Page 85 of Hell-Bound

???

Ren sat alone in her room, which was starting to feel homey, and played her piccolo. She knew she should probably be trying to decipher the piccolo’s secrets, but she couldn’t help getting caught up in the trance of beautiful notes.

She was trying to create something new, something that reflected her fractured and contradictory feelings, but the playing was rough going. She struggled to hit satisfying pitches. Even so, the process brought a semblance of contentment.

Abruptly, she stopped playing as she noticed her fingers slowed over the openings of the piccolo and began to release dark, smoky curls.

Ren moaned in acquiescence at his summons and materialized in the familiar office.

The door behind her slammed open, and she spun around, startled.

Azur walked in and pushed past her—his clothes slightly disheveled and his curls tousled. Her mind went to inappropriate places until she saw that he was soaked with blood.

Azur sat behind his desk and pushed his curls back into their proper place, smearing a small amount of black blood on his forehead. His eyes were hard as he glared at her from across the room.

Her stomach flipped.

If she didn’t know that he couldn’t harm her, she believed he would launch himself across the room to rip out her throat.

“You’ve been talking to Nainaur.” It wasn’t a question. “You. Ren Eldanuer, who belongs tome,has gone behind myback, scheming to steal one of the most precious items in all the planes.”

“No, I—”

“Silence!” he roared, slamming his hands on his desk, face taking on its iridescent and fiery appearance.

Hells.

Herbody flushed.

“Have you been working with Xarek? Tell me now, and I might not lock you in the pits for the rest of your days,” he snarled, showing the points of his sharp teeth.

She shivered, and it wasn’t only due to terror. He was the epitome of power and dominance, exuding his spectacular wrath. The most terrifying beast of your nightmares and the king you got on your knees for. The lover you wanted to fight for you.

It was time to come clean. Ren opened her mouth, surprised that her voice didn’t shake.

“I have never worked with Xarek, though I have been working with The Gilded Triangle. They brought me to The Hells to try to get the—”

“Vutar’ka Zhartun,” he finished. “Do you realize what could have happened to Jester if you had involved him in this inadvertently? He is a Devil of The Hells. Becoming a sleeper would have been aprivilegecompared to what might happen if a soulless Devil entreated with the god of The Heavens.”

Her eyes prickled.

Don’t you dare cry.

She decided to trade her sadness for anger.

“I didn’t know. I was only trying to help!” she fired back, clenching her fists. “No one is helping him, and he isalone!I know what that feels like. To be soulless and alone. If I can help him, I will.”

“You are going to stand there and tell me that your motives aren’t selfish?” he said, bolting to his feet. “What didThe AlmightyNainaur promise you in exchange for your betrayal? What could have been so important that you wouldrisk everything?”

“Everything? I havenothing, Azur! No memories, no family, no home! He offered me all of thatplusredemption. If I recall, you told me that was impossible.”

She was shaking now, her wrath taking its proper place and filling her with audacity.

“Is that what you want? To go back? Truly? For your memories to be restored?”

She considered. The truth was, she still didn’t know.

“I know I don’t want to live a life wondering if I was—am—good or bad. I don’t want to keep living, trying to make up for all the things I might or might not have done without even knowing what I am working towards. Maybe if I know, if I go back, I can figure it out. Get on the road to redemption or…something like it.”

---