Page 90 of A Match Made in Hell
His betrayal is an open wound, fresh and raw and gaping; I pick at all the things he’s ever said to me like I’m pulling at flayed skin. Every word he says is laced with lies. I can’t look at him. I can’t forgive him. I can’t bearoundhim.
What I can do, though, is make sure he hurts as much as I do.
‘So, when you talked about getting your concession, you meant getting an easy life?’ I inject as much venom as I can into the words. ‘Where the gates are someone else’s problem;myproblem? Well, I say you don’t. You don’t get your happy ending. Not when I don’t have mine.’ I summon another demon, turn my face to stone, and say, ‘Take him to Glacantrum. Let him freeze.’
31
It’s weird being in Sath’s rooms without Sath.
I suppose they’re my rooms now. I keep expecting to find him lounging on the sofa or smiling at me from the other side of the coffee table as I roll double sixes. My stomach feels hollow and empty, but at least the nothingness of being alone settles me enough that the gates stop shaking. The monsters on the other side growl when they understand they won’t be opening today. I growl back, in the hope they can hear me.
Finally, I work up the courage to enter the bedroom. My chest constricts at the sight of those black sheets, at the lingering scent of jasmine wafting from candles that no longer burn. Congealed wax drips like frozen rain down what’s left of the sticks. I collapse on the bed, only to discover the pillows smell like Sath. I punch one before burrowing my face into it, wishing he was beside me so badly it’s like an ache. I hate him for it. For everything.
It doesn’t stop me curling into a ball and sobbing.
I stay like that for days, drifting in and out of consciousness. My dreams are violent and graphic, all snapping fangs and bloodstained claws. At first, I toss and turn and cry out. Then I get angry.
The demons like this. They whisper to me.Tear it all apart. Blow it up. Use us.The sins are like snakes under the surface ofmy skin, demanding more and more from me. To take what’s not mine. To hurt what’s hurt me. To give in to every lustful thought I’ve had about Sath.
The last one has me opening my eyes on the fifth day and deciding enough is enough. I refuse to listen to their bullshit demands any longer. I’ve gained plenty of experience ignoring the voices in my head, and these demons have got nothing on my mother.
My annoyance has flames sparking from my arms, and it takes several minutes to put them out again. Sath’s powers only flared when he needed them to, but I can’t find the knack to controlling mine. I knock a candle off the nightstand, wishing it was his head.
I am hopelessly out of my depth, and it’s all his fault. I never even graduated, for goodness’ sake. I shouldn’t be responsible for pet-sitting someone’s dog, let alone be left unattended with magic powers.
Weak from not moving, I force myself to sit up. Although starving and dehydration aren’t a thing here, I wouldn’t say no to a nice cup of tea. I screw up my eyes, wishing for one. Nothing happens.
Fuck’s sake. I swing my legs over the side of the bed, intending to risk a trip to the dining area, when a noise outside draws my attention. A noise that sounds suspiciously like a scream. Shadows of flame lick my arms, threatening to flare, because if that’s a demon hurting someone –
I storm outside and rush into the entrance chamber. A boat’s just arrived, and the passengers are not getting a warm welcome. They stand in a huddle, cowering and holding hands, watching as a man is pinned to the wall by a set of antlers attached to a demon with thickset shoulders.
‘What are you doing?’
Hurt him. Tear him apart.Honestly, the voices have a point,but I don’t know how to go about killing the demon without losing control and weakening the gates.
This is impossible.
‘I said, what are you doing? Have they committed a crime?’
‘They cried on the boat,’ the demon says. ‘We don’t like criers here.’
Good job he hasn’t seen what I’ve been doing the last few days.
‘Why wasn’t I summoned?’ I fold my arms. ‘In case you weren’t aware, Asphodel is under new management. I’ll decide the rules from now on. Let them go.’
‘What if I don’t want to?’ The demon doesn’t turn my way. ‘What will you do about it?’
I know what Iwantto do, but achieving it is another matter. The demon nudges closer, its antlers pressing into the man’s throat. He lets out a gargled cry. One of the watching humans tumbles to the floor in a dead faint.
‘Stop it!’ I command. The demon doesn’t listen. He’s never going to listen. He’s already written me off as someone who can be ignored, someone whose opinions don’t matter.
The floor rumbles. My fists clench. Smoke unfurls from my arms.
The demon finally releases its victim, but only so it can turn to grin at me instead. Above his head, fissures crack through the rock, rivers of lava glowing bright red through the opening. Good. Maybe I’ll let those crevices split wide open, let that lava spew out, let it melt the demon as it laughs at me. Maybe then someone will finally, finally listen to what I have to say.
The rumbling worsens. My teeth chatter with the vibration. The humans lumber around, looking from side to side, clutching one another as small rocks tumble from the ceiling. The demon grins, and that only makes me blaze hotter, like fire has replaced all the blood in my veins, like the hate and disgust I have for hiskind is all I know.Tear. Hurt. Kill.
In my mind, I can sense the gates tremble, the rock around them grinding and crunching as they threaten to burst open, a screw popping from one of the hinges.
