Apparently Limbo wasn’t overflowing with Good Samaritans.
He’d then tripped out of the library and into a forest. Like an honest to goodness, lush, green forest, but it was totally overgrown and there was only one path he could take, so he took it. And at that point turning back was definitely not an option, because he couldn’t have tried to maneuver around them even if he was that fast—and he didn’t think he was faster than immortal beings.
Which was ridiculous, by the way. It was at that point that he slowed down, panting for breath, and just trotted along. You know what, fuck them. If he was gonna be herded somewhere, he wasn’t going to get all out of breath and sweaty doing it.
Never mind that he shouldn’t even be out of breath. He was dead, for goodness sake. Shouldn’t he be in the best shape of his… death? Or whatever?
He turned around, walking backwards and looking at Bitch Lady.
“Hey!” he yelled. They weren’t that far behind him, and they too had slowed to a walk. They did menacing really well, though, he had to admit.
“Why am I all out of breath? I’m dead! And where the hell are you leading me, anyway? Because if I weren’t dead, the suspense would be killing me!” Adam chuckled a little at his own joke, but it sounded forced even to his own ears. He was definitely feeling some panic.
“In Limbo, you naturally resume the structure of your most recent living state. With practice and meditation, it is possible to revert to earlier forms of yourself. With true devotion, changing your form and overall state of being is a manageable task, but I doubt with your attention span and level of competence that you’d be able to manage such a thing,” she replied snarkily.
Ouch. Bitch Lady had claws. Adam continued walking backwards, so he wasn’t prepared when he stumbled into an open clearing. He sort of flailed a little as his foot caught on some tree root, and he ended up sitting firmly on his ass as Bitch Lady walked forward and towered over him.
It was a shame she was so nasty, because staring up at her, her face haloed by the sun in the blue sky above, she really did look angelic.
But looks could be deceiving. He’d take a demon with scales and horns and shifty eyes over the snarky, porcelain-skinned angel in front of him any day. At least they knew how to have fun.
“And you’re being herded here,” she replied, reaching down and lifting him by the arms to his feet. She was really freaking strong. She turned him around, and he saw an open door with a stairwell inside, and without another word they were marching forward and he was walking up a gray stone passageway filled with steps.
And more steps.
And more steps.
Bitch lady was always behind him, and it felt like they walked for hours, or days, and yet it also felt like just a minute before the stone turned to white walls, and the steps turned white, and they were reaching a doorway which sort of just opened in front of them.
And then there they were, back in that blindingly white office with all white furniture and the window looking outside. And yup, there were still harp-players out there. Well, fuck.
“Take a seat, please,” Bitch Lady said, gesturing to the white chair in front of her desk as she rounded behind it. If Adam wasn’t mistaken, the chair looked quite a bit less comfortable this time around.
He turned around, ready to make a break for it and head back down the stairs, but the door and the minions who had been following behind her were all gone. There was nothing but pristine white wall.
Well, shit.
So he rounded the desk and sat in the chair, which was definitely less comfortable than it had been. And smaller. She pulled up her tablet-looking computer thing, looked at him, and in a saccharine voice said, “Let’s try this again, shall we?”
Chapter18
Minos
Minos knew it wasn’t a good idea. He knew it, and yet it didn’t matter. He needed to get to Adamnow.
He stalked through the rooms of Limbo, close on Pandora’s heels. He was seething with rage and thoughts of revenge, his insides beating in a staccato rhythm, the word, “Adam, Adam, Adam,” seeming to pulsate in his very core.
Demons raced around at his feet and legs, pleading with him, yelling at him, but he paid them no mind. One flung itself in front of Minos, but he merely stepped over it. His demons were loyal, and in some deep recess of his mind, he appreciated how much they wanted to save and protect him. He felt what he now recognized as love, thanks to Adam, for his demons.
Nevertheless, he would not be forestalled. They came to a clearing in a wood, and Minos saw the glowing white doorway ahead of him. Pandora fell to her knees in the grass, tears openly streaking her cheeks. She was muttering, and he thought he heard the words, “Please don’t,” over and over, but he paid them no mind.
A multitude of demons flung themselves in front of the doorway, blocking the way. Minos had no patience for such things. The taste of panic had receded from his tongue, but there was an acrid, bitter flavor there now. His Adam was not hurt, but he was not happy.
Minos would see that rectified.
“You will not stop me,” he pointed out to his legions. “I will enter that doorway, even if it ends in the destruction of the afterlife. No one can keep me from my Adam. He is my mate, my mortal soul, and I will not leave him with them. If it is my destruction, then I will have been destroyed of my own choice, seeking all that has brought me joy and pleasure.
“You are my demons. You have been loyal and loved. But your sire commands you to clear the way. You must obey.”
