Page 4 of Hellfire to Come
“Shit,” I slurred as they looked at each other, their gaunt faces coming clearer into view. All anticipation and fear disappeared, leaving only determination hardening their features. “Shit, shit, shit.”
“Grab her.” The one on the left lurched forward and twisted my arm back so he could yank me to my feet. “She has no magic.”
I dwelled on that comment as I hung awkwardly in his grip, twisting sideways until his buddy grabbed my other arm. In seconds, they had me suspended between them, my hair falling like a curtain over my face, hiding them from sight. I remembered making a dome around Brooklyn and Dominic to protect them from the never-ending swarm of Guardians, feeling my life drain into it with every hit it took from our attackers. Then… nothing.
Someone must’ve snatched me and dragged me.
My feet scraped over rough terrain as the two of them hauled me along, my body hanging limp between them. The stench of unwashed bodies clung to the air, making my nose wrinkle—and that’s when I noticed my glasses were gone. Maybe that’s why everything around me looked so blurry and misshapen.
“Remind me again why this is a good idea?” the other person, who was silent until now spoke, the words mumbled under his breath like I was too heavy to carry. The nerve of these guys. It wasn’t like I asked them to drag me around like a ragdoll. My huff of annoyance was lost under the heavy sigh from the first guy.
“She asked us to bring her the new prisoner.” The reverence in the tone was unmistakable. Whoevershewas, this guy made it sound like she was a goddess he worshipped. “We are alive thanks to her. The least we could do is bring her the girl when she asked.”
“We won’t be alive for long if those monsters return and find her missing.” The other one grumbled. “I thought the whole point was to stay invisible so we could keep our head on our shoulders. This is not staying invisible at all.”
“They never return fast. It always takes a couple of days, you know that.”
“Yeah well it only takes one time for them to return the next day for us to pay for it.”
“Just shut up and move faster.”
My mind was reeling while they bickered. No matter how much I wanted to pretend otherwise, it was clear that I’d been captured. With everything in me, I hoped my friends were alive because I knew without a shadow of doubt that Brooklyn would never let anyone take me if she could help it. Dominic wouldn’t either, and as much as I gave Samir a hard time, grandpa would tear them apart to protect me as well. So, they were either incapacitated or dead if I was here. Fear like I’d never known embedded itself into the marrow of my bones.
No.
I refused to even think that. I needed to get my head clear, figure out where I was and get the hell out of Dodge. Then, I’d find my friends and hear the story about what happened from them. Yeah, that sounded like a perfect plan to me.
“I can walk.” My voice sounded raspy and raw.
“What?” They both stopped, painfully jerking my arms in the process. The bossy one took hold of a fistful of my hair and lifted my head to look at me. “What did you say?”
“Did I stutter?” My annoyance turned into a hysterical giggle because I sounded so much like Brooklyn at that moment. I only wished I had her strength as well. I would’ve dismantled their limbs for drugging me and losing my glasses.
“Whatever they gave her muddled her brain,” the second guy grumbled again as if this whole thing was too much of a hustle for him. Me too, buddy, me too, I wanted to say but couldn’t summon enough strength to argue with him.
“I said.” With everything in me I placed one foot flat on the ground, then after a couple of failed attempts, placed the other firmly enough to be able to straighten and wiggle my arms out of their hold. “I can walk. No need to drag me around.”
To prove a point, I stuck my nose in the air and took one step forward. As life would have it, I didn’t lift my foot high enough and my toes stabbed the hard ground with a sharp pain. My whole body lurched forward, and I only had enough time to throw both hands in front of me to soften the fall. All the air whooshed out of me when I face planted between the two men.
“Did she knock herself out?” The one who had been complaining the whole time sounded as if my clumsiness was a personal insult to him.
“For your information,” I said, affronted, forcing the words past my slightly swollen lip—the result of my teeth meeting the inside of my mouth when I introduced my face to the ground. “I can’t see well without my glasses or I never would’ve tripped.” It was a lie, but they didn’t need to know that.
“I don’t have time for this. They can come back at any moment and find her gone. There will be no hiding this time.” The bossy one snapped and grabbed my hair to pull me to my feet.
The gasp of pain that escaped me was cut short by a low, predatory rumble from the darkness—a growl so menacing every hair on my body snapped to attention. Fear prickled across my skin, and my breath froze in my chest. Slowly, I lifted my head, pushing the hair out of my face, only to find myself dangerously close—face to face—with one of the largest creatures I’d ever seen.
My insides shriveled as my eyes locked with its bright green stare. The rest of the world blurred without my glasses, which, in a twisted way, dulled some of the terror clawing at me. If I were about to get eaten, I’d rather not see it coming.
My mouth opened—maybe to plead, maybe to scream—but before a sound escaped, a blast of strange energy slammed into all of us, scattering bodies like bowling pins. Voices rang out, distorted and distant, as if underwater. I recognized the two menshouting above me, but their words were lost beneath the agony ripping through me—my skin peeling from my bones.
Darkness came out of nowhere and like a wave picking up sand on the shore it took me with it. Grateful to let the pain fade, I willingly followed.
Chapter Three
BROOKLYN
“None of this was my idea.” Chester stood up and backed off from the table with both hands up in the air like that would’ve saved the demon if I wanted to end his life. “I swear it,” he added earnestly, his Adam’s apple bobbing as he swallowed thickly.
