind a small pedestal. Her heart hammered, but she held her breath. The second guard passed.

Ren knew that the next part would be the hardest.

Once the second Devil had turned his back, she crept to another pedestal, which gave her the perfect view of a fountain the size of a small pond. This Devil, standing alert, would not be making the rounds. He would stay, eyeing the back entrance.

Patience.

A third Devil turned the corner. Once the third was out of sight, Ren pulled her dagger from its sheath and flipped the blade in her hand.

You’ve done this before.

She reared back and threw the dagger at the fountain guard’s neck. The dagger buried itself to the hilt, and the guard collapsed, unable to move from the paralyzing magic of the dagger. Ren charged at him and pushed his body into the deep water, removing her weapon as she did. She then ducked herself in the water, pulling her victim deeper. She hoped that the splashing from the fountain’s spouts would cover any noise they’d made.

She counted, watching as the bubbles stoppedemanating from her victim’s lips. With little time to waste, she raised her head cautiously from the surface of the water right as another patrol passed. She lifted herself up from the fountain and sprinted towards the grate. She had to beat the next pass, and her timing had to be perfect. She could see the familiar wall she needed to scale before finally dropping into a hidden alcove.

When she finally reached the wall, she threw her body and scrambled to pull herself up. She laid flat just in time to hear the grumbling guard pass by. Ren allowed herself to lie there, letting her heart rate settle while listening for a few more guards before she dropped down in front of the grate. Ren held her breath as she tried the lock. She no longer had her lock kit, so her only hope was that they’d forgotten to secure it. The grate moved soundlessly.

Unlocked.

Ren almost smiled before she felt her body seize up. Her hand, clasped around a bar, felt like millions of needles were penetrating her skin as her body convulsed, collapsing to the ground. She could taste metal, and she wanted to vomit before the jolts finally halted.

In her haste, she had completely forgotten about the trap.

Jester would never let you live this down.

She examined the damage to her hands. They both were charred black, skin rough and peeling, small pustules beginning to form. On the bright side, the shock hadn’t produced much noise, and she could stumble in unnoticed.

The small tunnel was still abandoned, and she had to feel along the wall until she found the opening. From there, it was easy to follow the smell to the circular grates below the torture chamber. Today, the area was sticky with fresh blood. She could see the black matter dripping from the hole, slow and viscous.

Someone’s in there.

“I must admit that getting the chance to see you thisway, unarmed and…well,dressed down, has given me quite the thrill,” came Xarek’s voice from above. “Your power is waning, Azur. You know that you are delaying the inevitable.

She could also hear him, Azur. But he wasn’t moaning in pain. She heard him laugh darkly and spit, “Your torture tactics are almost as bad as your violin playing.”

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